Introducing Pooginook West 

Nature Foundation is delighted to announce the acquisition and establishment of its tenth nature reserve, Pooginook West Nature Reserve. This 2,396-hectare reserve is on the traditional lands of the Ngawait people, about 25 kilometres northeast of Waikerie. Crucially, Pooginook West sits beside Pooginook Conservation Park to significantly increase the connectivity and amount of protected land available for local species. The site will also provide a southward migration pathway for key arid-zone species seeking cooler conditions as the climate changes. 

A haven for endangered ecological communities and threatened species

Our initial research indicates that Pooginook West Nature Reserve supports the Critically Endangered Mallee Bird Community of the Murray Darling Depression ecological community, and may be home to the nationally Endangered Black-eared Miner, four nationally Vulnerable bird species and seven Rare South Australian bird species.

The Murray Mallee Striated Grasswren (nationally Endangered) has been previously been recorded in the area and we hope it may find a home at Pooginook West in the future.

The reserve also shelters South Australia’s only known (and possibly Australia’s largest) population of the Mallee Bronze Azure Butterfly. Protecting this butterfly’s habitat is vital, as research indicates its extinction is highly likely. 

Right: Murray Mallee Striated Grasswren by Peter Waanders.

Acquiring and protecting Pooginook West is just the start  

The property was a working farm, with sheep and cropping. Around 400-hectares had been cleared for cropping and this has dramatically affected the site’s ability to naturally revegetate. This land will now need to be actively managed to increase biodiversity and support native flora and fauna. Habitat and biodiversity monitoring, fencing, weed control and pest animal control are all needed to start the conservation process, but revegetation will be our long-term focus. 

Nature Foundation has successfully secured a Native Vegetation Council Restoration Grant to help support this work over the next 10 years. But we need your help now to fast track Pooginook West’s restoration program and protect the critical Mallee species it supports.

Learn more about Pooginook West here.

Support the Forever Nature Fund: Pooginook West Restoration Appeal here.