Ocean Grove Nature Reserve

Ocean Grove Nature Reserve Victoria
Reserve walking track
Ocean Grove Nature Reserve
Nearest town or city	Ocean Grove
Coordinates	38°14′46″S 144°31′45″E / 38.24611°S 144.52917°E / -38.24611; 144.52917Coordinates: 38°14′46″S 144°31′45″E / 38.24611°S 144.52917°E / -38.24611; 144.52917
Established	1971
Area	1.43 km2 (0.6 sq mi)
Managing authorities	Parks Victoria
Website	Ocean Grove Nature Reserve

The Ocean Grove Nature Reserve is a rectangular, 1.43 km²nature reserve next to the town of Ocean Grove and 25 km south-east of the city of Geelong, on the Bellarine Peninsula, Victoria, Australia. 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. It is surrounded by agricultural land and a housing estate and is managed by Parks Victoria. Records of its birdlife illustrate the changes occurring in an isolated woodland remnant.

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. The aim was to launch an appeal for funds to acquire an uncleared block of privately owned bushland to protect it from development, with the funds raised enabling the purchase of an initial 81 ha. The reserve was opened to the public in 1971. In 1973 an adjacent 62 ha of partly cleared land, now the eastern section of the reserve, was purchased.

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. The woodland has become denser. There has been damage both from deliberately lit fires and from the construction of breaks for fire control. A period of drought in 2000-2003 killed many eucalypts, following which flowering has been less prolific and large concentrations of honeyeaters have decreased.