Moorunde Wildlife Reserve
| Moorundee Wildlife Reserve South Australia | |
|---|---|
|
IUCN category III (natural monument or feature) | |
  Moorundee Wildlife Reserve | |
| Nearest town or city | Sedan |
| Coordinates | 34°28′00″S 139°27′27″E / 34.46667°S 139.45750°ECoordinates: 34°28′00″S 139°27′27″E / 34.46667°S 139.45750°E |
| Established | 1968 |
| Area | 69.00 km2 (26.6 sq mi) |
| Managing authorities | Natural History Society of South Australia |
| Website | Moorundee Wildlife Reserve |
| See also | Protected areas of South Australia |
Moorunde Wildlife Reserve is a private protected area located in South Australia near the Murray River, between Blanchetown and Swan Reach. Located in the mallee scrub of South Australia, it was the first sanctuary established specifically for the southern hairy-nosed wombat. Currently with a total area of 6,900ha, it is one of the largest wombat sanctuaries in Australia. Moorunde Wildlife Reserve is managed by the Natural History Society of South Australia.
History
In 1967, wombat enthusiasts Mr & Mrs Conquest of Adelaide approached members of the Natural History Society of South Australia, keen to establish a sanctuary for Hairy-nosed Wombats. The Society had earlier lobbied the state government to create a sanctuary on the Nullarbor Plains in far-west South Australia, however the government failed to pursue this action. In 1968, the Society launched a public appeal to raise money to purchase land in the Murraylands, between the Mount Lofty Ranges and the Murray River. The appeal was tremendously successful with publicity and support from the Sunday Mail newspaper and the Adelaide Bank, donations from many schools, community groups, private businesses and individuals. Monies donated allowed the Society to purchase 2,000ha of station-land near Blanchetown. The land had been heavily grazed by sheep and denuded of much of the original native vegetation. Since then, regrowth of trees, shrubs, mosses and lichens that have returned this land to a bio diverse habitat. The population of wombats has slowly recovered in numbers, albeit not without new pressures from introduced weeds and grazing competition from other animals. In 2007, the Society purchased an additional 4,900ha of adjacent land, commonly referred to as the Twelve Mile Plain, bringing the total area of Moorunde Wildlife Reserve to 6,900ha.
Neighbouring Reserves
In 1973, the Chicago Zoological Park purchased land to the north of Moorunde and established Brookfield Conservation Park as a wombat sanctuary. Several years later, Brookfield was gifted to the State Government of South Australia. It is now managed by Conservation Volunteers Australia. In the 1990s, Earth Sanctuaries established Yookamurra Sanctuary adjacent to the south of Moorunde. These three large reserves, together with numerous smaller private properties protected by native vegetation heritage agreements, now form a large contiguous area providing a protected habitat for wombats and many other native animals.
Research Projects and Activities
The Natural History Society conducts and supports numerous research projects and activities at Moorunde to gather more knowledge on the wombats and to improve their habitat. Projects include:
- Wombat population estimation
- Rainfall data collection
- Grazing competition studies using preferential exclosures
- Native grass reestablishment
- Diet determination through scat DNA analysis
- Behaviour observations using motion sensor cameras
- Bird species surveys - biodiversity indicators
- Native scrub regeneration photo surveys
- Weed and feral animal control
Protected area status
As of 2014, land that forms the Moorunde Wildlife Reserve is subject to three native vegetation heritage agreements created in 2008 under the Native Vegetation Act 1991 (SA) where its owner, the Natural History Society of South Australia, has agreed to protect the property’s native vegetation in perpetuity.[1][2][3][4][5][6] It is classified as an IUCN Category III protected area.[6]
See also
References
- ↑ "Official Record for Unnamed (No.HA410)". World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), a joint project of IUCN and UNEP. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ↑ "Official Record for Unnamed (No.HA1412)". World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), a joint project of IUCN and UNEP. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ↑ "Official Record for Unnamed (No.HA1417)". World Database on Protected Areas (WDPA), a joint project of IUCN and UNEP. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ↑ "Moorunde Wildlife Reserve Location Map" (PDF). Natural History Society of South Australia. 2014. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
- ↑ "Protected Areas of South Australia September (Map) 2014 Edition" (PDF). Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
- 1 2 "Terrestrial Protected Areas of South Australia (see 'DETAIL' tab)". CAPAD 2014. Australian Government, Department of the Environment (DoE). 2014. Retrieved 13 March 2015.