Comprehensive biodiversity survey of Wategora Reserve and Everley Park along Duck River, western Sydney

When asked to think about biodiversity, and where it’s distributed, most people will think about national parks, remote forests, and other areas outside major human population centres. But cities can also play host to species-rich communities, especially within urban green spaces. Sydney is a great example of this often under-appreciated component of biodiversity; although many parts of the city are heavily urbanised, there are also pockets of remnant vegetation scattered throughout, even in the most built-up areas.

One such pocket can be found along the Duck River in southwestern Sydney. Starting from Birrong in the south, the river flows northwards for 11 km until it joins with the Parramatta River. On its western bank, in the suburbs of Chester Hill, South Granville and Auburn, is a small fragment of remnant bushland: Wategora Reserve. The reserve contains a significant patch of the critically endangered ecological community Cooks River/Castlereagh Ironbark Forest of the Sydney Basin. Occurring on mostly clay soils, and largely restricted to the general western Sydney area, this community is threatened by land clearing, the invasion of non-native plants, and other human disturbances.

From 2020-2022, I conducted a comprehensive biodiversity survey of Wategora Reserve, and the riparian vegetation adjacent to Everley Park directly south of the reserve. Across a total of ~380 hours of survey time, within an area of ~25 ha, I recorded 1931 species. In a further ~72 hours of surveying from 11 November 2022 onwards, I have recorded an additional 146 species, bringing the total to 2077. My final report, which contains maps, discussions of threats and important processes in the survey area, and an annotated checklist covering all observed species, can be downloaded at the link below:

Final report on Duck River Biodiversity

The contents of this report are also summarised on this website.

I’d like to acknowledge that my survey was conducted on the land of the Wategora Clan of the Dharug Nation.