Gresswell Forest Nature Conservation Reserve
Controlled burning to eradicate weeds in Gresswell Forest
Gresswell Forest, with an area of 52 ha of Crown land, was originally set up as a buffer zone around the Mont Park Hospital in the early 20th century when tuberculosis was a common disease and patients needed to be isolated from surrounding housing. It was transferred to the management of La Trobe University in 1978 to provide residents with an insight into the University’s commitment to maintain a role in the wider community through its work in restoration biology. Gresswell Forest was the primary model for the restoration of the La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary. The only other surviving large tract remnant of a River Red Gum Woodland on Silurian geology being on the Simpson (Watsonia) Army Barracks.
Friends of the Wildlife Reserve
Gresswell Forest was excised from Mont Park Hospital in 1976 and a chain mesh fence erected around the site the following year. In the early years vandalism and fires were a major problem. To address this Artie Kovacs was appointed as a full time ranger in 1979. Artie commenced a public relations exercise which involved visiting local youths and taking them on tours of the reserve before appointing them ‘deputy rangers’. He formed ‘Arties Army’ a working bee group that removed car bodies and mended holes in the fence. Community involvement, and their increasing awareness of the natural values of the bushland, has been fundamental to the success of Gresswell Forest. Today, an enthusiastic band of volunteers from Conservation Volunteers Australia and the Friends Group (Friends of the Wildlife Reserves Inc.) carry on this community involvement.
Lomandra, the food plant of the Symmomus Skipper Butterfly
In 1990 the Symmomus Skipper Butterfly was introduced to Gresswell Forest. Lomandra (food plant of the butterfly) sites in northeast Melbourne were visited to collect butterfly eggs. Caterpillars were released into Gresswell Forest and butterflies were observed the first summer. It has since found its way to the La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary. This was a first for butterfly conservation in Australia.
In 1997, as part of a greater flora and fauna survey, Gresswell Forest was found to be a site of Regional Faunal Significance with High Habitat Significance. It contains one of the largest, least fragmented, and most intact stands of alluvial plain grassy woodland in the inner Melbourne area. In 1986 a short video was produce to commemorate this significance and to introduce school students to the importance of Australian woodland ecology. To obtain a copy of this video please contact us.
Faunal records
The following are important faunal records for Gresswell Forest Nature Conservation Reserve.
Vulnerable (now listed as endangered)
- Swift Parrot (20 recorded in 1987)
Rare
- Birds: Barking Owl
- Bats: Eastern Broad-nosed
- Fish: Broad-finned Galaxias
Regional Significance
- Bats: Eastern Broad-nosed, Southern Freetail, Southern Forest
- Reptiles: Blotched Blue-tongue Lizard, White’s Skink, Large Striped Skink, Eastern Three-lined Skink, Tussock Skink
Regionally Endangered
- Birds: Dollarbird, White-bellied Cuckoo-shrike, Little Friarbird
- Bats: Eastern Broad-nosed
Regionally Vulnerable
- Birds Barking Owl, Fuscous Honeyeater
- Bats Southern Freetail
- Fish Broad-finned Galaxias (2 recorded in central Billabong in 1996)
Regionally Rare
- Birds White-browed Woodswallow
Regionally Depleted
- Birds Peregrine Falcon, Australian King Parrot, Swift Parrot, Rufous Songlark
- Reptiles White’s Skink
- Frogs Bibron’s Toadlet
Regionally Restricted
- Birds Great Egret, Australian Hobby, Barn Owl, Rainbow Lorikeet, Spiny Cheeked Honeyeater
- Reptiles Large-striped Skink, Tussock Skink
- Frogs Striped Marsh Frog
Getting there
You can enter Gresswell Forest, Bundoora, via a number of pedestrian gates (no bikes or dogs allowed). At the Greenwood Drive access gate there is off-street parking, picnic facilities and a public toilet.
References
(1994). Mont Park Habitat Link Revised Draft Management Plan.
Beardsell, C. (1997). Sites of faunal and habitat significance in North East Melbourne. Nillumbik Shire Council.
Carr, G.W. (1980). Proposed Development of the Vegetation of La Trobe University Wildlife Reserve. La Trobe University, Bundoora.
Phillipp, K., Tattersall, A., Paras, G., Zann, R., Daniell, A. La Trobe University Wildlife Reserves Campus Reserve and Gresswell Forest. Triennial Report 1991-1993. La Trobe University, Bundoora.
These references are available to view at the La Trobe Wildlife Sanctuary Library.
