Wadderin

Wadderin Sanctuary is a nature conservation project within the Shire of Narembeen in the eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia.

Wadderin Sanctuary is a nature conservation project within the Shire of Narembeen in the eastern wheatbelt of Western Australia. It is about 290 km east of Perth and 8 kilometres north of the town of Narembeen.Wadderin is surrounded by a fox- and cat-proof fence that was completed in early 2008.This has allowed the reintroduction of fauna that is uncommon or locally extinct in the wheatbelt, and includes species that are considered threatened at the national level.

Wadderin is one of very few sanctuary projects within Australia managed by a local community.The community group includes current and retired farmers and townsfolk. Another within Western Australia is the Heirisson Prong project at Useless Loop at Shark Bay.These projects were set up to exclude foxes and feral cats and so allow reconstruction of the past native fauna.

There are the remains of at least four water wells which pre-date the establishment of the water catchment scheme in the 1920s.Davis (1977, cited in Laing and Hauck 1997) reported that hundreds of small excavated tanks were constructed in the cereal/sheep area as agriculture developed, at least some adjacent to granite outcrops to take advantage of the regular run-off. Farming began in the Narembeen area c. 1900.Another possibility is that they were established and used by the early sandalwood cutters.

Wadderin is the site also for Wadderin Hill School that operated from 1919 to 1936.The school site is marked by a plaque within the Wadderin Sanctuary.