Appendix 7 -
Natural, Cultural, and Educational Values of the Burnum Burnum Track
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Conservation Values
Flora
The landscape is occupied predominantly by a species-rich Hawkesbury sandstone flora. The species diversity is complemented by the flora of Wianamatta shale cappings at Hall Drive Reserve and estuarine communities on Quaternary alluvium along the lower Mill Creek catchment. |
Almost 400 species of native plants are documented for the Menai West area. This represents 20% of the species occurring in the Sydney area.
Along the proposed trail, important examples of shale and saltmarsh vegetation are observed. Shale and saltmarsh vegetation types are poorly represented in existing conservation reserves in Sydney's south. The saltmarsh and mangrove communities along Mill Creek are much more extensive than similar communities conserved in the existing Georges River National Park at Salt Pan Creek. They also are found in as yet largely undisturbed and unpolluted non-urban catchments. Shale forests in the Sutherland Shire and further west on the Cumberland Plain have been decimated by clearing in the past.In the south of Sydney these rare forests have been almost completely cleared (Mills, 1992 and Benson and Howell, 1990). |
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On a site inspection in 2002 by Brendon Graham (Parks and Waterways Officer - Sutherland Shire Council) and Alan Fairley (local botanist) discovered a previously unknown Paperbark/ Red Mahogany Forest located in a low depression opposite Barden Road only 50m from the Old Illawarra Road. The forest occupies several hundred square metres and contains a canopy of Melaleuca linariifolia and Eucalyptus resinifera at a height of 20-25m. These species are associated in the Shire with the Sydney Coastal Riverflat Forest (listed on the TSC Act) and are found on alluvial soils along the Woronora, Hacking and Georges Rivers and their tributaries. The Menai community is different again with similarities to vegetation found on poorly drained areas of the Cumberland Plain. This is the only known example of this community in the Sutherland Shire.
Alan Fairley summarises the progressive degradation of the western region of Sutherland Shire.
He states: (Fairley, 1992)
"What was uncommon yesterday is rare today and could be extinct tomorrow. Examples of this are some of the plants I photographed in the Menai-Lucas Heights area in the mid 1980's. A native pea Dillwynnia parvifolia. has been cleared for housing and elsewhere around Sydney its survival is threatened as their restricted habitat is eaten away by subdivision and clearing. The finest stand of Showy-pea (Dillwynnia serlcea) I have ever seen - and to which I had taken numerous groups of naturalists -is now metres beneath the garbage of the existing tip. Darwinia diminuta, a rare plant, has disappeared from most of its former locations in the Shire of Sutherland, and maintains a tenuous hold within the former proposed Lucas Heights tip extension...
This area, due to both diversity of habitats and flora present, the large range of rare and significant plants and especially the discovery of the most significant populations of the native she-oak Allocasuarina diminuta ssp mimica in Australia, should never have been considered as part of a waste depot extension."
(Fairley, 2001)
"In an area like Menai-Bangor where there is both shale and sandstone habitats and which has been sub-divided so extensively over the last 10 years, every patch of bushland is valuable. In the past, I have photographed numerous wildflowers on the Menai plateau, but unfortunately many of those sites are now covered with houses. Shale ridges and shale-sandstone interfaces are habitats, which are becoming increasingly scarce in the Sydney area and contain a number of rare and threatened species of native plants. The preservation of these species depends on the preservation of their habitat.
The areas currently threatened with development (DUAP/LANDCOM) are, in general, fine areas of forested plateau and slopes and are rich in wildflowers (and no doubt in wildlife). Any sub-division for houses would destroy valuable bushland and seriously affect the adjoining catchments of Mill Creek and Georges River by run-off and urban pollution"
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Fauna
The variety of different vegetation types (above) takes in a range of habitats which are utilised by a rich and diverse animal life. The areas remain poorly surveyed and yet 102 native bird species, 10 mammal species (not including several
unidentified insectivorous bats) and thirteen species of reptile are known to occur in the area.
Five significant bird species have been observed in bushland along the proposed trail. |
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These include the Spotted Quail Thrush Cinclosma punctatum, Rufous Fantail Rhipidura rufifrons, Cicada Bird Coracina tenurostris, and White Throated Needle Tail Hirundapus caudacutus. Mill Creek is likely to be important corridors for the movement of the Gang Gang Cockatoo Callocephalon fimbriatum.
The reptile fauna of the proposed parks is particularly poorly studied however the Diamond Python Morelia spilotes is known to occur in the area concerned. More importantly there is ample potential sandstone habitat which could support populations of the threatened Broad Headed Snake Holocephalus bungaroides, last observed in the area in the late 1980s.
Rock Wallabies and Grey Kangaroos have been observed along the trail. |
Cultural values
Aboriginal sites
The Menai to Lucas Heights area is rich in the evidence of Aboriginal occupation in particular along Mill Creek.
European Heritage |
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The trail traverses areas of historical significance, including:
- Remains of a flour mill c. 1920
- Areas previously cleared for small scale farming
- Building foundations
- An old well
- Urban bushland saved from clearing by local residents
- The residential area lost to the 1997 bushfires
Recreational Values
Menai/Illawong/Bangor/Lucas Heights/Barden Ridge area is one of the fastest growing areas in Sydney. There will be an increasing future need to provide open space opportunities for the growing population.
The West Menai Nature Trail will provide a wide range of recreational activities. The existing tracks and bushland are being already utilised for a number of recreational activities including: |
- Bushwalking
- Jogging
- Cross country running
- Rock climbing
- Photography
- Nature study
- Bird watching
- Fishing
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Appropriate management procedures will be required to ensure that bushland surrounding the trail will not be degraded by the illegal activities of four wheel drive vehicles and trail bikes.
Educational Values
Teacher training courses have been held in the bushland along the trail route. Four high schools and six primary schools rely on the bushland for local area studies. The Sutherland Shire Bushcare program collects seeds, conducts rehabilitation and holds courses in this area. The West Menai Nature Trail would make this a valued location for environmental education. There is an increasing trend in environmental education to use local sites frequently rather than conducting one large excursion per year to more remote locations. |
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• Exec Summary 
Sutherland Shire Environment Centre | Suite 4 (1st Floor), 2-4 Merton Street, Sutherland NSW 2232