Friends of Sturt Gorge
|
Recovery programs... Sturt Gorge Recreation Park The Management Plan was prepared by Joe Quarmby for the Department for Environment & Heritage and released in July 2003. The plan is directed specifically at native vegetation management and is one of several completed for several parks in the area. Aims... To analyse the natural asset values related to the native vegetation within Sturt Gorge RP and surrounding open space reserves, and identify the current and potential threats to these assets. To assign management priority to those areas with the highest conservation significance and those under the highest threat of environmental weed invasion. To prescribe detailed sustainable management actions that will ensure the protection and conservation of native vegetation diversity and ecological condition. Method.... A comprehensive vegetation survey was conducted within the park to evaluate the current distribution and abundance of both native and introduced species. A map was generated with a 100m by 100m grid overlay to provide survey point locations. The survey points (a total of 270 points) were located in the field using GPS and systematically surveyed to identify the dominant plant species within a 20m radius and determining the projective foliage cover of each identified species. The planning process involved zoning the park into 32 vegetation management units, and for each of these assigning a value and rank according to rated species value, vegetation association integrity and environmental weed threat. Then detailed, achievable management objectives aimed at maximum biodiversity outcomes were prescribed for each vegetation management unit. The outcomes of this plan allow DEH to target resource allocations towards the highest priority vegetation management actions, which will ensure the conservation of significant vegetation within Sturt Gorge Recreation Park. The Friends of Sturt Gorge are one of these resources and have aimed recent activity to sites at the Management units of highest rank in the plan. |
