Mortlake Common Flora Reserve

Settlement of the area dates from the late 1830s, with land used mainly for grazing. Growth was minimal until the 1850s when the township of Mortlake and several smaller villages were established. Expansion continued in the 1880s and early 1890s, aided by the construction of the railway line. Significant development occurred during the interwar period and the immediate post-war years, aided by the soldier settlement scheme. The primary land use around the reserve has been dryland pasture and other primary production. The reserve was regularly grazed in the past by landholders without large land holdings, most likely set stock with low numbers. Shire documents from 1979 indicate that on average 130 cattle were kept on the Mortlake Common along with 6-10 horses. Upon recognition for its significant representation of threatened ecological communities, the Common was gazetted as a Preservation of Native Plants Reserve and management responsibility was transferred to Parks Victoria in 1997. While licensed grazing ceased in 1993, an agreement with a local stock agent kept sheep on Mortlake Common until 2007, with the sheep generally removed before the autumn break and not returned until the arrival of dry conditions around late January. Short, intense pulse grazing was also used as a technique for reducing biomass. No grazing has taken place since 2007. Since then, fire has been the main tool to manage biomass, with burns in early 2008, 2009 and 2012. Other recent conservation efforts have included control of gorse and grassy weeds, grassy biomass monitoring and monitoring of threatened orchid populations, carried out by Nature Glenelg Trust through a grant from DELWP.