Prepared by the Cape to Cape Catchments Group in partnership with ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The Cape to Cape Landcare Companion has been compiled from a range of existing sources of information in the local area. Many local members of the community have contributed to its production and the Cape to Cape Catchments Group would like to thank them all. Thanks are also due to members of the Cape to Cape Catchments working group for this project who provided review and project management of the production of this manual. This working group included the following people: Kirrily White Merryn Delaney Margaret Moir Rod Whittle Genevieve Hanran-Smith Tracey Gregory Kay Lehman Sasha Taylor Paul Downes Lorraine Firth Shelley Ray-Brennan Robyn Paice Wayne O’Sullivan Sally Scott John Moore from the Department of Agriculture provided all of the specific weed control advice and photographs of weeds. This material was all taken from John's book Southern Weeds and their Control. The Department of Conservation and Land Management and the Land for Wildlife Program provided information about important fauna species of the local area and the threats faced by these species. The Dieback Working Group provided the basis for much of the material written about dieback and its management. Margaret Moir prepared the list of native flora species suitable for revegetation in the Cape to Cape subregion. The Water and Rivers Commission provided the catchment maps presented in the manual. Thanks are extended to GeoCatch for their assistance and technical support. The Natural Heritage Trust, the Shire of Augusta Margaret River and Greening Australia all contributed to the funding of this manual and provided support throughout the production process. Cover photos by Jamie Scott, Margaret River. THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE CAPE TO CAPE SUBREGION i CONTENTS Acknowledgements .................................................................................i Introduction..........................................................................................1 PART A - The Environment of the Cape to Cape Subregion..........................3 About the Cape to Cape Catchments Area.......................................................................................4 Catchment Maps ............................................................................................................................6-13 Native Fauna .....................................................................................................................................14 PART B - Managing the Environment of the Cape to Cape Catchments........19 Remnant Vegetation is Valuable ......................................................................................................20 Dieback .............................................................................................................................................22 Looking After Waterways and Wetlands .........................................................................................24 Case Study – Forrest Vineyard.........................................................................................................26 Caring for Native Fauna ...................................................................................................................28 Retaining Bird Diversity ...................................................................................................................29 PART C - Property Management in the Cape to Cape Catchments...............31 Landowners’ Responsibility..............................................................................................................32 Weeds ................................................................................................................................................33 Feral Animals ....................................................................................................................................43 Creating Corridors.............................................................................................................................47 Site Preparation for Revegetation Projects.....................................................................................48 Buffers ...............................................................................................................................................51 Planting Techniques .........................................................................................................................52 Case Study – Olive Hill Farm ..........................................................................................................54 Revegetating with Rushes and Sedges ............................................................................................58 Case Study – Merribrook..................................................................................................................60 Property Planning .............................................................................................................................62 Windbreaks .......................................................................................................................................65 Nutrient Management .......................................................................................................................68 Case Study – Ablett Dairy ................................................................................................................70 Fire Management ..............................................................................................................................71 Dams..................................................................................................................................................72 Catchment Contacts..................................................................................................................76 Appendix One – Local Flora Species for the Cape to Cape Region ....................................79 Appendix Two- Woody Weeds and Their Descriptions......................................................133 Questionnaire/ Readers’ Feedback........................................................................................141 ii CAPE TO CAPE LANDCARE COMPANION INTRODUCTION This Landcare Companion has been prepared to The Companion contains information on: provide residents within the Cape to Cape •Weed control catchments and surrounds with concise, up to date • Pest management information on landcare issues, environmental • Looking after bushland values and environmental best practice. The manual • Managing waterways aims to ensure that new and existing landholders in • Suggested species for revegetation the area are able to easily access information about • Important fauna environmental best practices and positive actions • Dams that can be taken. • Fire management The Cape to Cape catchments are located between •Windbreaks Cape Naturaliste to the north and Cape Leeuwin in •Property management and the south, and extend inland to include the Margaret •Many more important topics. River water catchment. The catchments are subject In some cases, the information available has been to intense development pressure and intensification summarised and further contacts provided for those of land use, but also contains significant readers who wish to research a topic in more detail environmental values, both from a community and or who may need specialist advice about a particular tourism perspective and in terms of natural problem. biodiversity. It is hoped that landholders and residents will find The Cape to Cape Catchments Group is a the technical information and the contact details community based catchment management group useful in addressing the landcare and environmental that is working with government agencies, needs of their property. community groups and private landholders to coordinate natural resource management activities in Feedback on the content of this manual would be the local area. The group recognised that much of welcomed by the Cape to Cape Catchments Group; the up to date landcare information was not easily there is a feedback questionnaire at the end of the accessible to landholders in the area. In 2002 the manual. group successfully applied for and received funding assistance from the Federal Government Natural Heritage Trust and the Shire of Augusta- Margaret River to bring this information together in one manual. THE ENVIRONMENT OF THE CAPE TO CAPE SUBREGION 1 2 CAPE TO CAPE LANDCARE COMPANION 3 ABOUT THE CAPE TO CAPE CATCHMENTS AREA LOCATION AND LAND USE systems drain to the coast in the Cape to Cape catchments area. All but one of these systems drains The Cape to Cape catchments area includes all land agricultural land of some kind. that drains to the coast between Cape Naturaliste and Cape Leeuwin, in the southwest of Western Parts of these systems have been identified as being Australia. in good condition. However, a considerable proportion of the waterways in the area have The area lies across parts of the Busselton and become degraded through weed invasion, loss of Augusta-Margaret River Shires and covers fringing vegetation, erosion and sedimentation. A approximately 97,118 ha (Figure 1). The climate is large number of on-stream dams are also impacting mild Mediterranean with warm dry summers and on the natural stream ecology. cool wet winters. Annual rainfall decreases from about 1100mm in the west to 900mm in the east. During 2002 foreshore