Autumn 2014 Newsletter of the Urban Bushland Council WA Inc PO Box 326, West Perth WA 6872 Email: [email protected] Regional Parks – A Time for Action WA’s Regional Park system was These extensions need to be the Vasse-Wonnerup Re- created to provide for conservation, actioned while the opportunities gional Parks. recreation and landscape protection still exist, as many of these • Amend the CALM Act to in the urban environment. The con- properties are under threat from give legal status to Regional cept of a Regional Park was first weeds, fires and urban develop- Parks – this was first prom- proposed by the EPA in its System ment. ised by the Court Govern- Six Green Book (1980) and specif- Some additions to the Regional ment in 1997. ic recommendations and general • Include Regional Parks as a policy were presented in the Sys- Park system have been planned but not implemented. These zoning concept in the MRS tem Six Red Book (1983). and other regional planning include the proposed Peel Re- After many years of planning and gional Park, the south Bunbury schemes. • land acquisition the first eight Re- Regional Park and the Gnangara Convert the Regional Parks gional Parks were formally estab- Park. Several others, such as lands into consolidated class lished by the Court Government in the Leschenault-Kemerton Re- A Reserves. This process is 1997. They are: Yellagonga, gional Park, the Vasse- underway but progress is Herdsman, Canning River, Wood- Wonnerup Regional Park, the very slow. man Point, Beeliar, Jandakot, Lower Serpentine Regional Park • Incorporate the proposed Rockingham Lakes and Darling and the Wanneroo Wetlands extensions to existing Re- Range. The management was as- Eastern Chain have been pro- gional Parks, as identified in signed to a Regional Parks Unit, posed on many occasions but their Management Plans (eg which reported directly to the Di- the planning has not been done. add Bollard Bulrush Swamp rector of National Parks in the De- Community expectations in and Long Swamp to Beeliar partment of Conservation and Land these areas are high, because Regional Park) Management (CALM), later the they have seen the success of • Reinstate the Community Department of Environment and the existing eight Regional Grants Scheme for NGOs Conservation, now the Department Parks, but so far the Govern- doing approved work in Re- of Parks and Wildlife. The funding ment has not taken the neces- gional parks. From 2002 to for the establishment and manage- sary steps to establish these new 2012 the Government pro- Bush Telegraph Bush Telegraph ment of these Parks was provided Regional Parks. vided $50,000 - $75,000 by the WA Planning Commission annually to NGOs to assist through a section 16 agreement There is also a legislative task to their conservation work. with CALM. be completed. Most of the Re- This scheme had a high mul- gional Parks consist of a patch- tiplier and a lot of good re- The Regional Parks system has met work of land acquired by the vegetation and management a pressing need for the conserva- WAPC for Parks and Recrea- work was done. The Scheme tion of the natural heritage of the tion. These blocks need to be was terminated in 2013 and Metropolitan Area, especially the consolidated and converted into no replacement has been wetlands, the escarpment, the conservation reserves. The Re- announced. coast, the jarrah forest and the gional Parks system also needs banksia woodlands. CALM and its to have formal recognition in successors have managed and im- the CALM Act and in the vari- Inside this issue: proved these Parks very effectively ous regional planning schemes. and the public has responded posi- We therefore propose the fol- Perth Greenways Plan 2 tively by visiting the Parks and lowing action be taken. Urban contributing to management and • Expand the Regional Parks The Pitiful Progress of Bush 3 conservation activities, through the Forever community grants scheme. system to include the Peel, the Gnangara and the South Group News 4 Several extensions to the existing of Bunbury Regional Parks. Regional Parks system have been • Begin planning the Wan- Perth Banksia Woodlands 10 proposed, but not implemented. neroo Lakes (Eastern Chain), Restoration Grants Most of these are included in the the Lower Serpentine, the individual Management Plans for Leschenault Kemerton and 2014 Great Cocky Count 10-11 The each of the eight Regional Parks. Editorial Two new official records are before us. The Bureau of Our concern is the threatening impact of the combination Meteorology has reported that Australia's mean tempera- of rising temperatures, declining rainfall and falling wa- ture has risen by 0.9 degrees Centigrade since 1910 due ter tables on our unique wetlands and vegetation com- to the burning of fossil fuels. This is a very significant plexes of the Swan Coastal Plain and hills. We can see increase in such a short period compared with natural the declining water levels and shorter periods of inunda- changes after for example an ice-age. There is no doubt tion in wetlands, and deaths of groundwater dependent about anthropocentric causes of global warming of both ecosystems, as well as increases in scattered deaths of the atmosphere and the oceans. icons such as large old Banksias and Jarrah. But unfortu- nately the drying of the soil profile with drops in the wa- Secondly the Department of Water has released its annu- ter table and increase in acidity at the water table - anoth- al Compliance Report to the Office of the EPA: er consequence - is not visible and thus not publicly ap- 'Environmental management of groundwater from the preciated. Gnangara and Jandakot Mounds for the period July 2012 - June 2013. On the Gnangara Mound 17 (one The UBC expects that these dire threatening processes more than for 2011-12) of the 30 monitoring sites are non will be major factors considered by the independent na- -compliant for 2012-13. On the Jandakot Mound 5 of tional scientific committee when it assesses the nomina- the 23 monitoring sites are again non-compliant. The tion of our precious Banksia woodlands of the southern water table has been drawn down yet again below ac- Swan Coastal Plain for listing as Threatened Ecological ceptable levels set by the EPA and there are no penalties Communities (TEC) under the federal EPBC Act. or intervention to control this excessive use. Perhaps TEC listing may make our state government The Department does not even know how much water is take conservation of Perth's unique bushland biodi- abstracted by the biggest users: private and commercial versity much more seriously - ? licensed bores - as most have no meters and do not pay a volumetric charge. Their abstraction volumes may be 10 times that of the Water Corporation's. Perth Greenways Plan Review and Re-launch Have you heard about the Greens vision to create a pro- A further plank of this plan is to provide additional fund- tected, connected network of urban forests, bushland, ing to the Perth Biodiversity Project, as well as develop- wetlands and parks in Perth? ing a new grants scheme for communities and non-profit organisations who are directly working on greenways It’s called the Perth Greenways project, and similar initi- initiatives. The ultimate aim is to see every Perth resident atives have been launched in cities across the country and live within a 5 minute walk of a Greenway and a 10 mi- indeed around the world including places like Sydney, nute ride of a protected reserve of regional significance. Melbourne, Adelaide, Singapore, New York and Boston. The Greens believe $7 million per year would fund the The Perth Greenways network would ensure precious city-wide project, including building walking/cycle trails, areas of remnant urban bushland like Underwood Ave- interpretive centres, signage and public facilities. It nue, Anstey-Keane Damplands, Beeliar Wetlands and would also provide a dedicated acquisition fund to buy Point Peron (to name but a few) are permanently protect- back the precious areas under threat right now, a new ed and linked together through bike paths and walkways. grants scheme for the community and local groups to One aspect of this plan is to establish an urban forest access, and importantly, a new cross-portfolio unit within strategy that would bring these areas together, increasing government to deliver the Greenways. biodiversity at a metropolitan scale. Senator Scott Ludlam’s office is currently in the process Another aspect is to introduce a backyards and front of updating this policy, and we would welcome your verges strategy to bring back biodiversity on a local street feedback and input. level. Senator Ludlam is a strong champion for Perth’s urban The Greens would also ensure legal protection and great- bushland, and he has made several speeches in the feder- er recognition of important habitat and ecological linkag- al parliament on the issue. es in the planning system. As part of this the Greens If you would like to find out more detailed information would review the Metropolitan Region Scheme and make about the policy please visit the dedicated Perth Green- a new greenways zone, creating permanent statutory pro- ways website at http://www.greenswa.net.au/ tection. greenways.html Page 2 THE URBAN BUSH TELEGRAPH The Pitiful Progress of Bush Forever It is now 15 months since we held our Bush Forever Re- port Card conference. In his opening speech the Minister for Planning the Hon John Day recognised the im- portance of Bush Forever in the international and nation- al context: 'Australia has a major role to play in the conser- vation of biodiversity, as it is one of the world's most bio- logically diverse nations, supporting hundreds of thou- sands of species that are found nowhere else in the Photo by B Fremlin world.