environment

Project Title: Translocation of the Critically Endangered Bailey's Symonanthus (Symonanthus bancroftii) Population
Grant: $6000
Proponent: Bruce Rock Land Conservation District Committee
Project Summary: The Critically Endangered Bailey's Symonanthus is a small shrub with many stems, and there is only one plant and two sets of tissue known to be in existence. Through community partnerships, this project aims to establish two new populations of the Symonanthus on two separate crown reserves, using field plantings of cloned (micropropagated) plants. It is thought this project is a first in reconstructing a population from a single set of parents.

Bruce Rock was subject to large-scale clearing, which was initiated in the 1960’s resulting in the removal of deep-rooted perennial vegetation and replacement with predominantly shallow-rooted annual crops and pastures. Subsequently this lead to a sharp decline in water use by vegetation that resulted in the amount of water entering the groundwater system increasing. This caused the level of groundwater to rise and with it were salts that had been stored in the soil profile. Thus the valley floors, which had originally been the most fertile and productive land, are now being threatened by rising watertables. Change to water balance also impact towns, roads, pipelines, cables and rail networks.
The Shire of Bruce Rock is involved in the Rural Towns Project, which has investigated the salinity risk to the town and has developed urban water management options.
The large-scale clearing of Bruce Rock has lead to only approximately 8% of remnant vegetation remaining. In 1991 the Bruce Rock Land Conservation District Committee ("LCDC") recognised the severity of the situation and proactively sought legislation under the Soil and Land Conservation Act to ban all clearing of remnant vegetation, unless a special exemption was gained from the Commissioner.
The Bruce Rock LCDC is still the only organisation in WA to legislate such a ban.
Bruce Rock’s remaining vegetation contains many threatened communities and priority species. Of particular note is Symonanthus bancroftii, which has the prolific status as WA’s rarest plant, with only one species remaining in the wild. As a number of searches conducted previously located a female plant, which has since died, cuttings of it were taken and this has enabled Kings Park and Botanic Gardens to produce more plants with the hope to establish two new populations.