Period 1 April – 30 June 2020 Each year the Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board enters into a Service Level Agreement with the Department for Environment and Water (DEW) for the delivery of the Board’s programs plus services provided by business support and the regional management team. Details of the Board’s programs can be found in the Board’s Business Plan (2017-2020). This report provides a quarterly update of each program, including: Program highlights this period Local government engagement for this period Upcoming priorities for the next period Each milestone is assigned a status, based on its current progress. On track to deliver On track to deliver most milestones. Unlikely to meet all milestones. May be some delays. milestones. Further details of each of these programs can be found on the Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board website or by contacting Tim Breuer (Team Leader, Landscape Operations - Eastern District) for projects in the City Council of Whyalla and District Councils of Kimba, Franklin Harbor and Cleve areas on 0488 000 481. Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board 1 SLA Quarterly Report Eastern District Landscapes Milestones Status Conserving and protecting species and ecosystems Improving community skills, knowledge and engagement in landscapes management Program highlights this period EP Blue Gum tree planting Staff, volunteers, school students, and landholders planted around 450 EP Blue Gum (Eucalyptus petiolaris) trees in the Cleve district during the month of June. Three hundred and fifty trees were planted in a 1 km stretch of fenced area along a creek line on Turnbull’s private farm in the Cleve Hills. A further fifty were planted along a fenced creek-line alongside an already occurring EP Blue Gum community at Paul Harris’s farm at Gum-Flat. Fifty trees were planted with Year 9 school students at Sims farm. The trees were planted in two fenced off sections, the majority along a naturally occurring but degraded section of EP Blue Gum community along a creek line, and about ten were planted separately to provide a wind break for stock. Planting and direct seeding of multiple endemic and endangered EP Blue Gum community species was implemented on the Turnbull and Harris sites. On Turnbull’s farm the seedlings planted in 2019 are growing well, and dozens of seedlings on the direct seeder lines have germinated during this winter. It is hoped the additional EP Blue Gum trees will add numbers and help create the important overstorey layer as these communities grow. The revegetation has been implemented with the aim to return these creek lines to how they were before clearing, and will add approximately 2 km to about 4 km of extant and uncleared sections of EP Blue Gum community across the three sites. Local government engagement for this period The Board was engaged by the District Council of Cleve to undertake an assessment of the native vegetation on the project site for a dam expansion project. Board officers provided advice as to the next steps necessary to gain approval for the clearance. Upcoming priorities for the next period Support Local Government and community groups with development of Grassroots grants projects and applications. Photo 1: A landscape officer with land holder, John Turnbull, planting EP Blue Gums Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board 2 SLA Quarterly Report Eastern District Coast & marine Milestones Status Improve community skills, knowledge and engagement in coast and marine ecosystems Program highlights this period Cuttlefest 2020 The City of Whyalla together with Experiencing Marine Sanctuaries (EMS), National Parks and Wildlife Service South Australia (NPWS SA) and the EP Landscape Board partnered to bring to life one of the region’s best nature- based tourism events featuring the annual community guided cuttlefish snorkels. EP Landscape Board provided support for the EMS community guided snorkels and contributed to the Cuttlefest program, providing Citizen Science and School Activities, a virtual Cuttlefish tour, and ‘Whyalla Marine Icons’ window display. Saltmarsh Threat Abatement and Recovery (STAR) Project - Saltmarsh Videos A series of engaging talks about protected saltmarsh ecosystems is now available on the EP Landscape Board website. The presentations by saltmarsh expert Peri Coleman from Delta Consulting were to have been held in Whyalla, Cowell and Kellidie Bay. Due to COVID-19 restrictions the live presentations were cancelled and were instead recorded. The videos are aimed at community decision makers, coastal ambassadors, teachers, bird groups and interested members of the public. Cultana Jenkins Shackowners ‘Grow Me Instead’ project Funded by the EP Landscape Board and the Coast Protection Board. The Cultana Jenkins Shackowners Association, EP Landscape Board, Coast Protection and the Whyalla City Council partnered to remove a total of 250 cubic metres of invasive cacti, succulents, and other pest plant species and replaced with native coastal species along Whyalla’s Northern Coastline. The project has raised shackowner awareness of pest plants and drastically improved the visual amenity and environmental integrity of Whyalla’s Northern Coastline. Support to NPWS SA staff EP Landscape Board Officers supported NPWS SA staff with Marine Park compliance activities inside the Cuttlefish Coast and Cowleds Landing Sanctuary Zones. Photo 2: Removal of invasive cacti, succulents, and other pest plant species along Whyalla’s Northern Coastline Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board 3 SLA Quarterly Report Eastern District Photo 3: A landscape officer with Cultana Jenkins shackowners, planting native coastal species along Whyalla’s Northern Coastline Local government engagement for this period Whyalla Foreshore signs project Three-way partnership with the EP Landscape Board, Spencer Gulf & West Coast Prawn Fishermen's Association Inc. and the Whyalla City Council. Three new educational signs were installed at five locations (15 signs in total) within the greater Whyalla Foreshore area. These included a new informative dolphin sign, ‘Sharing the Foreshore’ sign, and a new sign on the importance of the local environment for the Spencer Gulf King Prawn Fishery. Whyalla Foreshore dune oversow seeding work project Funded by the EP Landscape Board, delivered by Council. The full length of the 1.2 km Whyalla Foreshore, from the Caravan Park to the marina breakwater has now been sown with 37 species of endemic coastal native seed. This project will help to improve species diversity along the foreshore, improving habitat and amenity, while also improving frontal dune robustness against the action of the tides and wind. Cuttlefish Dive Site Landscaping works project Funded by the EP Landscape Board, delivered by Council. The area around the toilet and change-room facilities at the cuttlefish dive site has been revegetated, landscaped, and rocks placed to improve the visual amenity of the facilities and protect infrastructure from vehicle traffic. Local contractors were engaged to complete the work, utilizing endemic plant species sourced from the Port Augusta Arid Lands Botanic Gardens nursery. Upcoming priorities for the next period Hooded Plover Territory monitoring for the 2020-2021 breeding season will commence. Saltmarsh Threat Abatement and Recovery (STAR) project on-ground works. Photo 4: New educational signs installed within the greater Whyalla Foreshore area Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board 4 SLA Quarterly Report Eastern District Pest plants & animals Milestones Status Monitor and facilitate management of priority pest plants and animals Program highlights this period Pest plants During this quarter weed control was conducted across a 30 ha area eliminating approximately 5,000 individual weeds in total. An extra 330 ha of new or historical sites were also surveyed with an aim to determine population edges and for information to inform plans. Gazania control - Works were undertaken to control approximately 4,500 gazania plants occurring in road edge populations on the Cleve-Kimba road and the Cowell-Kimba road. These control measures are being implemented with the hope of preventing the spread of Gazanias into Kimba and reduce infestation sizes. - Saltmarsh Threat Abatement and Recovery (STAR) Project: Gazania control work was carried out on the Mullaquana Road in Whyalla to prevent the invasive weed from spreading into the nearby Cowleds Landing Sanctuary Zone (Eight-Mile Creek) coastal saltmarsh area. Photo 6: Gazania control work underway on the Mullaquana Road Photo 5: Gazania control on Cleve-Kimba road Photo 7: New trailer and trolley for pesticide spray unit Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board 5 SLA Quarterly Report Eastern District African Boxthorn control - Twenty African Boxthorn plants, occurring in native roadside vegetation on the Birdseye Highway between Darke Peak and Rudall, were controlled using a cut and swab method. - A three year plan has been drafted, identifying future priorities and activities related to Boxthorn control. Targeting edge populations, preventing spread into unaffected areas, protecting key assets, and providing education about badly infested areas, has been prioritised. Grass control - Follow up control for African Lovegrass and Buffel Grass was implemented Cochineal for the control of Opuntia - Trials of the use cochineal insects for the control of Opuntia are ongoing. - At some trial sites, cochineal infection extent has increased to up to 25% of biomass. - Approximately 50 fallen infected Opuntia pads have been relocated to non-infected