Bullock & Decoy Swamps addition to the French Island National Park

Values Statement

Land Stewardship & Biodiversity Department of Sustainability and Environment

May 2005 This Values Statement has been prepared by James Fitzsimons for the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victoria.

This Statement fulfils obligations by the State of Victoria to the Commonwealth of Australia, which provided financial assistance for the purchase of this reserve under the National Reserve System Program of the Natural Heritage Trust.

©The State of Victoria Department of Sustainability and Environment 2005

This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968.

Disclaimer: This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication.

Cover: Bullock Swamp and adjacent land, French Island National Park (Photo: Geoff and Pat Molloy) Bullock and Decoy Swamps addition to the French Island National Park

Introduction & Background Land surrounding Bullock and Decoy Swamps, French Island (referred to herein simply as Bullock and Decoy Swamps), was purchased in 2003 to protect important wetland and swamp scrub communities. It comprises an area of 75.13 ha. The purchase was assisted with funding from the National Reserve System Program of the Commonwealth Government’s Natural Heritage Trust (Project No. N452).

The land falls within the South East Coastal Plain IBRA 5.1 bioregion and the Gippsland Plain subregion (Environment Australia 2000).

Reservation Status Bullock and Decoy Swamps was added to the French Island National Park through the National Parks (Additions and Other Amendments) Act 2004. The land is currently managed by Parks Victoria as part of the National Park. Bullock and Decoy Swamps, as part of French Island National Park, are managed by Parks Victoria in accordance with IUCN protected area Category II: National Park.

Natural assets and contribution to a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system · Landscape features The purchased land surrounds and buffers Bullock and Decoy Swamps and connects them to the main body of French Island National Park (Figure 1). The property also buffers the thin coastal strip that adjoins the French Island Marine National Park. French Island supports one of the largest relatively intact wetland areas remaining in south-eastern Victoria. Most of the Island has been classified by the National Trust as a ‘significant landscape’. The purchased land also protects most of the smaller Edhouse’s Swamp and part of Little Bullock Swamp.

· Vegetation communities The majority of the property is covered by the Swamp Scrub Ecological Vegetation Class (EVC). This EVC originally covered approximately 163,000 ha of the Gippsland Plain subregion, yet clearing and draining of these areas has reduced its extent to less than 8,000 ha, which occurs mostly in small patches on private land. The purchased land contains mosaics of heathlands and wetlands fringed by dense stands of Swamp Paperbark Melaleuca ericfolia and Coast Tea-tree Leptospermum laevigatum, as well as some disturbed areas.

Other EVCs represented on the purchased land include areas of Aquatic Herbland/Swamp Scrub Mosaic, Sand Heathland and Heathy Woodland, with smaller areas of Estuarine Wetland/Estuarine Swamp Scrub Mosaic, Damp Sands Herb-rich Woodland and Coastal Saltmarsh.

· Fauna values The wetlands provide habitat for two species of birds which are considered critically endangered in Victoria: the Orange-bellied Parrot Neophema chrysogaster (endangered

1 Bullock and Decoy Swamps addition to the French Island National Park

nationally), which use Bullock Swamp over winter, and King Quail Coturnix chinensis.

The wetlands provide habitat for a variety of waterbirds, particularly waders, a number of which are listed under the JAMBA and CAMBA agreements. Bullock Swamp is used by a number of wader species as a regular interchange between coastal areas and Barrallier Island in Western Port Bay (Quinn and Lacey 1999) and thus complements the habitat in the adjoining Western Port Ramsar site.

Other significant species recorded from the swamps include Great Egret Ardea alba, Caspian Tern Sterna caspia, Royal Spoonbill Platalea regia, Hardhead Aythya australis, Musk Duck Biziura lobata, Nankeen Night Heron Nycticorax caledonicus and Blue- billed Duck Oxyura australis, which are all considered vulnerable in Victoria.

Management Directions The Bullock and Decoy Swamp purchases will continue to be managed as part of the French Island National Park and broad management directions will follow those of the surrounding Park as outlined in the French Island National Park Management Plan (Parks Victoria 1998). Future reviews of this plan will incorporate Bullock and Decoy Swamps.

References & Further Reading

DSE (2003) Western Port Ramsar Site: Strategic Management Plan. Department of Sustainability & Environment and Parks Victoria, Melbourne.

Environment Australia (2000) Revision of the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (IBRA) and Development of Version 5.1 Summary Report. Environment Australia, Canberra. http://www.deh.gov.au/parks/nrs/ibra/version5-1/summary-report/index.html

Parks Victoria (1998) French Island National Park Management Plan. Parks Victoria, Melbourne.

Quinn, D. & Lacey, G. (1999) Birds of French Island Wetlands. Spectrum Publications, Richmond.

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