Kangaroo Island has a Threatened Plant Species Recovery Program which operates at a landscape and community scale using scientific data to restore and protect threatened plant species. Integral to the program's success is the great input from volunteers and community support. The Kangaroo Island Threatened Plant Project began in 2002 with the writing of a multi-species recovery plan for all 15 nationally threatened plant species on Kangaroo Island.
The plan identified five plant species facing imminent risk of extinction. These plants occur within a ‘critical zone’ covering the Hundreds of Haines, MacGillivray and Menzies in eastern Kangaroo Island. The plan also linked the decline of these five plant species to the more widespread decline of other plant species and communities (predominately Narrow-leaf Mallee) within the critical zone. Implementation of the recovery plan began in July 2003 under NHT funding.
Key on-ground actions are implemented to address:
a) Fragmentation. Re-establishment and restoration of critical threatened plant habitat is ongoing. This has included the construction of propagation facilities for 15,000 tubestock, propagation of 10,000 tubestock (2004), 10 ha of direct seeding trials, 4 ha of planting trials (6,000 tubestock planted) and the spreading of stored top-soil over 10ha of degraded roadside sites.
b) Environmental Weeds. As part of this program a Bridal Veil Management Strategy for Kangaroo Island has been developed. Weed infestations continue to be treated and a research program assessing the impact of weeds on regenerating bushland is being implementing.
c) Inappropriate Fire Regimes. This project has been one of the first in South Australia to actively trial the use of fire to promote bushland recovery. Ecological burns are undertaken to test the effect of fire on bushland and encourage the regeneration of plant communities. Each burn site is monitored with studies implemented which examine vegetation community health in areas with different fire regimes.
A trial to rejuvenate the bushland of Menzies, Haines and MacGillivray using prescribed burning and to test the impact of these burns on flora, fauna and soil is currently being conducted. If you own one or more patches of bushland in these areas and would like to nominate them for burning as part of this project, please contact DEH Kingscote.
Please click here for more information on the trial.
d) Inappropriate Grazing Regimes. Ongoing monitoring is undertaken to determine the long term impact of native herbivores on bushland. Wildlife exclosure fencing is erected to protect key sites and a research program is being implemented to gauge the true impact of native herbivore grazing.
e) Community Ownership. An active volunteer program successfully encourages active participation of stakeholders in threatened species management.
Above right: The Threatened Plant Project Officer, Dave Taylor, weeding seedlings before planting to restore threatened plant habitat. Image courtesy Department of Environment and Water Resources, Canberra.
Contact
Dave Taylor, Threatened Plant Project Officer, Department for Environment and Heritage, ph: (08) 8553 4428