About The Reserve
Berrima Wildlife Reserve covers an area of ~10 hectares / 27 acres at the northern end of Sutton Street, Berrima with ~ 500m frontage to the Wingecarribee River. It comprises open woodland which leads down the riparian zone and riverbank. There's a disused cricket pitch near the entrance to the reserve
The woodland has a large healthy core of native vegetation with sporadic and occasionally dense patches of woody weeds. The condition of riparian area is extremely dynamic due to riverine flooding and, was until the early - mid 2020s, infested with Blackberry and Hemlock. The old cricket pitch area has two distinct areas: one is dominated by weedy species such as Serrated Tussock and St John’s Wort, the other is dominated by Kangaroo Grass. The Kangaroo Grass is winning, slowly outcompeting the weedy species.
Land Management Aspirations
Berrima Wildlife Reserve is crown land, administered by a group of volunteer trustees. In 2021 the trustees set up a Landcare group to restore, maintain and protect the reserve. The group aims to
- Protect and restore the woodland area and habitat used by native fauna. Fauna observed at the reserve includes Wombats, a small mob of Kangaroos, Swamp Wallaby, Possums and a large variety of birds (27+ observed to date)
- Protect and restore riparian zones and habitat for local populations of platypus, rakali and water dragons.
- Encourage the expansion of the Kangaroo Grass and other native species in the old cricket pitch area.
- Provide access to sections of the reserve for walking, whilst protecting fragile areas of the river frontage and riparian zone.
The reserve has it's own project page on the iNaturalist app where you can see pictures of species that have been observed at the site.
Plant Community Types mapped to the site can be accessed via the Trees Near Me App
