Above: The WA Christmas Tree (Nuytsia floribunda) flowering in the reserve

The Toodyay Naturalists’ Club Inc. (TNC) have played a significant role in the preservation of Toodyay’s crown land, and are responsible for suggesting that areas of high conservation value are reserved under the State’s reserve system, including many Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) reserves.

Mavis Jefferys Nature Reserve is an ‘A Class’ DPaW reserve, located on Sandplain Road, 8km south of Toodyay townsite. An 18ha sandplain reserve containing jarrah and banksia, half of the reserve was badly burnt in the major Toodyay bushfire of December 2009. Some of the remaining areas of the reserve are infected with Phytophthora cinnamomi or dieback disease.

The late Mavis Jefferys was a former President of the CWA, and was largely responsible for saving the reserve from development. Mavis was also a former President of the TNC.

The TNC is working with DPaW on a monitoring programme in the reserve. This includes a ‘Rapid Bushland Assessment’, undertaken over a number of years. It includes the monitoring of birds and flora in both the burnt and un-burnt areas of the reserve.

Above: TNC members injecting a banksia tree with a chemical to protect against Phytophthora cinnamomi or dieback disease