Kojonup Reserve stands out from the nearby cleared wheat belt country as a chaotic, magical bushland filled with chattering bird life.
The largest protected area of wandoo woodlands in the region, it shows us what this country was like before the destructive policies of the 1960s, when a million acres of WA bushland a year was burned, buried and bulldozed for broad-acre farming.
Three phases of Wandoo - growth, maturity and decline. Photo Angela Sanders.
The reserve's canopy buzzes with insects, perfect prey for insectivorous birds such as the Golden Whistler. Many local bird species, such as the declining Rufous Treecreeper, nest in hollows in mature wandoo.
On the ground, fallen logs provide habitat for foraging birds such as White-browed Babblers, and even the scattered bark and leaf litter are important, protecting against soil erosion and providing food and shelter for invertebrates, reptiles and small mammals.
Fringed Lillies are amongst the wild flowers on display. Photo Angela Sanders.
The woodlands' nectar-rich flowers feed honeyeaters almost year round, and the trunks of the sheoak trees make perfect springboards for lightning-fast Red-tailed Phascogales to leap around the canopy.
All this has been protected thanks to the generosity of our supporters.
What Kojonup Reserve protects
Red-tailed Phascogales huddled in a nesting box. Photo Maureen Francesconi.
Kojonup is home to close to 100 species of native birds. It also protects these significant species and communities:
Animals: Rufous treecreeper, Red-tailed phascogale, Threatened land snail.
Plants: Shy Feather-flower, Trigger Plant, Redcoat, Fringed Lily.
Vegetation communities: Wandoo, Sheoak and Brown Malley Woodland and Heath.
Cultural values
Kojonup is an Aboriginal name said to mean ‘place of the stone axe' (kodja) and the stone used to make it (kodj).
The O'Halloran family owned Kojonup Reserve between 1926 and 1996, and were so intent on protecting its woodlands that when it came time for them to sell they spent 10 years finding the appropriate buyer – Bush Heritage.