Ngulambarra
Established:
2021
Area:
346 ha
Location:
165km NW of Melbourne
Traditional Owners:
Djaara (Dja Dja Wurrung people)
Ngulambarra is nestled between Bush Heritage's Lawan Reserve and Ngarri (Mt Egbert). Ngarri is part of the Wychitella Nature Conservation Reserve managed by Parks Victoria and Djandak.
Extending habitat protection in this area is a significant step for our Victorian operations. It means we now protect about 2,450 hectares across this heavily fragmented region, providing much needed connectivity and enabling isolated populations of threatened bird, mammal and reptile species to move more freely across the landscape.
These protected areas are in our Kara Kara Wedderburn Focal Landscape – the area between the regional town of Wedderburn and the Kara Kara National Park that we have been connecting up for more than a decade. This landscape is home to patches of temperate woodland, which are the most threatened wooded ecosystem in Australia, primarily due to land clearing.
What Ngulambarra protects
Sections of intact grassy woodlands will attract threatened woodland birds such as the Brown Treecreeper (Climacteris picumnus victoriae) and Hooded Robin (Melanodryas cucullata), while Yellow Box and Grey Box trees found across the block will provide shelter and sustenance for myriad other species.
The block also contains plant species that have declined in the region like Quandong (Santalum acuminatum) and Common Eutaxia (Eutaxia microphylla), as well as good native grass cover in some locations.
Some of the property was historically cleared but the previous landowner, Cassinia Environmental, working with its partners and Greenfleet had begun steps towards ecological restoration including extensive revegetation work with 25,000 seedlings and 400km of direct seeding lines.
The acquisition was made possible through the generous support of Bush Heritage donors Caroline and Terry Bellair, who gifted us $1 million to purchase remnant habitat in the Dalyenong region of our Kara Kara Wedderburn Focal Landscape. Caroline and Terry’s generosity led to our 2019 acquisition of Bellair Reserve and their ongoing support means native species will now have even more freedom to move across the landscape unimpeded.