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Extracts from Gum Lagoon Conservation Park Management Plan
Department for Environment & Heritage
FOREWORD
This management plan sets out the objectives and actions for the Gum Lagoon Conservation Park and has been prepared under the provisions of the National parks and Wildlife Act 1972.
Whilst this management plan only has legal jurisdiction over Gum Lagoon Conservation Park, it is recognised that there can be significant benefits from cooperation and the coordination of management between the park and privately owned adjoining land. These benefits may relate to issues such as fencing, fire management, feral animal control, pest plant control and wetland management across common boundaries. The contribution of Mr James Darling, Duck Island Partners, in developing a model for formal cooperation between public and private land managers is acknowledged. This ground-breaking model can be used more widely where significant biodiversity assets adjoin parks.
Gum Lagoon Conservation Park has a high conservation value due to its diversity of vegetation types, including Melaleuca shrublands, deep swamps and Banksia low woodlands. The system of watercourses and wetlands, on Gum Lagoon Conservation Park and Duck Island, will be managed for the long-term health and viability of the wetland habitat. The area is home to a number of national, state and regionally threatened flora and fauna, including the nationally endangered Metallic Sun-orchid and vulnerable Malleefowl.
The draft management plan was released for public comment in July 2001 and at the close of the period for consultation, seven written submissions had been received. Those comments and the draft plan were subsequently reviewed by the South Australian National Parks and Wildlife Council, resulting in a number of changes being made. Public involvement in the planning process makes a worthwile contribution to better park management, and those who took the time to make representations are thanked for their efforts. Mr. Darling contributed significantly to the development of the management plan.
The plan of management for the Gum Lagoon Conservation Park is now formally adopted under the provisions of section 38 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972.
John Hill
Minister for Environment and Conservation
VISION
The vision for Gum Lagoon Conservation Park is for an area of native vegetation, wetlands and wildlife of high conservation value to be managed cooperatively by the Department for Environment and Heritage and adjoining private landholders for the protection and wise use of natural resources.
Cooperative management agreements with adjoining landowners will help protect and manage the environment wisely, efficiently and without duplication, based on environmental rather than cadastral boundaries. The vision is for cooperation between all adjoining landholders. This approach will strongly enhance the role of the gum lagoon complex in maintaining the biodiversity of the North West District Key Biodiversity Area (Croft et al., 1999).
The Duck Island Watercourse, which flows through Gum Lagoon Conservation Park and Duck Island, is an important flushing mechanism for the Tea-tree heathlands and wetland basins along its route. It sustains a corridor of wetland habitat joining wetlands on Duck Island with Naen Naen Swamp in Gum Lagoon Conservation Park and then on to Bunbury Swamps to the north-west. Regionally vulnerable aquatic herblands in Naen Naen Swamp will be protected. The natural regime of infrequent flooding will be restored to the Gum Lagoons in the western section of the park, to the benefit of the wetland community of Red Gums and wildlife. The design and maintenance of an environmentally appropriate hydrological system will be crucial to the sustainability and health of important watercourse habitat, wetland ecosystems and compatible pastoral activities in the Gum Lagoon area.
Gum Lagoon Conservation Park will contribute to the North West District Key Biodiversity Area, identified in the Biodiversity Plan for the South East (Croft et al., 1999) as a large area of the upper South East noted for its high habitat value and species diversity. The park will assist in preserving a region of high biological diversity of species and habitat types. A number of rare and threatened plant communities and flor and fauna species will be protected including the nationally endangered Metallic Sun-orchid and the vulnerable Malleefowl. There have been active Malleefowl nesting mounds in Gum Lagoon Conservation Park and Duck Island for many years and the area will be conserved as a safe haven for the species. The protected and undisturbed habitat of the park, with linking corridors to other remnant vegetation blocks, will make the Gum Lagoon area a stronghold for the long-term viability of native flora and fauna species.
DEH supports and promotes cooperative management arrangements to establish integrated natural resource management. This requires the development of good working relationships with government agencies, local authorities and local communities. With regard to Gum Lagoon Conservation Park, this involves developing working relationships with neighbours, local land managers, Native Title Claimants and the representative Aboriginal Heritage Committee.
DEH encourages landowners to consider a cooperative approach to land management, particularly if they have significant native vegetation or wetlands on their property and they are situation adjacent to a reserve or in a Key Biodiversity Area. Cooperative management arrangements can range from formal involvement in management planning to informal voluntary meetings between park managers and neighbours to discuss issues of common interest. Benefits include more effective pest plant and animal control programs through an integrated approach, practical fire prevention and fencing arrangements, and opportunities for landowners to improve biodiversity values on their land. Traditionally, fences and firebreaks have been established on legal boundaries, often at high cost and necessitating the removal of native vegetation, and this is often not the most practical option, particularly in terms of managing wildlife and suppressing fires. Likewise, attempts to manage wildlife, including the use of prescribed burning, within cadastral boundaries is less likely to contribute to regional biodiversity objectives. The ability to have more flexibility in these matters is desirable.
The management plan acknowledges the establishment of a cooperative environmental management agreement between DEH and the owners of Duck Island, a property that has substantial native vegetation and wetlands, and is almost surrounded by Gum Lagoon Conservation Park. Whilst the objectives and actions of this management plan only have legal jurisdiction over Gum Lagoon Conservation Park, this model for cooperation between public and private land will form a framework for management across common boundaries. This will improve the effectiveness and efficiency of land management practices for the benefit of biodiversity whilst recognising and considering the potential impacts of park management decisions on private enterprise. The agreement will be a voluntary working arrangement that is simple and easy to administer, has terms and conditions agreed to by both parties, and can be terminated by either party at any time. A main feature will be an annual works meeting between the parties and the development of a schedule of works to identify on-ground works to be undertaken through the year, responsibility for the works, and opportunities to share costs.
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