Edgbaston Reserve granted highest level of protection in Australia
Leading conservation not-for-profit Bush Heritage Australia, together with Bidjara Traditional Owners, have celebrated Edgbaston Reserve’s new Special Wildlife Reserve status.
Home to what scientists have called the most significant natural springs for global biodiversity in the entire Great Artesian Basin and one of the most important in the world.
Fed by water travelling hundreds of kilometres beneath a dry, arid environment, these isolated springs have given rise to the evolution of 23 endemic (found nowhere else) animals and 26 endemic species in total.
It’s the site of important ongoing research into endemic diversity and its conservation.
Two nationally threatened fish – the Red-finned Blue-eye and Edgbaston Goby – 11 types of snail, a small crustacean, a flatworm, a spider and a species of dragonfly reside exclusively in the spring-fed pools at Edgbaston.
A fight for survival
In 1990 the Edgbaston Springs surprised the world when they revealed the presence of a tiny blue-eye type of fish with striking red fins – the critically endangered Red-finned Blue-eye.
Found in just a few shallow springs fed by underground aquifers on Edgbaston Reserve, the Red-finned Blue-eye is one of Australia’s tiniest and most threatened freshwater fish.
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Red-finned blue-eye. Photo Rebecca Diete.
Its biggest threat is an invasive fish introduced into Australia in the 1920s in an ill-considered attempt to control mosquitoes.
We’ve now fenced all Red-finned Blue-eye populations to provide protection from mosquito fish (Gambusia), and have isolated important springs with barriers to prevent them entering during floods. We’re also expanding captive breeding and, in exciting news, captive bred fish have been successfully translocated back into one of the naturally occurring artesian springs.
When there’s one single population of a species left in the world, do you let it go extinct, or do everything you can to save it?
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Red-finned blue eye. Photo Vanessa Hunter.
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Dancing Brolga. Photo Alec Brennan.
What we're doing
Work to control invasive Gambusia, which feed on small fish, invertebrates and fish eggs, will help the survival of both the Edgbaston Goby and the Red-finned Blue-eye. It will also help the endangered spring communities – which include everything from snails to spiders and aquatic plants – from suffering further degradation.
Controlling feral pigs is another management priority – they can trample and churn up a wetland spring in just one feeding session.
We’re also working hard to restore and look after the Lake Mueller wetlands and springs basin. In flood this basin provides habitat for raptors, ducks, shorebirds, waders and large numbers of Brolgas.
Ecological Scorecard
See a full ecological scorecard for Edgbaston Reserve.
Learn more about how we measure our impact.
2 MB History and cultural values
Little is known about the Aboriginal cultural heritage of Edgbaston but it’s likely that the Lake Mueller wetlands and springs were and still are significant food and water sources.
Edgbaston also has a pastoral history dating back well over 100 years, when the region was established as Aramac Station.
Edgbaston Reserve was bought in 2008 with help from the Australian Government and The Nature Conservancy. We’d also acknowledge support from The Nature Conservancy’s David Thomas Challenge and Desert Channels Queensland, through funding from the Australian Government’s Caring for Our Country program.
