Gondwana Link’s Post

We love it when we're proved wrong on how long revegetation takes to move towards a fully functioning ecosystem - because it is happening faster than we initially thought! We are delighted with the news, outlined in the Medial Release below from the Wildflower Society's Eddy Wajon, that it only took 17 years for orchids to start appearing in the revegetation undertaken on Chingarrup Sanctuary, the first property purchased for conservation in the Gondwana Link ecological pathway (Fitz-Stirling section). And malleefowl!! (Images are also from Eddy) Excerpts from a Media Release by from Eddy and Donna below: "FIRST NATIVE ORCHIDS FOUND IN REVEGETATION 26 October 2025 The first native orchids have been found in revegetation undertaken as part of Gondwana Link, an ambitious project to re-connect the bush from Margaret River to east of Kalgoorlie. At the Biodiversity Conference being held in the University Club at the University of Western Australia from 28 to 30 October 2025, Dr Eddy Wajon, co-owner of Chingarrup Sanctuary, will announce that 6 native orchid species had been observed in revegetation 17-21 years after planting. This should be compared with the prediction made by Keith Bradby, CEO of Gondwana Link Ltd, that it would probably take 40-50 years for native orchids to be observed in revegetation undertaken in the Great Southern Wheatbelt. The six orchid species included one individual of Cyanicula aperta (Western Tiny Blue Orchid) which was found in 2022, 17 years after revegetation, and again in 2023, in vegetation planted in 2005 from seed which did not include orchid seed. Then in early October 2025, significant numbers of 5 orchid species (Caladenia barbarossa (Common Dragon Orchid), Caladenia doutchiae (Purple-veined Spider Orchid), Caladenia falcata (Fringed Mantis Orchid), Pterostylis picta (Painted Rufous Greenhood) and Pterostylis sargentii (Frog Orchid)) were found in vegetation planted in 2004, 21 years after revegetation from seed which did not include orchid seed. . . . Now, they see Malleefowl on every 4 to 6-weekly visit. . . . Eddy Wajon and his wife were the first buyers in Gondwana Link. They bought 2 properties, Chingarrup Sanctuary, a 572ha property in Boxwood Hill, and Mondurup View, a 46ha property in Tenterden, on opposite sides of the Stirling Ranges, for the same price, on the same day (23 December 2002) solely for conservation. Most of Chingarrup Sanctuary was cleared in the 1970s and 1980s. When Eddy and Donna bought it, all but 100ha had regrown. With the help of BHA, Greening Australia and Shell Reconnections, about 90ha of that 100ha was revegetated in 2004, 2005 and 2007 from seed of 50 different species, mostly Acacias, Melaleucas, Eucalypts, Sheoaks, Callistemons and Calothamnus. About 95% of that revegetation has survived. Flora and fauna surveys have found 670 native flora species and 950 native fauna species on the property." "