Related: Protection and preservation
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LAWAN, in the language of the Dja Dja Wurrung people, means malleefowl.
It is for the threatened bird species that Bush Heritage Australia has named its newest block in Victoria, which is located near Wychitella and joins three other properties in making up the organisation’s Nardoo Hills Reserves.
Lawan lies adjacent to Parks Victoria’s Wychitella Nature Conservation Reserve and is another link in the creation of a bush corridor through the area that will provide a more sustainable, supportive habitat for native animals.
Bush Heritage Victorian reserves manager Jeroen van Veen said fragmentation was “the number one threat”, with bird species such as the malleefowl, the hooded robin and the diamond firetail particularly at risk.
Mr van Veen said blocks of good-quality remnant bush in the area were isolated, which exposed populations of native species to inbreeding and left them vulnerable to disease, fire and flood.
“It’s very important we reconnect those blocks up,” he said.
“Through buying the Lawan block, and then revegetating the land that was cleared here, we connect all those bits up together to create a continuous bit of bush, about four times the size of the Lawan block itself.”
Mr van Veen said it was believed there were just 20 to 30 malleefowl left in the Wychitella NCR.
They are restricted to that area and cannot travel between patches of scrub without exposing themselves to deadly birds of prey, like the wedge-tailed eagle.
The small malleefowl population does not yet appear to be suffering the ill effects of a lack of genetic diversity, but nesting activity has fallen over the past two decades and the population is stagnant, with new chicks having nowhere to go.
Mr van Veen said work on Lawan so far had included planting the seeds of native plants like the Mallee wattle and the blue leaf Mallee.
Other efforts have included the removal of high-threat weeds, and the creation of exclosure plots to give native species prone to being eaten by herbivores, like the buloke, a chance to thrive.
Mr van Veen said the non-government organisation was reliant on the financial support of the public to do its work across Australia, along with the occasional government grant.
Volunteers also provide labour, with working bee weekends held on the Wedderburn area’s reserves on the weekend to undertake such activities as weed removal.