Chereninup Creek. Photo: Chinch Gryniewicz.
The Gondwana Link Project aims to reconnect and restore country across south-west WA, so that ecosystem function and biodiversity are restored or maintained. Its scope is from the karri forest of the south-west corner to the woodlands and mallee bordering the Nullarbor Plain.
The project will repair some of the ecological damage inflicted by land clearing and unsustainable land management practices.
Our work in the region involves restoring and reconnecting fragmented habitats between the Stirling Range and Fitzgerald River National Parks.
Bushland on the banks of a freshwater pool at Beringa Reserve. Photo: Chinch Gryniewicz.
The project was the first of its kind in Australia and is operating in a global biodiversity hotspot. It brings together many partners with complementary skills that benefit the environment and local and regional communities.
Our Chereninup Creek Reserve, Monjebup Reserve (including Monjebup North and Red Moort) and Beringa Reserve all contribute to Gondwana Link.
Working in partnership
Bush Heritage is a major stakeholder in this initiative and is responsible for buying and protecting areas of remnant habitat. Some of our reserves also have areas of cleared land where revegetation work is reconnecting bushland.
Work in the Stirling Ranges to Fitzgerald River section of Gondwana Link is a partnership between Bush Heritage and the following groups:
Simon Smale and Angela Sanders creating a refuge for reptiles. Photo Amanda Keesing.
- Greening Australia works in partnership with landholders, the community, government and business to tackle environmental degradation in a practical, apolitical, scientific way. It has considerable experience in environmental restoration and is committed to large-scale revegetation with native species and the trial of native species for ecologically sensitive industries.
- The Fitzgerald Biosphere Group is a non-profit grower and natural resource management group in the Shire of Jerramungup on the south coast of WA. It works with farmers, researchers, industry groups and federal and state agencies to address local production (i.e: diseases, pests and nutrient limitations) and natural resource management issues (i.e: salinity, soil acidification and biodiversity) to ensure the long-term sustainability of the agriculture industry and regional communities.
- The Nature Conservancy's mission is to preserve the plants, animals and natural communities that represent the diversity of life on Earth by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive.
- Friends of the Fitzgerald River National Park supports and promotes the appreciation, enjoyment and study of the Fitzgerald River National Park in a manner consistent with its high conservation values.
A sleepy Honey Possum at Chingarrup property in the Gondwana Link project. Photo Annette Ruzicka.
Private conservation buyers
Private landholders are contributing to Gondwana Link by buying and managing private conservation properties in the area. Eddy and Donna Wajon purchased Chingarrup Sanctuary in 2002, and Bill and Jane Thompson bought Yarraweyah Falls in 2012, becoming the first resident private conservation owners on the project. Under partnership agreements we contribute to annual work programs on their properties.