South Coast NRM Region
Regional Overview
The South Coast NRM Region covers an area of more than 6 million hectares including hinterland, coastal and marine environments. This geographical area embodies a unique medley of landscapes, habitats and eco-systems, each with their own threats, opportunities and priorities.
Despite the challenges associated with the size of the Region, diversity of issues and complexity of equitable community consultation, the South Coast NRM Investment Plan met all guideline criteria and was the only plan in WA to be approved for a three-year term.
Managing assets, addressing threats
The South Coast Region of Western Australia includes many remarkable and valuable natural assets: tall forests; southern WA’s only mountain peaks; remarkable rivers and inlets; hundreds of wetlands; many offshore islands and the waters of the Southern Ocean to the three nautical mile limit.
Regional assets also include agricultural landscapes that range from broad acre cropping and grazing to the expanding forestry, viticulture and horticulture industries; other natural resource-based industries, such as fishing, native seeds supply, sandalwood and nature-based tourism.
The Region’s community has a long history of involvement in caring for these assets through a strong network of community groups and individuals working to protect, restore, sustainably use and better understand natural resources.
Geography
The South Coast Region covers an area of 5.4 million hectares covering 2% of Western Australia. It includes the Shires of Denmark, Plantagenet, Cranbrook, Tambellup, Broomehill, Gnowangerup, Jerramungup, Ravensthorpe, Esperance and the City of Albany.It also includes parts of the Shires of Kojonup, Manjimup and Kent.
The Region takes in all the southerly flowing river catchments and some internally draining areas between Walpole in the west and Cape Arid in the east and to Broomehill, Mount Madden and Salmon gums in the north.
The region is divided into six sub-regions on the basis of climate, drainage, soil landform and conservation values.
History
The South Coast is a natural geographic region which began to form 100 million years ago when Antarctica broke away from Australia and the southern part of the continent sagged to the south. Since then new rivers have been draining to the Southern Ocean creating a series of catchments with their unique soils and landforms.
During the Eocene about 60 million years ago, the ocean covered much of the South Coast Region, leaving behind up to 50m of silty sediments. At this time most, if not all, of the current mountain peaks were isolated islands which evolved unique flora.
Today, it is the unique biological and landscape features, along with the region's unique cultural and pioneering heritage, which makes the South Coast region the special area it is.