KRM Branch, 16 September 2024

Jolanda Keeble was the guest speaker for the September general meeting on the biodiversity of Wongan Hills. This presentation was timely, given the KRMB excursion to Wongan Hills scheduled for the following weekend.

Jolanda started her talk with a summary of the history of Wongan Hills from 1829 (the date of the landing of Captain James Stirling at Fremantle) onwards. This summary included discussions of surveys of the Wongan Hills by various explorers and scientific experts. The Western Australian Naturalists’ Club played a part in the natural history of the area in 1973 when invited by Curators of the Wongan-Ballidu District Museum to undertake a regional biological survey.

Several years of work have culminated in the publication of the handbook The Natural History of the Wongan Hills in 1977. The survey identified 459 taxa, including 405 flowering plants, 35 fungi, 12 Lichens, a bird list of 125 species, and many amphibians and reptiles.

Jolanda then discussed her involvement at Wongan Hills, performing monthly surveys of reserves within a 10km radius of the township of Wongan Hills over a two-year period that will culminate in the publication of a book on the region’s flora. Her surveys have identified 682 species, including 57 new records. She then showed a series of slides highlighting some of the flora she has found in the region. She also advised the groups where to base our explorations of the reserves the following weekend.

The audience thanked Jolanda for her presentation and the advice she provided.

Colin Prickett