Kangaroo Island's threatened plant species back from the brink

Kangaroo Island is home to a great variety of plant species, including some on the brink of extinction.

And, for the past four years, the Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Management Board has been working with the South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage and the local community to save them.

“We have 15 threatened plant species on the island, including five that are facing imminent extinction, so it's crucial we do something to reverse their decline,” NRM Board General Manager Jeanette Gellard said.

Funding

The Australian Government has provided the Board with more than $290,000 for this endeavour and the State Government has also given in kind support.

Activities

Jeanette said the five species at risk – Kangaroo Island Phebalium, Osborn's Eyebright, Small Flower Daisy-bush, Kangaroo Island Spider-Orchid and Kangaroo Island Pomaderris – all occurred in one area of the island.

“As we were identifying those species, we also looked at the vegetation communities they lived in and found that these were also in decline,” she said.

“So it became obvious that to recover the actual threatened species, we also needed to assist the vegetation communities.”

Threats to Kangaroo Island's endangered plant species have included declining habitat, weed infestations, inappropriate fire regimes and grazing. The project is aiming to reduce every one of those.

“The South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage developed a recovery plan,” Jeanette said. “The Board has been working with the Department to implement this by re-establishing the threatened species' habitat and protect them from further damage.”

To find the most effective way of helping nature do its work, an array of planting methods has been trialled, including direct seeding, direct planting and topsoil spreading.

Another important part of the project has been prescribed burning, and removing weeds like bridal veil, which take over entire areas of vegetation, leaving native plants with nowhere to grow.

“We also put wildlife fencing around key sites to better understand the impacts of browse pressure from native animals,” Jeanette said.

Achievements

Jeanette said there had been years of work by dedicated volunteers who had planted thousands of tubestock to form critical habitat for the threatened species.

A good mix of plant species was regenerating and included an increasing numbers of threatened species. One species, Small-flowered Daisy-bush, had increased from 80 individuals to 1.3 million individuals.

More information

1. David Taylor, Threatened Species Project Officer, South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage: (08) 8553 2381 or taylor.david@saugov.sa.gov.au

Australian Government NRM Team
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601 Australia
1800 552 008 (toll-free)

DEWHA  | DAFF  | australia.gov.au  | NAP  | NHT 
Caring for our Country is an Australian Government initiative jointly administered by the Australian Government departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry and the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts