Kurnell's Ecological Community- Threatened and Endangered Part 2

4. Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest

Swamp oak floodplain forest is found in small pockets of throughout Towra point Nature Reserve. The Scientific Committee is of the opinion that Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest of the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner bioregions is likely to become extinct in nature in New South Wales unless the circumstances and factors threatening its survival or evolutionary development cease to operate. Given the dynamic hydrological relationship between Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest, Coastal Saltmarsh and other endangered ecological communities on coastal floodplains, future management of water and tidal flows may result in the expansion of some communities at the expense of others. Very few examples of Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest remain unaffected by weeds. The causes of weed invasion include physical disturbance to the vegetation structure of the community, dumping of landfill rubbish and garden refuse, polluted runoff from urban and agricultural areas and construction of roads and other utilities. Anthropogenic climate change may also threaten Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest if sea levels rise as predicted or if future flooding regimes are affected (IPCC 2001, Hughes 2003).

Sources

Hughes L (2003) Climate change and Australia: trends, projections and impacts. Austral Ecology 28, 423-443.

IPCC (2001) Climate change 2001: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Report from Working Group II. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, Geneva

Swamp oak floodplain forest of the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner bioregions - endangered ecological community listing http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/SwampOakFloodplainEndSpListing.htm

5. Freshwater Wetlands

Freshwater wetlands are ecosystems that are affected by permanent or temporary inundation. They play a crucial role in the regulation of water flow water quality to whole catchments, are key habitat for fauna (including migratory species) and provide refuge for fauna during droughts. Freshwater wetlands are highly productive environments that support an abundance of micro-invertebrates, crustaceans, fish, frogs and water birds. They have been altered dramatically by humans, via draining and aeration of fertile soils into productive cropping lands or urban development. Freshwater wetlands continue to be degraded, reduced in area, while many communities have experienced a change in composition, structure and functioning.

Sources

Department of Environment and Conservation N.S.W, Freshwater wetlands on coastal floodplains - Sydney Metro: Distribution and vegetation associations in the Sydney Metro

http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/profile_data.aspx?id=10929&cma=Sydney+Metro

Concluding notes

A 2009 Senate report into the operations of the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 has stated that major scientific studies conducted on Australia’s fauna, flora and ecosystems all indicate that significant ecosystem degradation is occurring across Australia, including the decline in numbers of numerous species with some facing extinction. The report cites Professor David Lindenmayer, a prominent ecologist who has described Australia, when surveying the state of Australian biodiversity, as a leader in environmental degradation, with many species on “an extinction trajectory”.  Moreover the 2006 State of the Environment Report contends that Australia’s ecosystems are experiencing a massive decline in biodiversity. In New South Wales the Department of Climate Change and Water (DECCW) is responsible for protecting and conserving biodiversity, including threatened species. In NSW alone, more than 1000 native species, populations and ecological communities are listed as threatened with extinction.

The Australian environment has been modified dramatically since settlement with Australia holding the dubious record for the world’s highest number of mammal extinctions and 75 per cent of its rainforests have been decimated. Kurnell, like the rest of Australia, has suffered this dramatic modification of its ecological communities however unlike the rest of Australia it is still today exposed to industry operations (including the oil refinery which is deemed a "noxious industry" ) and its environment continues to suffer the consequences of industrialisation and urbanisation. For this reason, Kurnell's fragile ecological communities (as described in these posts) is in particular need of political attention and action.

Kurnell's Ecological Community- Threatened and Endangered Part 1

Following the industrialisation and urbanisation of the Kurnell Peninsula (see history) much of Kurnell's original ecology has been destroyed and today only remnants remain. This blog post presents an overview of these five remaining endangered ecological communities, each of which provides habitat for rare and fragile plant and animal species and are listed under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.  Adverse threats to the ecological character of Towra Point Nature Reserve and the surrounding catchment area include inappropriate recreation, pollution, mangrove encroachment, altered hydrological regimes urban and industrial development, weeds and pests. Predicted sea level rises as a result of climate change is another factor. Species listed in the Endangered Ecological Community occur within the terrestrial areas of Towra Point Nature Reserve and in Botany Bay National Park. There are also a number of Endangered Ecological Communities determined under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 by the NSW Scientific Committee. Other plant and animal species in or around the Kurnell Peninsula and southern side of Botany Bay have been identified by the Threatened Species Conservation Act and include the Green and Golden Bell Frog and the Little Tern

1. The Coastal Saltmarshes

These are located in Towra Point and have been listed as an endangered ecological community. The Scientific Committee established by the Threatened Species Conservation Act is of the opinion that the Coastal Saltmarsh in the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner Bioregions is likely to become extinct in nature in New South Wales unless the circumstances and factors threatening its survival cease to operate. Coastal Saltmarsh occurs in the intertidal zone on the shores of estuaries and lagoons that are permanently or intermittently open to the sea. It is frequently found as a zone on the landward side of mangrove stands. The saltmarsh habitat of Towra Point has adapted to occasional inundation from both freshwater and saltwater and provides an important foraging habit for migratory birds. The 157 hectares of saltmarsh at Towra Point are the biggest saltmarsh habitat in the Sydney region. It's an important part of the marine food web and provides roosting sites for wading birds. The main threats to the saltmarshes include mangrove encroachment, alteration of salinity and increasing nutrient levels resulting from the discharge of stormwater, dumping of rubbish, catchment runoff of nutrients and agricultural chemicals and weed invasion. The tidal mudflats of Towra Point are home to aquatic worms and invertebrates and are the preferred feeding and roosting areas for wading birds.

Coastal Saltmarsh provide habitat for a diverse invertebrate fauna, which includes both marine (crabs and molluscs) and terrestrial (insects and spiders) elements. During tidal flooding a number of fish species utilise saltmarsh habitats. Grazing by macropods may occur between tidal events. The mangrove invasion limits the use of saltmarshes by birds that would normally make use of this habitat and has been a factor in their decline.  Saltmarshes have frequently been used for casual rubbish dumping and are at risk from waterborne pollution - including oil and chemical spills, both from shipping and road accidents, and catchment runoff of nutrients and agricultural chemicals. Global warming and increased relative sea level are likely to pose an increasing threat to the survival of many areas of Coastal Saltmarsh (Adam 2002, Hughes 2003).

Sources

Adam P (2002) Saltmarshes in a time of change. Environmental Conservation 29, 39-61.

Department of Environment and Conservation, Coastal Saltmarsh in the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner Bioregions – profile http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/profile.aspx?id=10866

Department of Environment and Conservation Coastal Saltmarsh in the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner bioregions - endangered ecological community listing, NSW Scientific Committee Final Determination http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/CoastalSaltmarshEndSpListing.htm   

Hughes L (2003) Climate change and Australia: Trends, projections and impacts. Austral Ecology 28, 423-443

2. Kurnell Dune Forests

The Kurnell Dune Forest occurs in the Sutherland Shire and in the City of Rockdale (Leo Smith Reserve). Within Sutherland Shire the major occurrences are on the Kurnell Peninsula. The extent of the community has been reduced by clearing and development and remaining stands are separated. The large edge/area ratio of remaining stands makes them vulnerable to disturbance and weed invasion.  Several stands are included in either NPWS estate or Council reserves. However, reservation itself does not prevent degradation from weed invasion and disturbance. Non reserved stands which include Calsil Dune may be at risk from development. Given the limited extent of the community the Scientific Committee is of the opinion that the Kurnell Dune Forest in Sutherland Shire and the City of Rockdale is likely to become extinct in nature in New South Wales unless the circumstances and factors threatening its survival or evolutionary development cease to operate. The Scientific Committee, established by the Threatened Species Conservation Act, has made a Final Determination to list the Kurnell Dune Forest in the Sutherland Shire and the City of Rockdale as an Endangered Ecological Community. 

The major threats to Kurnell Dune Forest include fragmentation and loss of habitat, particularly as a consequence of residential development and sand mining, degradation of habitat from rubbish dumping and Bitou Bush weed invasion. Disturbances associated with the installation and maintenance of utilities, inappropriate plantings in and around remnants, and the permitting of unrestricted access by people, horses, trail bikes, and recreational vehicles leading to physical damage and erosion.  During the laying of pipelines for the upgrade of the Cronulla Sewage Treatment Plant, some Kurnell Dune Forest was damaged and cleared and work was halted for a period by the State Government. 

Sources

Department of Climate Change and Water,  Kurnell dune forest in the Sutherland Shire and the City of Rockdale - endangered ecological community listing, NSW Scientific Committee  http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/KurnellDuneForestSouthSydneyEndComListing.htm

Department of Environment and Conservation N.S.W,  Kurnell Dune Forest in the Sutherland Shire and City of Rockdale – profile http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/profile.aspx?id=10448

Sutherland Shire Environment Centre, The Kurnell Peninsula, Endangered Species http://www.ssec.org.au/our_environment/our_bioregion/kurnell/environment/endangered_species.htm

3. Littoral Rainforest

The Littoral rainforest is a closed canopy forest characterised by trees, shrubs and vines. It is distinct from open sclerophyll forests in the Sutherland Shire. Towra Point contains a few isolated remnants of the now endangered Sutherland Shire littoral rainforest. The rainforest supports the magenta bush cherry (Syzygium paniculatum) and tuckeroo (Cupaniopsis anarcardiodes). Littoral Rainforest occurs only on the coast and is found at locations in the NSW North Coast Bioregion, Sydney Basin Bioregion and South East Corner Bioregion. Littoral Rainforest is very rare and occurs in many small stands. In total, it comprises less than one percent of the total area of rainforest in NSW. Littoral Rainforest in the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner Bioregions and Lowland Rainforest in the NSW North Coast and Sydney Basin Bioregions are listed as Endangered Ecological Communities under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (NSW Scientific Committee 2004). The clearing of valley floor vegetation, including lowland rainforest and riparian gallery forest for agriculture, and clearing of coastal sand flats for development of residential and recreational areas, has almost certainly led to a reduction in available habitat, and a reduction in the size of remaining populations (DECC 2007). Populations such as the one at Towra Point situated near extreme high water mark, may be at risk from future sea level rise (Hughes 2003). Anthropogenic Climate Change is listed as a Key Threatening Process under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995.  

Sources

Department of Environment and Conservation N.S.W, Littoral Rainforest in the NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner Bioregions – profile, http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/profile.aspx?id=10867

Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, ‘Threatened species & ecological communities’,  http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/index.html

Department of Climate Change and Water, ‘Syzygium paniculatum - endangered species listing’, http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/determinations/syzygiumpaniculatumFD.htm

Hughes L (2003) Climate change and Australia: trends, projections and research directions. Austral Ecology 28: 423-443

For Part 2 click here

Map of Industrial Pressures facing Kurnell

Below is an interesting map produced by action group La Perouse, published in their newsletter "Environmentally Speaking" issue 17. It provides an overview of the various industrial pressures facing Kurnell (and the rest of Botany Bay)- pressures that will be examined in further detail in later posts.

Source: http://laperouse.info/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/enviro-speaking-no-17.pdf

To view more "Environmentally Speaking" newsletters and find out more about the La Perouse action group visit http://laperouse.info/. It is an excellent source of information about the concerns of residents in the Botany Bay region and, like Kurnell's Tipping Point, aims to inform about developments in the area, provided a forum for discussion, and encourage action.

Kurnell in the news

Last month on the 8th of August ABC's program Message Stick aired a program on "Caring for our Country" which aimed to recognise that caring for the environment is a shared responsibility and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's knowledge is an important contribution to that effort. This episode included a segment on the Kurnell Peninsula, particularly on the "Towra Team" which involves Indigenous people in bush regeneration activities. 

The transcript of this episode is copied below.

To view a video of the program and the full transcript visit: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/messagestick/stories/s2975739.htm

MIRIAM COROWA: Hello, I'm Miriam Corowa, welcome to Message Stick. This is our second week of special programs on caring for country.

It goes without saying that a deeply spiritual connection to country defines Australia's first peoples. And that Indigenous knowledge is likely to be vital in reducing the worst effects of climate change.

This week's five short films confirm that protecting the environment is a shared responsibility, and that Indigenous peoples' knowledge shouldn't be overlooked, but celebrated and used to care for our environment.

DEAN KELLY: On the 29th of April, 1770, a big white bird sailed into the bay. On board what the Aboriginal people thought was a big bird, was Lieutenant James Cook. And that was the first day of contact.

From that day, our people have continually been removed from this site, and disconnected. This project is very much about trying to reconnect the Aboriginal people back to the site.

YVONNE SIMMS: These boys were getting into trouble every day, weren't going to school.

PEGGY ANNABEL:When I first met these boys, I felt that they would really have to make a lot of changes to have a good future in a regular job.

JEYNARA MURRAY: First I was in Year 10, finished school. Got a pretty- not a good certificate.

ADAM RUSSELL: Well, I was probably with Centrelink, and just bumming around La Perouse.

JEYNARA MURRAY: I was on Centrelink doing nothing and then Dan offered me the job and I was like - yeah. Didn't know really much what it was about, just National Parks.

DEAN KELLY: The Towra Team is what some people might say is an Aboriginal Green Team.

ADAM MASON:It's like a program they've got going for us young ones to educate us, to get us our certificates and help us with the National Parks.

YVONNE SIMMS: It's employed and trained and skilled a lot of our young male and female, for this area.

DEAN KELLY: They do a lot of bush regeneration works. The project the Towra Team is working on now is to restore a threatened species, the Kurnell Dune Forest.

PEGGY ANNABEL:We're trying to get it back to the point where it was when Captain Cook actually arrived in 1770.

DEAN KELLY: That vegetation was documented and samples were taken back to England by Sir Joseph Banks and Daniel Solander, the two naturalists onboard the Endeavour.

PEGGY ANNABEL:We're collecting only the plants that were here originally, and we're collecting the seed only from this area.

DEAN KELLY: Part of the boys' work is to not only plant those plants, but know them. Know what they're putting back, make sure they're the right species that belong here on the site.

PEGGY ANNABEL:Just at the moment, you've got to find a melaleuca nodosa and put that one in...

ADAM MASON:Peggy, she would take us out into the bush and show us some of the weeds that shouldn't be there. So, we do a lot of weeding, as well as planting seeds.

PEGGY ANNABEL:We don't want to damage the plant, but we want to get a lot of seeds.

JEYNARA MURRAY: She would show us the plants and stuff, which ones we can store in the bag, the seeds. They're the ones we would plant out on the hill.

DEAN KELLY: On the weekends, usually Sundays, when it's the busiest in the hot weather, the boys do boat patrol.

BOY: We've gotta take care of Towra Island. We've gotta educate people, because they're not allowed on certain areas of Towra beach. We've gotta hand out pamphlets and tell them why they aren't allowed on there, and just patrol the island. Make sure no-one goes on there, ruins it.

SEAN DELSIGNORE: I've been involved in the Towra Team for say, close to two years. It's all interconnected, and the wider community is all involved in the cultural stuff we do. And it's a good learning experience for everyone. It's good employment opportunities.

DEAN KELLY: Alright, boys. We've found a nice straight one here, we're going to cut it down. But we're going to use this, OK? We're going to make some spears out of it.

BOY: I think it's much better for me to be outside and be involved in Aboriginal cultural stuff in regards to caring for country and learning our customs and our heritage, and passing that knowledge down.

SEAN DELSIGNORE: Here boys, here's some good examples of some bush medicine. It's angophora sap, which is used as a penicillin for toothaches.

PEGGY ANNABEL:The skills that they've developed here are going to make their potential for the future just absolutely wonderful.

ADAM MASON:It's good to do something for my own people and to help out, just care for country.

ADAM RUSSELL: It gave me heaps of confidence about being with other people around job sites, work sites, and that.

JEYNARA MURRAY: Makes me feel proud just knowing that you're looking after your local area.

YVONNE SIMMS: I can't get over it, I can't get over the change in them. they've shown most of all respect for country, respect for their elders, and they've got a sense of how we used to live here.

DEAN KELLY: They're very proud of who they are when they're part of the Towra Team. What we provide them with now is a doorway. A doorway that could open up to many different places, many different job opportunities. The future is theirs, it's in their hands. 

Perspective on Kurnell Peninsula from a recent excursion

On the 13th of September 2010, this action group took part in an excursion to the Kurnell Peninsula and the upper reaches of the Georges River with the purpose of seeing how the two areas differ and how the latter directly affects the Botany Bay area. There are stark differences in lifestyles between this small coastal community and far removed coal-mining town however at the same time these two are irrevocably linked. This is an account from the viewpoint of one of the excursion members:

The trip included a walk around the landing site of Captain Cook, where we were given time to reflect on the area and peruse the various plaques that had been laid. Those placed in the lead up to the site depicted a highly negative, problematic relationship between Indigenous peoples and the explorers. These then gave way to plaques at the heart of the dock which were diplomatic and reminiscent about the indigenous relationship with the land, creating an air of longing for reconnection. One such plaque recounted the use of the ferry service by visitors to the site, including Indigenous peoples who were able to reconnect with the land. Unfortunately with the increase in car ownership this service was stopped during the mid 1960s.  There was a degree of surprise amongst the group about the presence of such diplomacy on more recent plaques, since it was expected that these plaques would focus more on praising white settlement in the area. This hopefully reflects a change across society in how they perceive this site of “the beginning of modern Australia”.

The isolation of Kurnell, surrounded by vegetation and confined by industry, is exactly why the area needs help in making current issues prominent. If it were not for past community actions, this area would most certainly have be forgotten by policy makers. Even though community action has subsided in recent years, it is not indicative of an absence of problems in the area. Unfortunately this is representative of the “out of sight out of mind” attitude of society—something also seen in the tributaries of Georges River in the Dharawal conservation area where mining companies are honeycombing the area for coal, causing pollution and cracking of river beds, disrupting the ecology of the area.

The aim of this action group is to continue to raise awareness of the issues that Kurnell faces. This site plays an important role in the everyday lives of the nation—we use, and demand, the products produced in the area (oil, water etc) and many live on or close to this land. Kurnell is a beautiful and important landscape that needs greater community attention and action.

Community Event at Kurnell!

The Kurnell Action Group would like to draw your attention to this exciting opportunity to play a hands-on role in Kurnell's protection and conservation. Conservation Volunteers Australia are hosting an event at the Botany Bay National Park from the 4th-8th of October during which volunteers will be able to take part in revitalising this historic site and restore the original habitat. Transport will be provided daily by the organisation, departing from Central Station. This is a fantastic opportunity to witness Captain Cook's landing site, to see the natural beauty of the Kurnell Peninsula, and to contribute to the preservation of this important ecological, historical and cultural landscape.

For further details visit http://southern-courier.whereilive.com.au/events/story/help-restore-the-birthplace-of-modern-australia/

Kurnell in the news

Residents fight to preserve historic land 

Australian Broadcasting Corporation 7:30 Report

Broadcast: 26/01/2009

Reporter: Kirstin Murray

As Australians today celebrate more than 200 years since the arrival of the First Fleet, residents of the Kurnell Peninsula are continuing to fight big industry to reclaim the beauty of the land.

Video: http://www.abc.net.au/reslib/200901/r333430_1507465.asx  

Transcript: http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2008/s2474453.htm

ALI MOORE: As the nation marked the anniversary of the first fleet's arrival more than two hundred years ago, the residents of Sydney’s Kurnell Peninsula continued their fight to preserve an important part of Australian history.

Once a treasure trove of the natural beauty Botany Bay was named after, the Kurnell Peninsula is now an industrial eyesore. With an oil refinery, sand mining operation, and the city's new desalination plant all on its doorstep.

For more than half a century, the community has battled big industry to try to reclaim the land where Captain Cook took his first steps on Australian soil.

While the residents might feel they're fighting a losing battle, decades of protest have forged a strong and close-knit community that refuses to give up.

Kirstin Murray reports.

GRAHAM QUINT, NATIONAL TRUST: My family went to Kurnell for the day out, it was that spot, that wonderful iconic spot, playing on the sand hills, seeing the bushland and the Headland, people go out fishing there, it was a wonderful spot in people's memory.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: The Kurnell Peninsula at the southern end of Botany Bay was once a favoured destination for Sydney day trippers. A place where families could enjoy the same shore line captain Cook did when he landed years before.

Fifty years on, those memories are fast fading. This once treasured land has become a sorry stretch on the city's door step.

GRAHAM QUINT: Kurnell has essentially become a wonderful jewel wrapped in noxious industry and every type of development that isn't wanted in other parts of Sydney.

ANNETTE HOGAN: Sharing with an industrial theme park I think has become part of their way of life.

BERNIE CLARKE, ENVIRONMENTALIST: When I was a young fella I used to play here. There used to be Christmas bells, beautiful flannel flowers, banksias and acacias, lovely place. Now look at it.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: Retired fisherman Bernie Clarke waged a lifetime conservation battle to protect the area from the onslaught of industrial development. He is not alone.

Since the 1950s the National Trust's been campaigning with locals to halt development. Its Conservation Director Graham Quint says every Australian should be saddened by what Kurnell's become.

GRAHAM QUINT: The voyage of Captain James Cook back in 1768 was the first scientific voyage in the world. When he arrived here it was the first zoological investigation on the east coast of Australia, it all happened here at Kurnell.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: It's here on the Kurnell Peninsula Captain Cook first stepped foot on Australian soil. It was his enthusiastic description s of fertile meadow that is convinced his superiors New South Wales was the ideal place for settlement.
But the shores that held so much promise were quickly abandoned by the First Fleet and just as quickly forgotten.

LOCAL: When Captain Philip arrived, he found Botany Bay too shallow, moved on to Port Jackson, found one of the greatest harbours in the world and since then Kurnell was overlooked for many years.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: Two centuries on it's a very different bay that greets visitors. With some of Sydney's more noxious industry now calling the peninsula home the Botany's been driven from the bay.
The fresh water lagoon where Cook slaked his thirst has turned saline, erosion's causing the once mighty Banksia trees to slide into the sea, most migratory birds which came here to feed have moved on.

BERNIE CLARKE: If I was to stand on that same beach area today, the same month of the year, there would be no birds, the full length of the beach. Where have they gone?

KIRSTIN MURRAY: In what would be the first of many protests Bernie Clarke set up a road block in the early 1950s when plans for an oil refinery were announced.

BERNIE CLARKE: I was there at the opening, biting my tongue when I heard the chief of Caltex saying that it was so state of the art that there would be no oil spills. Within the first 12 months we had oil spills.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: As industry continued to encroach on the bay, Bernie Clarke's opposition became more vocal.

BERNIE CLARKE: We have this dredging go ahead it will destroy the source of food...

About time governments put a price tag on our beaches...

It's emptying something like about five tonne of hydrocarbon a month over the bay...

Look at this beautiful banksia, that was alive six months ago, that's 150-years-old...

KIRSTIN MURRAY: One of the peninsula's more controversial industries has seen its most recognisable landmark all but disappear.

By the 1960s, Kurnell's towering sand hills were being mined to feed Sydney's insatiable construction industry.

ANNETTE HOGAN, DUNES & WETLANDS PROTECTION ALLIANCE: I can remember the dunes being so high you would think you could never reach the top. It was something that's unusual in the middle of a major city in the world, a towering sand dune. So it was fantastic place to grow up.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: Four decades on, just one large sand dune's been preserved for locals to enjoy.

ANNETTE HOGAN: It looks pretty devastating when you look at it from the air. It's just big fresh water pools where the great majestic dunes used to stand with a few remnants in between.

GRAHAM QUINT: That's 1994, that's when the public concern about this issue arose and council began investigating the issue.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: Such is the rate of mining there has been concerns raised about its sustainability. Only one mine company remains but they've told the local council they'll be there for another 15 to 20 years.

ANNETTE HOGAN: I think we've got a real big concern looking at those recent aerial photographs of what's left there now. What would be left there in 20 years? It may be just one big pond. There would be nothing left there to revegetate or rehabilitate. I think we need to work with the government quickly and get a solution to this problem.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: There have been some wins along the way. Like the day Bernie Clarke successfully convinced a former New South Wales Premier a large oil spill had caused significant environmental damage.

BERNIE CLARKE: It was my day. Here I had these four politicians you see in the palm of my hand. I told them what footwear I wear and who clothes. Nobody gave that information to Bob Carr. Here he is in mud nearly up to his knees, tramping through that. He wasn't too happy with me.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: That close encounter with nature that day certainly had an impact on Bob Carr. His government upped the fine for oil pollution from $5,000 to $250,000.

GRAHAM QUINT: Some of these areas have been protected. Towra Point was set aside by the Whitlam Government as a nature reserve. It was intended to be an international airport at one stage and residential development. We've had nationally listed and state listed areas set aside, an aquatic area protected and the dumping that used to occur at Kurnell that no longer occurs.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: Triumphs like these are few and far between. That hasn't dampened the local community spirit.

SUSAN DAVIS, VOLUNTEER: I moved here three years ago and straight away my husband and I noticed this feeling amongst the people that they belong to each other. That they fought for the same purposes and they did things together that you might not find in other community.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: The state Water Catchment Authority is drawing up plans to sustainably restore the habitat by 2020. How they'll achieve this especially with work progressing on a controversial desalination plant opening next summer remains to be seen.

BERNIE CLARKE: The last nail in the coffin of Botany Bay. How did I feel? Pretty helpless and hopeless. And ah, disillusioned and disappointed.

KIRSTIN MURRAY: Eight years ago, Bernie Clarke decided he had enough, packing up his family and moving south, he left behind the bay where he'd lived for almost 80 years.

He now fishes the more peaceful waters of Sussex Inlet, three hours south of Sydney. At 87 years of age, he says it's now the right of future generations to continue the battle.

BERNIE CLARKE: When you come into this world, surely you are entitled to clean area, clean water, and if there are challenges to your lifestyle, to your freedom of speech or your freedom to breathe clean air, you're entitled to fight the person that's going to take that away from you.

ALI MOORE: The New South Wales Government says it's committed to phasing out sand mining but so far hasn't given a firm time frame.
Kirstin Murray with that report.

History of the Kurnell Peninsula Part 2

The twentieth century also saw the emergence of tourism in the Kurnell region with a ferry service between Kurnell and La Perouse, established in 1912, connecting Sydney day-trippers to the Peninsula to visit the landing site, sand dunes and the beaches. The popularity of the region centred on the Peninsula’s natural features, in comparison to an increasingly urban Sydney, and saw large numbers of campers (permanent occupants as well as campers on permits) during the 1940s and 1950s despite the absence of a connecting road, who journeyed over the sand dunes to gain access. Visitors also engaged in fishing and hunting at Kurnell and this led to the destruction of Kurnell’s koala population by the middle of the twentieth century. Until the area was taken over by the National Parks and Wildlife Service the Landing Place Reserve was one of the most popular camping venues in Sydney.

However the remoteness associated with Kurnell was compromised by the establishment of the Caltex Oil Refinery in 1951. Despite protest from the community and initial council objection to industry on the site of Cook’s landing, consent was given and construction began in 1953. This significantly transformed the landscape with the first roads built to access Kurnell, dredging in the Bay to lay a pipeline, swamps drained, an extensive wharf built, and 174 hectares taken up with refinery buildings. About this time a lighthouse was also constructed on the easternmost part of the Peninsula. The construction of a road also facilitated the expansion of Kurnell’s residential district connecting “Kurnell Village” to the rest of the Sutherland Shire and allowing permanent houses to be brought in on trucks. 

Kurnell's Oil refinery, present day
Source: www.smh.com.au/news/national/evacuation-ordered-after-third-kurnell-refinery-leak/2005/09/30/1127804646822.html

The global environmental movement during the 1960s and 1970s was also experienced in Kurnell with the Landing Place Reserve coming under the control of the National Parks and Wildlife Service in 1967. This resulted in the suspension of camping in the reserve for conservation purposes after concerns about the ecological impacts settlement and tourism had imposed on Kurnell Peninsula. Huge community support for the protection of Towra Point occurred around this time after the Department of Civil Aviation planned to build Sydney’s second international airport in the area. As a result of extensive media coverage of local campaigning Towra Point was acquired by the NSW Government in 1974, and established as a nature reserve in 1982. It was later listed as a Ramsar site in 1984 based on the criteria that it contains 50 per cent of Sydney’s wetlands and 90 per cent of its saltmarshes, it hosts many threatened species and communities, and its botanically diverse population is of great historical, scientific and environmental importance. Further recognition of the cultural and environmental importance of the Peninsula and the need to protect its ecological diversity occurred that year with the establishment of the Botany Bay National Park and later through the listing of the Kurnell Peninsula Headland on the National Heritage Trust on the 20^th September 2004 based on its historical and cultural value. However despite these legal recognitions of the need to protect Kurnell’s ecology the area still faces extensive threats from industry and residential development as well as from tourism in the area.

An important environmental victory for the area occurred in 1986 when the chemical corporation Bayer was forced to abandon its intention to establish a chemical plant at Kurnell because of the stringent conditions and controls required by an inquiry commission to protect the surrounding ecosystem. This was an important success for the local community and for the Sutherland Shire. At present the community is still battling against proposals for the redevelopment of Australand’s H6 site. This was an area of extensive sand mining for the forty years leading up to the 1990s which the company is now attempting to redevelop into a residential area against the wishes of the community. It now appears that this will be successful with the state government last month approving the rezoning of the land, which will allow for the development of 420 new homes with the rest of the land to be rehabilitated as open space, playing fields and parklands. There is also a sewage treatment plant located in Kurnell.

Recently there has been further industry controversy in Kurnell with regards to the construction of Sydney’s Desalination Plant. The decision to build this plant was made in 2006 out of concern to secure water supply during periods of prolonged drought however it was met with widespread disapproval not only from Kurnell residents but also from the NSW Opposition Leader and The Greens. Complaints were raised that it was unnecessary and would impose extra costs to the community through higher water prices. There were also numerous environmental concerns about the impact that dredging in the bay (to lay the pipelines) and the salty brine output would have on the marine ecosystem. Despite these protests construction went ahead and the plant became operational at the start of this year. 

Source: www.aecom.com/What+We+Do/Water/Water/_projectsList/Sydney+Desalination+Plant

Today, Kurnell paradoxically contains some of Sydney’s most ecologically diverse and threatened ecosystems alongside heavy industry. The community is both dependent on industry for economic growth and critical of its development in the area and despite its significance as “the birthplace of modern Australia” (as labelled by Salt) it is considered “Sydney’s Back Door”. The impact of this history of industrial development in the Peninsula on the community, environment and Indigenous population will be discussed in depth through case studies on this website. 

See it for yourself!

Visit Kurnell Peninsula to see the monument at Captain Cook's landing place, visit the Discovery Centre, and follow the Monument Track as well as walking several other tracks. To find out more visit:

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/contact/KurnellBotanyBayNationalPark.htm 

For a pictorial history of the Kurnell area and further information please visit
www.ssec.org.au/our_environment/our_bioregion/kurnell/history/index.htm 

Sources

Anderson, D.J. (ed) 1973, A handbook of the Botany Bay region: some preliminary background papers, O’Grady & Sons Pty Ltd for Botany Bay Project Committee, Marrickville

Australian Government, Kurnell Peninsula Headland, Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, accessed 7 September 2010 <http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/publications/about/pubs/national-heritage-kurnell-brochure.pdf>

Australian Heritage Council 2008, Cook’s Landing Site—Kurnell Peninsula, New South Wales, Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, accessed 7 September 2010 <http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/places/national/kurnell/index.html>

Australian Heritage Database 2004, National Heritage List Report for Kurnell Peninsula Headland, Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, accessed 7 September 2010, <http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/ahdb/search.pl?mode=place_detail;place_id=105812>

Australia’s National Heritage, Kurnell Peninsula: Captain Cook’s Landing Place, Australian Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, accessed 7 September 2010, <http://www.environment.gov.au/heritage/publications/about/pubs/national-heritage-kurnell.pdf>

Grant, C 2010, “Sydney gets its first taste of desalinated water”, ABC News, 28 January, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/28/2803186.htm>

Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Desalination Protest Meeting, Nature Conservation Council of NSW, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://nccnsw.org.au/index.php?Itemid=890&id=1755&option=com_content&task=view>

NSW Government, Towra Point Nature Reserve, NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change & Water, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/NationalParks/parkRamsar.aspx?id=N0551>  

Salt, D.F. 2000, Kurnell: Birthplace of Modern Australia: A Pictorial History, Clarion House, Sydney

Sutherland Shire Council, Kurnell- Birthplace of a Modern Nation, Sutherland Shire Council, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://www.sutherlandshireaustralia.com.au/area_towns_kurnell.asp?s=home>

Sutherland Shire Environment Centre, H6 Site Australand Site, SSEC, accessed 10 September 2010  

 <http://www.ssec.org.au/our_environment/our_bioregion/kurnell/issues/h6.htm>  

Sydney Water, Desalination, Sydney Water, accessed 10 September 2010

<http://www.sydneywater.com.au/Water4Life/Desalination/index.cfm>

Sydney Water, Overall project documentation, Sydney Water, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://www.sydneywater.com.au/Water4Life/Desalination/overalldocumentation.cfm>   

Tobin, M 2009, “Desalination plant ‘a monument to stupidity’”, ABC News, 21 December, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://abc.gov.au/news/stories/2009/12/21/2777867.htm?site=news>  

2010 “Australand welcomes Kurnell rezoning”, Brisbane Times, 25 August, accessed 10 September 2010, <http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-business/australand-welcomes-kurnell-rezoning-20100825-13r2u.html>

History of the Kurnell Peninsula Part 1

The traditional owners of the Kurnell Peninsula are the Gweagal people of the Dharawal nation who were traditionally less nomadic than inland tribes due to the abundance of seafood and flora in the region. This was confirmed by archaeological evidence of midden piles, rock carvings and paintings. The richness of flora and fauna in the area, as well as the ready supply of fresh water and supplies for tool making, supported a large community with an estimated population of 1500 (as reported by Governor Phillip in 1788). This community engaged in fishing, hunting and gathering, as well as constructing tools and canoes, and guarded sacred clay puts on their territorial land. They were the northernmost tribe of the Dharawal-speaking people.

On the 29th of April 1770 the Endeavour, captained by Lieutenant (later Captain) James Cook, entered what is today known as Botany Bay (named Kamay by the traditional owners) in search of safe harbour and fresh water and landed on its southern shore. On approaching they encountered approximately thirty Aborigines. This first recorded contact between Indigenous peoples and the British in Eastern Australia was marked by confusion on the part of both the landing party and local people, with shots fired and stones thrown, as indicated in Cook’s journal:

I thought that they beckoned us to come ashore, but in this we were mistaken, for as soon as we put the boat in they again came to oppose us I fired a musket between the two which had no effect one of them took up a stone and threw at us
- Cook's journal, 29 April 1770 

This date symbolised the start of British colonisation in Australia—an event that has been commemorated since 1822 and is marked by a monument at Cape Solander—but for Indigenous Australians it also marks the beginning of dispossession of their land.

Source: www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/heritage/photodb/imagesearch.pl?proc=detail;barcode_no=dig007764

Cook explored and charted the Bay, naming it Stingrays Bay after the large quantity of rays present, over the next eight days while based at the Kurnell Peninsula. During this time botanist Joseph Banks and naturalist Daniel Solander recorded the vast variety of flora and fauna in the Kurnell region, collecting 83 unique plant specimens and in light of these discoveries the area was renamed Botany Bay. In his writings Cook described the area as a paradise with the land and sea providing everything necessary for life and recommended it as a place that could be cultivated easily with good soils. His reports also informed the subsequent declaration of terra nullius, beginning the process of British possession of the continent.

Following Cook’s favourable report Captain Arthur Phillip arrived at Kurnell Peninsula eighteen years later with the First Fleet in January 1788, associating the region with convictism for most of the nineteenth century. However unlike Cook he saw the area as unsuitable for settlement and cultivation, and despite raising the British flag at Point Sutherland he immediately began transferring the fleet to Port Jackson from which the city of Sydney emerged.

It was not until 1815 that settlement began at Kurnell Peninsula with James Birnie acquiring the first official land grant in the area. While there Birine established a farm, market garden, dairy and a homestead whilst also pursuing walking and other shipping interests. John Connell later took over this land in 1828 and within a decade had acquired almost the entire Peninsula. He engaged in the transport of timber from Hacking River and the Kurnell area to the Sydney market and was responsible for the construction of a canal to Woolooware Bay to float timber into Botany Bay. Over time this land was taken over by Thomas Holt who undertook pastoral activities and in so doing undertook extensive clearing and cultivating, culling of the local dingo populations, felling of local woodlands, and caused grasscover loss on Kurnell’s sand dunes due to sheep and cattle grazing. The environmental consequences of this settlement can still be witnessed today with remains of split-rail fences still obvious at Towra Point and the continuing destruction of the sand dunes. During this period a fishing village was also established at the Eastern tip of the Peninsula, occupied predominantly by the Aboriginal population. With the development of an Aboriginal camp across the bay at La Perouse many of these inhabitants moved to the reserve. During this time the Peninsula had also been classified as a possible site for Sydney’s noxious trades and waste following an 1883 Royal Commission Report and fears over the bubonic plague.

In 1899 the area marked years earlier as Captain Cook’s Landing Place was resumed by the State Government for use as a public park/reserve. The next year saw legislation to clear the debts of Holt’s tenants and the conversion of much of the Peninsula to freehold with livestock and poultry production continuing for the next half century. During the 1920s with the construction of Sydney’s airport in Botany Bay the Peninsula was indirectly affected by the associated dredging which altered wave direction and increased erosion. In the 1930s the Kurnell sand dunes began to be mined to support the construction industry after an attempt by councillors to include it in a National Park failed. Sand mining at Kurnell continues today and has significantly weakened the Peninsula as well as removing a premier feature of the landscape.

Source: www.theleader.com.au/news/local/news/general/desal-plant-used-kurnell-sand/1673416.aspx

Click here to see part 2 of the history of the Kurnell Peninsula

Kurnell's Tipping Point- An Introduction

Kurnell's Tipping Point is a website which seeks to explore the history of the Kurnell Peninsula and consider the impact that industry development in the area has had on the community, environment and Indigenous population. It aims to raise community awareness across Sydney of the dramatic changes that have occurred since colonial settlement and of the current issues facing Kurnell. In doing this it aims to empower citizens to take action to protect this important historical, cultural and ecological area.

Source: http://ssec.org.au/our_environment/our_bioregion/kurnell/index.htm

On this blog you will find

• History of the Kurnell Peninsula
• Case studies on the oil refinery, sand mining, Towra Point and the desalination plant
• Interviews, News Items, Book Reviews, Photos etc
• Further resources on the Kurnell region