A three-million-dollar project to restore Jarramlee–West MacGregor Grasslands Nature Reserve and build a cultural garden is now complete.

Jarramlee–West MacGregor Grasslands Nature Reserve is a 145-hectare protected area on the north-western border of the ACT. The reserve extends from a small hill, Stony Knob, down to the minor floodplains of Ginninderra and Gooromon Ponds creeks.

It protects part of the second-largest recorded population of the vulnerable golden sun moth in the ACT, and patches of critically endangered natural temperate grassland, forming one of the few known habitats of the rare and locally endemic Canberra raspy cricket.

The remediation works began last year to address issues partly caused by buried infrastructure from the West Belconnen Sewerage treatment facility.

Mick Gentleman, ACT Minister for Planning and Land Management, said years of planning informed the project to protect existing grassland while rehabilitating ground issues at the site.

Native grassland methods were used to restore the degraded land, and revegetate the area with 25,000 plants and 130 kg of native grass seed, Mr Gentleman said.

“The newly restored site will help increase the habitat for the Golden Sun Moth, which relies on temperate grassy ecosystems for survival,” Mr Gentleman said.

A Ngunnawal interpretation space and native ‘entry garden’ were created.

“We’re proud to showcase the deep ecological and cultural importance of Jarramlee Nature Reserve,” Mr Gentleman said. “Ngunnawal people maintain meaningful connections with this land, including Ginninderra Creek, native grasslands, and ceremonial sites within the area.”

The reserve protects 13 Aboriginal heritage sites listed on the ACT Heritage Register, including stone artefacts occurring individually and in scatters on the surface, and is likely to contain further, as-yet-unrecorded Aboriginal heritage sites, the ACT Government states.

Once settled by Europeans in the mid-19th century, the area was primarily used as grazing land. In 1924, part of the current reserve was allocated through the Soldier Settlement Scheme to returned soldier Harrold Bingley. Stony Knob – the highest point of the reserve, at 590 metres above sea level – was used as a trigonometric survey point in 1911 in establishing the proposed ACT border line between Mount Coree and One Tree Hill.

Further information on Jarramlee Nature Reserve is available on the ACT Parks website.