Public advice to enhance the long-term protection of one of the last remaining and most valuable wetland areas on the Swan Coastal Plain has been released by the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA).
EPA Chair Professor Matthew Tonts said the report on the Greater Brixton Street Wetlands, produced under Section 16 of the Environmental Protection Act 1986, would benefit proponents, planners, developers, regulators and landholders.
“We undertook this piece of work to ensure future activities and development will be carried out in a way that protects this valuable environmental asset,” he said. “This is a chance for us to be proactive and prevent further loss in what is one of the State’s most unique examples of biodiversity.”
The Greater Brixton Street Wetlands are situated on Whadjuk Noongar Country between Roe and Albany highways and Kenwick Road, within the cities of Gosnells and Kalamunda.
The EPA advice recommends a high level of protection for the wetlands, as well as coordinated management, partnerships with key stakeholders including Traditional Owners, consideration of buffers and ecological linkages, and maintenance of the local hydrology to protect environmental values.
Professor Tonts said the EPA expected future activities and development to be compatible with the protection of the environmental values of the Greater Brixton Street Wetlands and would apply particular scrutiny to proposals and planning schemes that may be incompatible with the protection of these values.
Home to more than 650 plant species and covering about 215ha, the Greater Brixton Street Wetlands include a number of rare and restricted species that no longer exist anywhere else. The wetlands also contain more carnivorous plants than in all of Europe and provide habitat for conservation-significant fauna, including the Carnaby’s and forest red-tailed black cockatoos, and the quenda.
“Protection of environmental values through science and coordinated management are critical if this unique area of biodiversity is to survive,” Professor Tonts said.
The public advice can be found on the EPA website.
Media Contact: Jenni Storey on 0434 734 997
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