Pooginook West Nature Reserve

Located on Ngawait country in the Riverland, South Australia, this former farmland offers significant opportunities for revegetation, supporting local native species and providing a refuge for the future migration of key arid-zone species.

Introducing Pooginook West

Pooginook West Nature Reserve is located on Ngawait country, northeast of Waikerie, in the Riverland, South Australia. Adjacent to Pooginook Conservation Park and in the same region as Gluepot Reserve, the establishment of Pooginook West Nature Reserve by Nature Foundation provides a valuable expansion of native habitat, supporting local native species and the future southward migration of key arid-zone species under warming climate scenarios.

Used as farming land before its acquisition, the remnant native vegetation consists of eucalyptus mallee forest and mallee woodland, low open tussock spinifex grassland, and red sandy soil. Four hundred hectares of the land have been cleared and cropped periodically over the past 40 years, while sheep have grazed the remaining remnant vegetation to varying degrees. This offers significant opportunities to support revegetation across the reserve, through natural revegetation in remnant vegetation areas supported by grazing and weed management, and active revegetation in the cleared section through direct seeding and tubestock planting, thereby enhancing available habitat for local fauna.

Pooginook West Nature Reserve has the habitat types to potentially support eight nationally-listed bird species, 17 state-listed birds, and one threatened ecological community. Ecologically rich, the area is home to key species such as the nationally Endangered Black-eared Miner and contains the only recorded site of the Mallee Bronze Azure Butterfly in South Australia, possibly the largest population in Australia.

Nature Foundation has successfully secured a Native Vegetation Council (NVC) Restoration Grant that will support essential conservation actions for 10 years, including baseline biodiversity monitoring, the establishment of a tailored conservation management plan, feral animal control activities, and revegetation efforts. This funding will also support a new native vegetation Heritage Agreement over a large portion of the reserve's remnant vegetation, with the opportunity for the remaining area to be included in the future following suitable improvement in the native vegetation in response to appropriate conservation actions.

Additional land management activities can be supported by donating to our Forever Nature Fund.

The establishment of the Pooginook West Nature Reserve will help support the long-term protection of key native species and significantly enhance conservation efforts and results throughout the broader region.

Reserve Management

Initial baseline biological surveys and other activities are required, and the results of these will provide initial management recommendations and inform a more detailed management plan.

Traditional Custodians

Pooginook is located on the traditional lands of the Ngawait people.

Nature Foundation are committed to developing partnerships with Aboriginal people to enhance conservation outcomes and increase cultural understanding and will connect and consult with traditional custodians of the area. 

Visit Pooginook West Nature Reserve

Nature Foundation may in the future open Pooginook Nature Reserve during member events or volunteer activities that support conservation work on the property.

To find out how to get involved with conservation activities on our Nature Reserves see our volunteer program details.