When the Nosworthy family bought Lake Hamilton Station on South Australia’s Eyre Peninsula in 1945, it had already been farmed for 100 years.
Its paddocks, devoid of vegetation, resembled the surface of the moon.
Key points:
- Drooping she-oak grassy woodland on calcrete ecosystems of the Eyre Yorke Block Bioregion are now protected
- There are only a few remnants of the ecosystems on Eyre Peninsula
- Bill Nosworthy has been protecting the limestone she-oaks since the 1980s
Bill Nosworthy is the third generation of his family on the station and has spearheaded a greener path, protecting and expanding the patches of remnant vegetation including drooping she-oaks.
The trees have just been given national protection as critically endangered under a vegetation community called “drooping she-oak grassy woodland on calcrete”.
The protection application process began in 2018 with the help from landholders, Greening Australia and community groups from Elliston and Coffin Bay.
Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board planning and assessment officer Andrew Freeman said while she-oaks grew elsewhere, the protected ecosystem was only found in limestone and included shrubs like wattles and grasses in the understorey.
The ecosystems once covered vast areas of the state’s west coast but now only a few healthy remnants remain near Streaky Bay, Elliston and Coffin Bay.
They were hardy enough to survive growing in limestone, but fire and overgrazing had impacted their survival.
Mr Freeman said stock as well as native and feral animals ate she-oaks.
“If they go into a paddock and there’s she-oaks there, they always eat them first unless there’s some green grass.”
Mr Freeman said the critically endangered status offered not only protection but also potential funding for farmers to fence off she-oak areas.
“A few farmers are doing it really well now,” Mr Freeman said.
“At key times of the year they’ll stake their stock out and allow the she-oaks to come up or allow the native grasses to seed and that just helps with the ongoing survival of that system.”
Mr Nosworthy has removed stock from she-oak areas for extended periods.
“When we had a big germination event of 1980 … it was just that perfect rainfall, perfect season, everything germinated at once … we decided we’d shut the paddock up, which we did for seven years, and then the trees just took off,” Mr Nosworthy said.
He said she-oaks were a legume, benefiting the soil and grasses while also providing shade to allow for extra moisture in the soil.
“The benefit is you have a greener pasture for a longer time of the year.” Mr Nosworthy said.
A 1200-hectare paddock with she-oak vegetation was now a seed bank and saplings were sprouting 4 kilometres away.
“The landscape is no comparison when you look at an old photograph against today; it’s just an incredible difference,” Mr Nosworthy said.