The Walker Swamp Restoration Reserve is situated in the southern Grampians region adjacent to the Grampians National Park, a short drive from the picturesque town of Dunkeld in the floodplain of the Wannon River.
The Reserve comprises a total of approximately 1500 acres, including the main ‘Walker Swamp’ restored wetlands (Stage 1 and 2, 2018/19), a magnificent 200 acre area of threatened remnant Manna Gum mixed woodland protection area and restoration area (2023, 390 acres total) and a large-scale woodland revegetation site (2024). This site has a fantastic diversity of habitat types and supports a range of threatened species.
The Walker Swamp wetland was drained decades ago in an attempt to open up the floodplain for agricultural land use, and more recently plantation forestry, which left the site in a modified state. But, thanks to a partnership between Nature Glenelg Trust (NGT), Glenelg Hopkins CMA and the Hamilton Field Naturalists Club (HFNC), the Stage 1 (northern 500 acres) at Walker Swamp was purchased in 2018 to become Nature Glenelg Trust’s first wetland reserve in Victoria. Thanks to additional community support, Stage 2 (a further 535 acres) enabled us to expand the Restoration Reserve and more than double the project area, as well as linking the wetlands to the Grampians National Park. Then, in 2023, even more community support allowed us to purchase Stage 3 high quality Manna Gum forest (200 acres of forest, plus additional cleared area to be de-stocked and restored), and finally in 2024 an addition of the adjacent future large-scale woodland revegetation site.
A huge thanks to all our partners over the years, and our wonderful community of supporters, for helping us turn this vision into a reality.
We would like to thank our supporters, who individually donated to our fundraising campaigns, as well as the following project partners/supporters who contributed to the land purchase for each stage and/or supported the major restoration works, including:
- Stage 1 – Glenelg Hopkins CMA and the Hamilton Field Naturalists Club (HFNC).
- Stage 2 – Glenelg Hopkins CMA and the Hamilton Field Naturalists Club (HFNC), The Victorian Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Parks Victoria, LandMate Environment Program, Ararat Rural City and The Australian Government.
- Stage 3 – Glenelg Hopkins CMA, The Hamilton Field Naturalists Club (HFNC), and Private philanthropic trusts and foundations including the Purryburry Trust the Drakensberg Trust.
- Stage 4 – Glenelg Hopkins CMA, The Hamilton Field Naturalists Club (HFNC) and a $595,000 grant a from the Victorian Government, through the Nature Fund Program.
If you click on the story links at the bottom of this page, you will see just how far the restoration journey of Walker Swamp has come to date – but this is just the beginning.
Over the years ahead, Walker Swamp will continue to recover and be restored to its former glory.
Tax-deductible donations to the NGT Foundation, to support the future management of NGT’s Reserves, can be made on-line, by emailing or by calling Toni Haywood in the NGT regional office on 08 8797 8596.
NGT thanks the following project partners for their support:
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