Gondwana Link is one of the largest and most ambitious conservation projects proposed in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

’s history. Designed to protect and restore the ecological integrity of land areas across south-west Western Australia, a

biodiversity Biodiversity is the variability of life, life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and Phylogenetics, phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distribut ...

hotspot, the completed link will be a continuous stretch of reconnected

bushland In Australia, bushland is a blanket term for land which supports remnant natural area, remnant vegetation or land which is disturbed but still retains a predominance of the original floristics and structure. Human survival in bushland has a wh ...

stretching for a 1000 km from the wet forests in the State’s far southwest to the dry woodlands and shrublands bordering the

Nullarbor Plain The Nullarbor Plain ( ; Latin: feminine of 'no' and 'tree') is part of the area of flat, almost treeless, arid or semi-arid country of southern Australia, located on the Great Australian Bight coast with the Great Victoria Desert to its no ...

History

Extensive agricultural clearing in parts of this region have led to fragmentation of the native ecosystems. But across the Gondwana Link pathway, much of the native bushland remains and this further supports the intentions of the Gondwana Link vision. The Gondwana Link project began in 2002 as an informal coalition with the purchase of Chereninup Creek Reserve and other activities. It was not until 2012 that an incorporated body was formed with the establishment of Gondwana Link Inc. Operational areas are made up of eight major zones. In the Fitz-Stirling section of 'the Link' Greening Australia, Bush Heritage Australia, Fitzgerald Biosphere Group,

Carbon Neutral Global net-zero emissions is reached when greenhouse gas emissions and Greenhouse gas removal, removals due to human activities are in balance. It is often called simply net zero. ''Emissions'' can refer to all greenhouse gases or only carbon diox ...

and other private landholders and individuals are working together to reconnect the Stirling Range and

Fitzgerald River National Park Fitzgerald River National Park is a national park in the Shire of Ravensthorpe, Shires of Ravensthorpe and the Shire of Jerramungup in Western Australia, southeast of Perth. The park is recognised on National Heritage List (Australia), Austral ...

s, currently separated by only 70 km of mainly cleared land. About 2000 ha has been revegetated within this landscape. Land acquisitions and conservation covenants aim to protect the most ecologically important and at-risk private lands, while restoration ecologists help assemble and apply the latest

revegetation Revegetation is the process of replanting and rebuilding the soil of disturbed land. This may be a natural process produced by plant colonization and succession, manmade rewilding projects, accelerated process designed to repair damage to a la ...

techniques to restore native bush habitats. The indigenous Noongar people are also providing support and input, informing all members of the cultural values of the country and sharing their knowledge and story of connection with the land. Greening Australia has purchased or jointly purchased three properties between the National Parks (Nowanup, Beringa and

Yarrabee Yarrabee Wesfarmers Reserve is a 9.23 km2 nature reserve in south-west Western Australia. It is 120 km north-east of Albany and 481 km south-east of Perth. It lies on the eastern boundary of the Stirling Range National Park, and ...

) and has funded a large amount of direct seeding and

tree planting Tree planting is the process of transplanting tree seedlings, generally for forestry, land reclamation, or landscaping purposes. It differs from the transplantation of larger trees in arboriculture and from the lower-cost but slower and les ...

on this land, including up to 650 ha undertaken with local farmers. Bush Heritage Australia has also purchased or jointly purchased three properties in this operational area, including the most recently purchased 'Monjebup North Reserve'. In addition to these two large not-for-profit, non-government-organisations, Carbon Neutral has recently purchased and revegetated a property, and conservation minded landholders are also purchasing and revegetating land in this landscape. One broad aim of the Gondwana Link project is to recreate native vegetation systems that, as far as possible, reflect the original composition and structure of the native

vegetation Vegetation is an assemblage of plants and the ground cover they provide. It is a general term, without specific reference to particular Taxon, taxa, life forms, structure, Spatial ecology, spatial extent, or any other specific Botany, botanic ...

, a varied and diverse mosaic of vegetation associations which often has in excess of 350 plant species recorded per property.

References

* * * {{cite web , url=http://www.greeningaustralia.org.au/uploads/Our%20Solutions%20-%20Toolkit%20pdfs/Gondwana_Link07_web.pdf, title=Gondwana Link - bringing an ancient landscape back to life , accessdate=2012-11-08 , work=, first= , last= , publisher=Greening Australia, date= Nature conservation in Western Australia 2002 establishments in Australia Nature conservation organisations based in Australia