01-08-2025
Coast With the Most
Sophie is on the Eyre Peninsula where she meets local Coastcare volunteers helping to heal the damage done by an unexpected explosion in visitor numbers.
Kerryn McEwan has been volunteering with here for nearly 20 years. The area has battled degradation for some time, but tourist numbers suddenly boomed a few years ago after a local rockpool became famous through Instagram. The fragile area was not set up for so many large vehicles, often towing caravans, and the increased traffic caused extensive erosion. It also became littered with rubbish that visitors left behind.
'Plants were getting driven on, new tracks were opening up and the damage gets done,' Kerryn says.
To help combat the damage, volunteers have been planting to help stabilise the land. The environment is tough even for local plants, with salt-laden, strong winds, full sun, sandy soil and very low rainfall. However, the team has found plants that are reliable – and devised new ways of planting them to boost their chances of survival.
The winged or flat-stemmed wattle (a form of Acacia anceps ) is one that endures the harsh conditions, as does coast wattle ( Acacia longifolia subsp. sophorae ) even though the wind makes it more prostrate than upright, and native pigface is a great groundcover that helps reduce wind erosion.
Scaevola crassifolia forms a wide, low shrub, providing habitat and food with its massed white flowers.
Plants like this have become 'hero' plants to help protect other smaller plants nearby.
The remoteness of the area makes it hard to bring in volunteers, but the group manages to look after 140 hectares – including 2.5km of coastline – through the hard work of dedicated locals.
Students from the Lake Wangary School help with plant propagation, and teacher Luke Rowe ensures their conservation work becomes linked to their curriculum in many ways. They also get hands-on experience in plant out the seedlings they have grown.
One trick that volunteers use to help give the new plants a head start is called deep planting. The lower leaves are trimmed off along the plant's stem, and the tree or shrub is planted deeper than normal, making it easier for the roots to reach any moisture below, and less likely for its roots to be exposed by strong winds.
After planting, volunteers still visit to care for plants with regular watering until they are established. The group also puts down matting for erosion control, to keep the sand stable until plants have grown enough to hold it in place.
In some places, trimmed branches from local plant species are used to mulch eroded areas. This reduces wind erosion but also introduces a source of seeds that is protected by the branches and stands a better chance of germinating and growing.
Kerryn says they have been having some success with this method, as the prunings help keep the soil moist as well as holding the soil in place.
Acacia sp. Winged syn. Acacia anceps PIGFACE Carpobrotus sp. CUSHION FANFLOWER Scaevola crassifolia COAST WATTLE Acacia longifolia subsp. sophorae * * Check before planting: this may be an environmental weed in your area
