What we’re doing
Nursing 80 hectares of previously cleared bushland back to life has been a focus of our work here.
Yellow Daisies at Chereninup. Photo Barbara Madden.
Once an environmentally barren paddock, those 80 hectares are now populated by carefully chosen eucalypts, melaleucas, wattles and casuarinas as part of our first broad-scale restoration planting.
Many years on from the planting, the trees and shrubs are not only increasing native animal populations but have also contributed to the fight against climate change, storing thousands of tonnes of CO2 equivalent – enough to offset the average emissions of hundreds of households.
Meet the Honey Possum
If there were an award for cutest animal in the world, the Honey Possum would surely win.
A sleepy Honey Possum. Photo Annette Ruzicka.
These tiny creatures weigh about the same as two teaspoons of sugar, while their babies are no bigger than a grain of rice.
Despite their diminutive size, Honey Possums have the largest sperm of all mammals but, being rather shy creatures, it's unlikely they'd gloat.
They prefer cover of darkness and literally disappear in daylight hours – even our ecologists are mystified about where they go.
Distinguished by their brush-tipped tongue and pointy snouts, they're endemic to southwest Western Australia's heathlands, and are residents of Chereninup Creek Reserve.
A freshwater pool in a bed of granite. Photo Chinch Gryniewicz.
They eat only nectar and pollen, and rely on various proteaceous species, such as banksias, for food throughout the year.
They're important contributors to the biodiversity of their habitat, collecting pollen on their fur and pollinating other plants as they feed.
Cultural values
The south coast of Western Australia has a long history of human occupation. The Noongar people have lived here for at least 40,000 years, and the patterns of tribal occupation suggest the landforms formed boundaries for different groups. This reserve may have been part of the boundary system for two or more tribes.