A large private nature reserve at the transitional frontier between southwestern woodlands and arid rangeland in Western Australia.
Mount Gibson Sanctuary
Mount Gibson Sanctuary is a 1,305-square-kilometre private nature reserve located roughly 350 kilometres north-east of Perth in mid-west Western Australia, near the town of Dalwallinu. It sits on the northern edge of the Wheatbelt and the southern margin of uncleared rangeland, placing it squarely on the ecological transition between the heavily cleared southwestern agricultural zone and the arid interior.
The reserve is owned and managed by the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and combines a striking mix of rocky ranges, floodplains, claypans, salt lakes, and sandplains. Because it lies along the mulga-eucalypt line, Mount Gibson carries a transitional flora that includes Wheatbelt woodlands that have been largely cleared elsewhere, supporting stands of salmon gum, York gum, and gimlet eucalypts alongside more arid-zone vegetation.
Wildlife is a defining part of the sanctuary's identity, with both red and western grey kangaroos present, along with Mitchell's hopping mouse, malleefowl, Major Mitchell's cockatoo, and the threatened regent parrot. Western quolls have been reintroduced while ongoing management focuses on feral animal control, landscape rehabilitation, and wildfire response.
