Western Grassland Reserve – Protecting a Rare Natural Treasure
Native grasslands are open areas covered mainly by grasses and wildflowers. These landscapes once stretched across much of western Victoria but are now critically endangered, with most of them lost to farming or development. They are home to unique plants and animals that exist nowhere else in the world.
To save what’s left, the State Government is gradually buying privately owned land west of Melbourne to create the Western Grassland Reserve, which will protect and restore these grasslands for the future. Once the land is acquired, the reserve will be managed by Parks Victoria, with ongoing support from the State Government.
Once complete, the reserve will cover 15,000 hectares, with 12,800ha in Wyndham (more than 20% of Wyndham’s land mass) making it the largest piece of protected land in metropolitan Melbourne.
To help picture its size, the reserve is:
- As big as 7,500 Melbourne Cricket Grounds (MCGs)
- Over four times the size of Dandenong Ranges National Park
- One and a half times the size of Phillip Island
Why It Matters
The Western Grassland Reserve is not just about land, it’s about saving rare and threatened species, such as:
- Fat-tailed Dunnart (a tiny, mouse-sized marsupial)
- Striped Legless Lizard
- Golden Sun Moth
- Spiny Rice-flower
- Matted Flax-lily
But protecting grasslands isn't easy. They’re under constant pressure from invasive weeds, pests, and overgrazing by livestock, all of which damage the delicate balance of native plants and animals.
Caring for the Land – Now and Into the Future
Creating the full reserve will take time. In the meantime, an important partnership has been formed to help private owners manage weeds and promote native vegetation.
In 2020, the Western Grassland Reserve Interim Management Partnership was established. This is a collaboration between Wyndham City Council and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) through its Melbourne Strategic Assessment Program.
The partnership assists eligible landowners within the Western Grassland Reserve area to manage their land through Wyndham City’s Land Protection Grant Scheme. Key activities include:
- Targeted weed control
- Grazing management improvements
- Planned ecological burns
- Revegetation efforts
- Ecological surveys
So far, the partnership has achieved:
- 9,000 hectares of weed control
- 3,800 hectares of plant and vegetation surveys
This work is helping protect the grasslands now, and laying the groundwork for their future as part of a protected, publicly managed reserve.
If you’d like to know more about this Victorian State Government Initiative, visit their Western Grassland Reserve website.
If you are a landowner or land manager within the Western Grassland Reserve area and would like more information, please see this website.
