The Southern Forest Irrigation Scheme is an agricultural irrigation scheme being developed in the Manjimup-Pemberton area in south west Western Australia. The proposed scheme will comprise a 15 GL reservoir located on Record Brook and a pipeline distribution network that will supply water to irrigators who have purchased a water entitlement for the scheme.
In June 2019, a meeting was held with Jeremy Bower, SFIS project manager, to discuss the scheme and identify any potentially negative impacts on the Track and walkers.
The Foundation’s primary concerns were:
Noise impacts along the Track (and at the Chappell’s Bridge recreation area) from any pumping system – and particularly at Boarding House Campsite which was estimated to be 3–400 metres from the pump house.
Visual impacts of the pumping station and associated infrastructure.
As a result of the meeting, amendments have since been made to the pumping system to reduce possible noise and visual impacts. An underwater pump will be used so no pump house or weir needs to be built and there is minimal disturbance to the river bed. We were also advised that water will only be extracted when bigger flow events occur in the river. The Board is satisfied that the concerns of Bibbulmun Track users have been mitigated.
DBCA’s Recreation and Trails Unit will look at the final plans when available.
Download the SFIS fact sheet. NOTE: this was produced prior to the amendments to the scheme mentioned above. No weir will be constructed.
The wildflower season starts in the north around early August and gradually blossoms from then on heading south. September and October tend to be the peak times but this can be earlier or later depending on the season in any particular year. The flowers vary along the Track in terms of variety, abundance and season. Experience a spectacle of colour and gain an interesting insight into this biodiversity hotspot. Over 2,000 species of plants can be seen along the Track.
Some of the first vibrant colours of the flowering season are the purples of hovea and the golden yellows of wattles. Donkey Orchids can start flowering as early as July (and have already been spotted!). They bloom in clumps of yellow and brown heads that appear to have large donkey-like ears.
Our current Calendar of Events includes wildflower walks and offers a variety of events for all ages and fitness levels. They are a great way to get out on the Track.
In order to deliver the Dwellingup Adventure Trails, DBCA has partnered with the Shire of Murray to secure $3.45M through a Commonwealth Government Building Better Regions grant and brought in their own contribution of $4.95M.
Over 30km of new mountain bike trails will be built in Murray Valley, along with an 8km realignment of the Munda Biddi Trail and a new trail link between Dwellingup and Lane Poole Reserve. At Baden Powell a new trail centre and suspension bridge for walkers and cyclists will be constructed. The suspension bridge will be connecting to the Murray Valley trail network across the Murray River and promises a spectacular view looking out over the rapids. For more information please see the Shire of Murray website and check out the YouTube video here.
With $10M from The State Governments Royalties for Regions funding, The Collie Adventure Trails project is sure not to disappoint.
Over 130km of Mountain Bike Trails will be built throughout Wellington National Park, Arklow Forrest Block and Westralia Conservation Park. Multi-day loops and link trails from Collie are in the plans as well as a new river crossing, and completion of the 72km Walking Trail through Wellington National Park.
However it's not all about building trails, in an effort to seek Trail Town status Collie is upgrading its facilities, with new bike wash stations, bike racks, storage, signage... the list goes on. For Collie, DBCA predicts a Tourism spend of $3.8M annually, creating over 30 employment opportunities in the area. The Collie Adventure Trails project is due to be finished by 2023. Check out the full report here.
Nationwide, the AusPlay survey has been running since 2015 with a total of about 20,000 interviews conducted annually. This State of Play report however, is very exciting as, for the first time, it has included bushwalking.
The numbers clearly support that bushwalking and outdoor recreational activities are on the rise. According to this summarised report by SportAus, Recreational Walking is the number 1 activity in Australia, with bushwalking coming in at number 8. Increasingly more people are seeking an active lifestyle through outdoor activities and nature.
The full survey is available here, but here's a few key points to get you going:
On a national level, ACT & Tasmania take the lead with 10.6% and 10.2% participation rates for bushwalking, with WA at 4.1%
Leading Ladies - 12% marks the highest share of play, with women leading the pack (aged 25 - 34)
Over the next 12 months a 7% increase is expected (from 1,174,049 to 1,253,740 Bushwalking participants)
6% of all participants are paying, with an average annual spend of $838, and nationally $52.9 million annually.
Hard working support volunteers, preparing a new supply of timber posts for the Track.
Thank you to the Bibbulmun Track Foundation Support Volunteers who spent three days at Dwellingup cutting, chamfering and painting Track marker posts.
Thanks to Parks and Wildlife Dwellingup we now have a storage area at Dwellingup for the new Track marker posts. There is still more work to do painting/chamfering all the posts, which the Foundations Support Volunteers will complete.
