Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve
| Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve Victoria | |
|---|---|
|
IUCN category Ia (strict nature reserve) | |
  Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve | |
| Nearest town or city | Yellingbo |
| Coordinates | 37°50′S 145°29′E / 37.833°S 145.483°ECoordinates: 37°50′S 145°29′E / 37.833°S 145.483°E |
| Established | 1965 |
| Area | 4.6 km2 (1.8 sq mi) |
| Managing authorities | Parks Victoria |
| See also | Protected areas of Victoria |
Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve is a 4.6 km2 (2 sq mi) nature reserve 50 km (31 mi) east of Melbourne, in Victoria, Australia. It lies in the Upper Yarra Valley, near the towns of Yellingbo and Macclesfield. The reserve is managed by Parks Victoria, which also manages adjoining freehold land along Cockatoo Creek, owned by the Victorian Trust for Nature, as if it were part of the reserve.[1]
Values
Yellingbo is a largely linear reserve containing stream-frontage land along the Woori Yallock, Shepherd, Cockatoo, Macclesfield and Sheep Station Creeks. It is important for the conservation of the last wild colonies of a critically endangered bird, the helmeted honeyeater, Victoria’s avifaunal emblem, of which it holds the last known established wild population,[2] and for which the protection and preservation of its habitat is the main goal of reserve management. It has been assigned the International Union for the Conservation of Nature’s Category 1A (Strict Nature Reserve) for Protected Areas, indicating that it is managed primarily for science. It is listed on the Register of the National Estate in recognition of the area’s outstanding natural values and its importance as part of Australia’s natural heritage.[3]
History
With increasing community concern about declining helmeted honeyeater numbers, and following recommendations from the Victorian Ornithological Research Group and the Bird Observers Club,[4] in 1965 some areas, including sections of public land along the Woori Yallock, Cockatoo and Sheep Station Creeks, were reserved as the Yellingbo State Wildlife Reserve by the Victorian Government for wildlife conservation. Subsequently several contiguous areas were acquired by the Government by purchase or donation, increasing the area protected. In 1994 the Victorian Land Conservation Council recommended that most of these, as well as some other areas, should be consolidated as the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve. Since then, further small parcels of land have been added to the reserve.[5]
Flora and fauna
Among the 285 native plant species, the reserve protects areas of sedge-rich mountain swamp gum forest, which is considered to be of national significance.
Some 230 native vertebrates are present; as well as the helmeted honeyeater, other significant species present are the endangered Leadbeater’s possum (Victoria’s mammal emblem), the platypus, yellow-bellied glider, black wallaby, rakali, swamp rat, spotless crake, powerful owl, southern emuwren, swamp skink, mountain Galaxias and southern pigmy perch.[6]
Access
There is no general public access to the reserve, though guided tours are organised by the Friends of the helmeted honeyeater, and through Bird Observation & Conservation Australia.
References
Notes
Sources
- Anon (2004). Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve Management Plan (PDF). Melbourne: Parks Victoria. ISBN 0-7311-8307-X.
- Menkhorst, Peter (2008). Background and Implementation Information for the Helmeted Honeyeater Lichenostomus melanops cassidix National Recovery Plan (PDF). Melbourne: Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria. ISBN 1-74152-357-5.