It contains the only significant remnant of native woodland on the Bellarine Peninsula as it was prior to European settlement and the extensive land clearing that ensued.

The origins of the reserve go back to the formation of a committee in 1962, at the instigation of the Geelong Field Naturalists Club and its President, Jack Wheeler.

[2] Since the reserve was established, management actions have included the construction of a central wetland and walking tracks, as well as bird hides, an information centre, carpark and picnic ground.

[1] A notable invertebrate formerly present was the endangered lycaenid butterfly, the small ant-blue; it is believed to be extinct in the reserve as a result of habitat disturbance.

Other birds that have declined or disappeared over the 35-year period studied include white-throated treecreepers, buff-rumped thornbills, scarlet robins, varied sittellas and restless flycatchers, all species of woodland habitats.

The authors of the report comment: The woodland in the reserve has been isolated for many decades, and yet some bird declines and extinctions have occurred only in the last ten or fifteen years.

[2]However, the reserve is still important as a stopover in the local and migratory movements of some birds, including the subspecies of striated pardalote, grey fantail and silvereye that breed in Tasmania.

[2] The authors of the report conclude: ... as an ‘island’ of original Bellarine Peninsula woodland, the reserve still has great value, not just for birds, but as a living example of a threatened natural community, also encompassing plants, mammals and invertebrates.