Major win as Bush Heritage secures final puzzle piece
Bush Heritage Australia has successfully secured Wanarra, a 107,000-hectare property in WA's Mid West. It’s a landmark acquisition that tackles large-scale habitat fragmentation.
Spanning 107,000 hectares on the lands of the Badimia people and the Widi Mob, Wanarra adjoins our Charles Darwin Reserve in Western Australia, 220km south-east of Geraldton. It's a critical missing link in a connected network of private and public conservation lands, helping to unite more than one million hectares of protected landscapes.
The southern half of Wanarra is located in the Southwest Australia Global Biodiversity hotspot, renowned for its high species diversity and many endemic species. Thousands of plant species here are found nowhere else in the world, and there’s a high chance there are more still to be discovered.
The reserve boasts a range of landscapes from sweeping salt lake complexes, to magnificent woodlands, to rugged granite outcrops and expanses of the wild flowers that mid-west WA is famous for.
Spring is a spectacular sight as wildflowers blanket the landscape. They're mostly annuals, the most famous of which are the Paper Daisies, producing magnificent swathes of whites, yellows, purples and pinks.
– Fiamma Riviera, Bush Heritage Ecologist“Wildflowers hold massive ecological importance. They flood life into a landscape, attracting butterflies, bees and other insects, which in turn attract foraging birds and reptiles.”
Image Information
Wildflowers at Wanarra, Widi Mob and Badimia Country, 220 km south-east of Geraldton, WA. By Andy McGregor
Connecting a corridor
For many years Wanarra was coveted as the "missing piece" in what would have been a connected corridor of conservation lands, spanning over 1 million hectares. Located to the north-west of our Charles Darwin Reserve, and sharing a 50km boundary, it connects to other public and private conservation lands.
When we finally had the chance to purchase the property in 2026, our generous supporters responded to the opportunity, allowing us to make this connected corridor a reality.
Wanarra sits in a transition zone between the temperate Wheatbelt and the semi-arid rangelands. Connecting these regions is particularly important to give species the chance to move and adapt as conditions change with the climate.
Image Information
Map showing Wanarra property alongside Charles Darwin Reserve, connecting other conservation lands.
Image Information
Fiery Bottlebrush (Callistemon phoeniceus). By Christine Lawrence and Richard Hamilton
Wanarra protects:
We look forward to establishing baseline monitoring at Wanarra as we extend our conservation management programs from neighbouring Charles Darwin Reserve.
We know Wanarra protects up to 28,000 hectares of critically endangered eucalypt woodlands, including threatened species such as Salmon Gum, Wandoo and York Gum, as well as the important cultural heritage site of Mongers Lake.
It’s home to threatened species such as Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata), as well as the lesser-known Lake Goorly Shield-Backed Trapdoor Spider (Idiosoma kopejtkaorum) and semi-parasitic sandalwood species.
– Fiamma Riviera, Bush Heritage Ecologist“The southern half of Wanarra is what Western Australia’s Avon Wheatbelt would have looked like before it became some of the most extensively cleared native vegetation on the planet.”
Today, only around 4% of that region is under formal protection, making it vitally important to protect Wanarra’s remnant stands of York Gum (Eucalyptus loxophleba), Salmon Gum (Eucalyptus salmonophloia) and Gimlet Gum (Eucalyptus salubris).
Cultural values
Wanarra is a living cultural landscape for the Badimia People and the Widi Mob of the Yamatji Nation.
“Wanarra is home to many culturally significant sites, particularly the Mongers Lake complex,” says Sheree Strauss, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Manager.
Image Information
Samphire flats around Monger Lake. By Christine Lawrence and Richard Hamilton
Mongors Lake is an internationally recognised bird conservation area. After large rainfall events this ephemeral salt lake fills up and attracts water birds such as Banded Stilts from hundreds if not thousands of kilometres around.
Before any acquisition, we engage early with Traditional Custodians, and the first step is listening to their vision for Country. Through collaboration with the Badimia Bandi Barna Aboriginal Corporation and the Yamatji Southern Regional Corporation, future activities may include cultural mapping, on-Country trips, ranger involvement and shared land management, including fire.
Pest management
Our Integrated Pest Management Program throughout mid-west WA, targets cats and foxes. Feral predator control is critical to protect native species, such as the nationally vulnerable Malleefowl.
Our fox control program has been in place for many years. Feral cats are much harder to bait as they prefer to catch live prey rather than scavenge. Several methods have been tested including Felixer units. Felixers are a novel, humane and automated tool that uses rangefinder sensors to distinguish cats and foxes from nontarget wildlife, before spraying them with a measured dose of toxic gel.
Image Information
The Felixer in the field. Photo Dr Alex Curt.
