top of page

Check out the Wedderburn CMN newsletter archive and Blogspot

WCMN Newsletter Archive

WCMN Website Blog Page

The Malleefowl - Our Flagship Species

The Malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) is found exclusive

ly on mainland Australia and is a member of the Megapode family. Megapodes are unique - the do not use their body heat to incubate their eggs like most other birds; rather, the eggs are buried in a mound then incubated by external heat sources. Malleefowl use the heat generated by decomposing leaf litter and the sun to heat their mounds, and constantly manipulate the soil depth and mound shape to regulate the temperature. Amazingly, despite a wide range of day and night temperatures over the seasons, Malleefowl are able to keep their egg chambers at a constant temperature. The Malleefowl is recognised as a nationally threatened species and is listed as Endangered in Victoria.

Learn more about Malleefowl

Wedderburn CMN Target Area

Tap/Click Above Maps to Zoom

The Wedderburn CMN covers an area of approximately 170,000 ha between the townships of Wedderburn and Wychitella, in the North Central Catchment Management Authority area of Victoria. The area includes fragmented public land blocks and freehold properties important for conservation of Box-Ironbark forests and woodlands.

The Wedderburn landscape consists of large remnant blocks including Wychitella Nature Conservation Reserve and Kooyoora State Park, scattered small remnant blocks, roadside native vegetation, smaller areas supporting large remnant trees and rare native pastures. 

The Wedderburn CMN Committee

The Wedderburn CMN Committee consists of residents and landholders, along with representatives from Loddon Shire Council, the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Parks Victoria, Australian Bush Heritage and the North Central Catchment Management Authority. The committee formulates actions with respect to conservation of biodiversity issues and community engagement / education, based on informed opinion and research from a wide network of sources. The Wedderburn CMN has its first meeting in September 2003.

Role of the Wedderburn CMN

The Wedderburn CMN is a network of interested people, including individuals and both public and private land managers who have come together to promote a shared aim. That shared aim is to work with the general community to promote profitable, productive, and sustainable human enterprises while conserving and enhancing the biodiversity of the Wedderburn area. To achieve this aim, the Wedderburn CMN acts as a resource base which attempts to provide a focus for:

  • communicating information to and from the community about the current status of environmental assets​
  • community input into decisions made about possible responses to threats to these environmental assets
  • communicating with specialised sections of the community concerning the management of such things as pest species, endangered species, grazing pressure, revegetation and enhancing habitat
  • informing landholders of incentives to participate in achieving the shared aim
  • arranging practical responses to environmental issues involving participation by community members.
bottom of page