View article

When one of us (DL) was attending the annual scientiic meeting of the British Ecological Society some 20 years ago, it was instructive to hear an astonished gasp from the audience when the speaker announced that he had found a patch of original British vegetation, never disturbed by people, stock or pest herbivores. he patch was about 1–2 metres long, much less than 1 metre wide, and located on a ledge at about the halfway point on a sheer cliff. he astonishment stemmed from the understanding that humans have affected and modiied every part of Britain’s terrestrial surface.

If we think on a world scale, Nadgee Nature Reserve, in the Eden region on the far south coast of New South Wales (NSW), is a rare gem because by European standards this large (20,671 ha) tract of forest is hardly disturbed by European occupation. It has been grazed by cattle, mainly on the heaths; there are two modest areas where farming has been briefly applied; and before Europeans there was an Aboriginal presence. Otherwise, it is a pristine area of immense beauty and one of biological wealth for scientists.