THE richness of plant life at a property south of Mandurah has amazed botanists and biologists locally and from around the world.
Col and Lyn Smith’s five-acre property on the edge of Yalgorup National Park has uncovered more than 140 species of flora and 27 different species of orchids.
The Smiths moved to Bouvard five years ago and Mr Smith has cataloged the plant species he discovered on his block at www.fishandflora.com
Among his findings include an array of wildflowers and native fauna.
“I first noticed a few orchids when I was building,” Mr Smith said.
“I started to catalogue them and then contacted a guy up in Perth when I found a few I didn’t recognise.”
The man Mr Smith spoke to in Perth was the Department of Conservation and Land Management manager of species and communities Dr Ken Atkins, an expert in flora conservation.
“As Col sent more and more photos it became apparent that the area was very interesting,” Dr Atkins said.
When Dr Atkins visited the Smith’s property he was impressed at the diversity. The former head of the WA Herbarium Neville Marchant and a Belgian botanist also visited the property last year.
“The Belgian botanist was just blown away by the amount of wildflowers on the block,” Mr Smith said.
Although he plans to live at the property for a while, Mr Smith is concerned about how to preserve the rich wildlife on his land when he decides to move on.
With this in the back of his mind, Mr Smith is already involved in the WA Department of Environment and Conservation’s voluntary Land for Wildlife Scheme.
“The scheme is a way for landholders to protect their land that isn’t too intimidating,” Dr Atkins said. “They can opt in or out at any time but while they are a part of it they are visited by professionals who can offer landholders advice about how to preserve the biodiversity of their property.”
Brett Brenchley from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) Australia is one of those professionals involved with protecting and sustaining the wildlife in the area.
Mr Brenchley, the WWF’s Wetland Watch project coordinator, said technical advice and funding could be provided to property owners to enhance the management of the area.
He said few people realised how significant the Peel region was in regards to biodiversity.
Part of the south west ecoregion, Australia’s only internationally recognised biodiversity hotspot, it is dominated by the internationally recognised Peel –Yalgorup wetland system.
“This region contains a concentration of flora and fauna that are found nowhere else in the world,” Mr Brenchley said.
“It provides a habitat for some remarkable yet highly threatened species such as the hooded plover and western ringtail possum,” Mr Brenchley said.
“People like Col Smith are caring for creatures and habitats that are rarer than gold in some instances and in many ways far more precious.”
He said a western ringtail possum, an endangered species, had been found on Mr Smith’s land, highlighting the importance of the property.
He also said there was a remarkable amount of terrestrial orchids on the block.
“It is quite a significant area and I was gob-smacked by the level of diversity (on the land),” Mr Brenchley said.
He said it was important to work with property owners to sustain rare flora and fauna.
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