New Dirk Hartog Island National Park

ENVIRONMENT AND CONSERVATION

V E R N M E R N M O E O V E G N G N T T E E O

H O H Department of

F Issue 10/09 T F T Environment and Conservation W W E A E A I I S L S L T A T A E R R E R R N A U S T 3 November 2009 N A U S T News Our environment, our future New Dirk Hartog Island National Park DEC will soon manage a national park on amazing location within a World Heritage Western Australia’s largest island, Dirk Area, enabling the tourism industry to Hartog Island in the Shark Bay World market the island as an important attraction Heritage Area. alongside the world-famous dolphins of In Shark Bay to announce the new national Monkey Mia. park, Environment Minister Donna Faragher “Creating the national park will open said the new national park covered almost it up to tourists under carefully managed the entire area of the 63,000-hectare island, sustainable tourism arrangements. protecting its unique environmental, cultural “It will also provide a pathway for the and historical assets, and creating a drawcard traditional owners of Dirk Hartog Island, the for nature-based tourism. Malgana people, to engage in the ongoing “Dirk Hartog Island forms the western- management and conservation of the most point of Australia and is an incredibly region.” biodiverse area with outstanding natural The Minister said management of the values including more than 250 native plant national park would also include sheep and species, three endemic threatened bird feral goat removal from the island followed species and a number of threatened reptiles,” by a major project to restore its natural values. she said. “Native animals on Dirk Hartog Island have “The park is nationally significant as suffered from feral goats and cats, with 12 of Dutch sea captain Dirk Hartog’s landing on the 15 original native mammal species now the island on 25 October 1616 is the first believed to be locally extinct on the island,” evidence of European arrival in Australia. she said. “The State Government’s vision is to A small piece of freehold land will be turn Dirk Hartog Island National Park into retained for nature-based tourism facilities by one of the world’s premier national parks the Wardle family, who have been operating showcasing its significant history and the pastoral lease on the island since 1968. (Left to right) DEC Director General Keiran McNamara, Project Officer Shark Bay World scientific value. A reserve will also be created at Heritage and Shark Bay Shire President Cheryl Cowell, local Malgana man and owner of “The park’s declaration will help to create Tumbledown Point for the use and benefit of Wula Guda Nyinda tours Darren ‘Capes’ Capewell, Environment Minister Donna Faragher and national and international awareness of this the Malgana Aboriginal people. Netherlands Consulate-General for Western Australia Arnold Stroobach.

Formation of the Office of the EPA Published by the Department of Environment and Conservation’s Strategic Development and Premier Colin Barnett and Environment Minister DEC will retain responsibility for conservation and Corporate Affairs Division, Cygnet Hall, Donna Faragher have announced the formation environmental regulatory matters such as clearing (cnr) Mounts Bay Road and Hackett Drive, of a new Office of the Environmental Protection of native vegetation, natural resource management, CRAWLEY, Western Australia, 6009 Authority (EPA) to meet the growing complexity, pollution, licensing and works approvals. Managing Editor: Madeleine Clews size and demands of development assessment in the Environment Minister Donna Faragher said the changes Editor: Rhianna King State. were based on recommendations in a number of reports, The new agency will be provided with its own General including The Role and Structure of the Environmental Contributing Editors: Catherine Jack, Manager, staff, budget and administrative capability. Protection Authority by the Minister’s Environmental Samille Mitchell DEC Director General Keiran McNamara and EPA Stakeholder Advisory Group, chaired by former EPA Design and Production: Peter Nicholas Chairman Paul Vogel together announced that the chairman Dr Bernard Bowen. Telephone: (08) 9389 8644 new agency would have responsibility for parts of “These changes will result in increased transparency Email: [email protected] the Environmental Protection Act dealing with policy and independence, leading to greater community and development, environmental impact assessments and industry confidence in the activities of the EPA,” the compliance monitoring of Ministerial conditions. Minister said.

DEC-managed national parks line sustainability criteria pioneered may soon boast more and by DEC to assess proposals. varied accommodation options “This will ensure that the thanks to the new Naturebank developments will adopt program. world’s best practice standards Launched by Tourism Minister of operation and create socio- Liz Constable and Environment economic opportunities in regional Minister Donna Faragher, areas, especially for Aboriginal Naturebank paves the way for people,” he said. the release of land for low-impact “And a broader range of DEC Senior Research Scientist Anne Cochrane with feather-leaved banksia seedlings. accommodation, mostly within accommodation means we can national parks and reserves. attract a broader range of visitors Naturebank works by identifying while also closely managing the Seed bank celebration potential visitor accommodation impacts. sites and undertaking due diligence “The operations will have key The international Millennium Seed Bank material from each species to ensure successful required to make a site ready for performance indicators measuring (MSB) partnership is celebrating collecting reintroduction if extinction occurs in the wild.” release. environmental and social and conserving 10 per cent of the world’s The MSB project is the most ambitious DEC Tourism Branch Manager performance and will be audited wild plants by banking its 24,200th international conservation project in the Rod Quartermain said applications regularly. species. world and part of the Royal Botanic Gardens’ for accommodation would still go “The leases will encourage and Since 2001, DEC’s Threatened Flora Seed Breathing Planet program. through a strict approvals process, reward best practice rather than Centre has contributed more than 14 million Anne said the partnership with MSB, which but Naturebank would make the just setting minimum standards.” individual seeds to the MSB, founded by the also involved the Kings Park and Botanic process more streamlined. The accommodation will be Royal Botanic Gardens in the United Kingdom, Gardens Authority, had enabled DEC’s “It’s not a short-cut for environmentally and culturally from more than 1,000 Western Australian Threatened Flora Seed Centre to double its approvals, but it gets as many sensitive, similar to the State’s plants. collecting capacity, which had led to the clearances as possible for new already successful nature-based DEC Senior Research Scientist Anne identification of new taxa, threatened flora sustainable accommodation outlets facilities – such as Eco Retreat in Cochrane said the centre conserved seeds of populations and range extensions. out of the way ahead of their Karijini National Park, the safari threatened species and used the banked seed “The partnership has made a huge release,” Rod said. camps in Purnululu National Park to re-establish plant populations in the wild. achievement for global plant conservation “We can now invite expressions and Sal Salis at Ningaloo Reef. “The Threatened Flora Seed Centre is WA’s since its launch, establishing partnerships of interest to develop the first site Naturebank is intended to be principal seed banking facility and it has in more than 50 countries and securing 10 at Kurrajong (within the World- an ongoing program with new collected seed from more than 70 per cent of per cent of the world’s wild flowering plant Heritage listed Purnululu National localities and sites added as they the State’s threatened plant species, many of species,” she said. Park) before the end of the year are identified. Sites would be and a second site is expected to be released as performance-based which have been used in recovery actions,” “This project plays a vital role in helping released early in 2010.” leases, providing financial resources she said. people meet the environmental challenges we Rod said the process would to benefit the management of the “Located in Perth in the State’s south-west are facing today through saving threatened result in a broader range of park and the period of lease – one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots – plants, restoring habitats and improving the accommodation in national parks set to help ensure a reasonable the centre aims to store sufficient genetic quality of life for people.” and reserves using triple-bottom- return on investment.

In this issue Page 1: New Dirk Hartog Island National Park Page 2: A brighter future for fire management • Formation of the Office of the EPA exit 10/09 Page 3: Seed bank celebration • Paving the way for national park accommodation Page 4: Kimberley field work nears completion • New plant species discovered in remote Kimberley ECN Kimberley field work nears completion DEC field work on the ambitious Kimberley islands rats and golden bandicoots for first time on Lachlan biological survey is almost complete. Island. The survey of 22 of the largest islands in the Kimberley, “We also discovered that Storr Island has high designed to sample groups of mammals, reptiles, frogs, biodiversity for an island its size – its 1,950 hectares are land snails, birds and plants at most risk of threats such home to at least 25 species of reptiles, five species of as too frequent fire, weeds, human activity and cane frogs and 11 species of mammals. toads, started in late 2006 and is due for completion in “The work has also confirmed that the Kimberley is 2010. one of Australia’s diversity hotspots for ancient camaenid The project is a collaboration between DEC, the land snails. So far, 84 species of snails that are unique to Western Australian Museum, the Australian Museum the islands have been recorded as part of the survey and and the Kimberley Land Council. all but 12 of these have never been formally described. Survey Coordinator Lesley Gibson said the bulk of field “There will be some resampling during the wet season work was now complete. in early 2010 but any more survey work would be “We’ve made two wet season visits and three dry funding dependent. season visits sampling the flora and flora on 22 islands “Then it’s a matter of collating all the findings into a off the Kimberley coast,” Lesley said. report, which we expect out late next year.” “Highlights for mammals this year have included Results from the survey will provide baseline finding northern quolls and golden bandicoots for the information on biodiversity values of the islands to help DEC Research Fellow Andrew Burbidge with a quoll on first time on Storr Island and finding golden-backed tree with future management and development decisions. Bigge Island in the Kimberley. New plant species discovered in remote Kimberley More than 100 new species of plants have been is a great deal of plant life in the Kimberley that we Kevin said although new species were regularly recorded in the Kimberley as scientists begin don’t know about, and the addition of 104 new species discovered in many parts of WA, it was rare to add to discover more about the relatively unknown provides us with an extraordinary amount of new such a large number at once. botanical life of the far reaches of north-west information about the area,” Kevin said. “Over the last 30 years, one new species has been Western Australia. “Some of the plants, although interesting to discovered in the Kimberley for every 30 specimens Of the 104 new species, 88 were not previously botanists, are relatively small and obscure, but others collected, and this is the highest rate in any region known to exist, while 16 have been recorded for are spectacular, such as a new species of hibiscus in the State,” he said. the first time in WA. They will be lodged at the WA growing more than two metres tall with large, bright “This is even more pronounced during the wet Herbarium. yellow flowers. season, where on average one new species is DEC Herbarium curator Kevin Thiele said the Kings “This species has only recently been discovered discovered for every eight specimens collected. Park and interstate botanists who made the recordings because it only grows in a very small area in a special “This is an indication of how unexplored many had built up an extensive collection of undescribed habitat. parts of the Kimberley are, especially in the wet plants in the Kimberley, mostly using a helicopter to “Another new species is a type of bladderwort, a season. access remote locations. small carnivorous plant that catches water creatures in “The latest additions to the herbarium are the He stressed the importance of processing the special underwater traps. first step towards a more comprehensive assessment specimens through the herbarium. “It grows and flowers in the wet season, and has of the fascinating and rich plant life to be found in “Because of its vast, inaccessible landscape, there been found in just one creek in a remote area.” the Kimberley.”