Regional landscape review
I’m pleased to share that we are now seeking community feedback on our Regional Landscape Plan. Every five years we review our priorities and work with the community on shaping our next landscape plan.

The updated plan is an opportunity to make sure the Board’s actions continue to meet the changing needs of our diverse landscapes and the people who care for them.

Under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019, we have statutory requirements in relation to managing declared plants and animals, land protection and management, and water planning and management.

While we have areas that we have to focus on through the Landscape Act requirements, we want to carry out our core work with an understanding of what the community values about the local landscapes and what they see as local priorities for landscape management. I encourage you to get involved.

Everyone in the community can have their say through our YourSAy page. This includes a community survey and a youth survey (for under 18s), the option for one-on-interviews and two Healthy Country Conferences for the Aboriginal community in October. Please take a look at the YourSAy page before September 26.

New sustainable ag project
We are also now underway with our three-year sustainable agriculture project that will support EP farmers to drive agriculture growth while adopting sustainable practices. As part of the project, EP farmers will have access to soils technical expertise and increasing their knowledge on options to overcome soil constraints for improved productivity and sustainability.

We’re pleased to be working with Agriculture and Innovation Research EP (AIR EP) on this project. We will also begin a new partnership – with Regional Development Australia EP – to deliver an area of the project that is focused on improving Aboriginal participation in the agriculture sector. Find out more.

Board news
In July we had the sad news that former Board member Alan Tingay passed away. Alan served diligently as a Board member from January 2023 until his resignation earlier this year. Alan was no stranger to the Board prior to this, having been involved in many discussions and initiatives driven by his passion for the environment, his love for Coffin Bay and its surrounds and his professional background.

Even after hanging up his boots from the Board, he continued to participate in Coffin Bay Water Quality Working Group meetings, when he could, as well as undertaking water quality and other sampling in and around Coffin Bay.

In other Board news, long-serving Board member Steven Milner has resigned. Steve was an inaugural member of our Board in 2020. His expertise in management, leadership, strategy and governance along with his regard for the natural environment of the EP and Far West, has been valuable during our first five years as a landscape board. Thank you Steve and we wish you well in your future endeavours.

Finally, I’d like to share this video in which our staff explain how we work with the community to safeguard our natural and productive environment.

All the best,
Jonathan Clark

General Manager,
Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board

After plenty of rain in July, our sheoak revegetation sites across western EP are looking good.

We’ve worked with two private landholders as well as the Department for Environment and Water to establish 162ha of drooping sheoak grassy woodland environment across sites from Streaky Bay to Lake Hamilton.

Prior to winter we worked with schools and communities across EP to plant more than 500 tube stock at the restoration sites in Streaky Bay and Lake Newland Conservation Park.

Our western team recently checked on our four revegetation sites and found positive germination with up to 98 sheoaks found in just one of the 100m transects!

Staff will be back at the sites in spring to monitor progress and see if there’s been any herbivore impacts.

Our five-year Drooping Sheoak Grassy Woodland project is funded by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and delivered by ourselves, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners Panel.

Staff at a planting day (left) & then checking on germination this month.

Last month our Cleve-based officers celebrated National Tree Day and kicked off a Grassroots Grant revegetation project, with students at Cleve Area School.

More than 100 native trees were planted on the day plus the students participated in removing noxious weeds that affect natural habitats and agricultural systems.

The school was awarded one of our Grassroots Grants this year, to enhance biodiversity in a vegetation strip next to the school’s “Sims Farm” area.

The site, once revegetated, will also serve as a valuable habitat corridor for local wildlife in Yeldulknie Creek and Conservation Park.

We now have two boxthorn puller devices available for loan to landholders in heavily infested areas around eastern Eyre Peninsula - adding to the two also available in western EP.

We recently brought together Year 7 students from Navigators College Port Lincoln and a heritage agreement landholder at Koppio.

The students helped to tackle some weeds on the heritage agreement perimeter to reduce this threat to native vegetation.

The students plan to return to the site regularly to monitor the local vegetation community that is important for Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoo and threatened plants such as the Tufted bush-pea. To help with the monitoring, we worked with the school to install a citizen science Pix Stix monitoring point.

Heritage agreement grants
The Native Vegetation Council has two types of grants now open for areas of land to be protected by a new or expanded Heritage Agreement. Find out more.

Students from Navigators College Port Lincoln at the Koppio site and the new Pix Stix monitoring post.

September 16 & 18: Hooded Plover conservation workshops in Tumby Bay and Elliston
BirdLife Australia is hosting two Hooded Plover Conservations workshops on Eyre Peninsula in mid September. The workshops will discuss how Hooded Plovers raise their chicks on local beaches, the threats they face and how the community can get involved with protecting them. RSVP by September 9 to renee.mead@birdlife.org.au or on 0422 798 388.
This workshop is supported by our Grassroots Grants program.

October 28 & 30: Healthy Country Conference and workshop – Port Lincoln & Ceduna
We're hosting a minya (small) healthy Country conference and workshop to connect and share with the Aboriginal Community across the EP. The Far West Coast Aboriginal Corporation and Alinytjara Wiluṟara Landscape Board will present about healthy Country planning and strategic alignment, followed by a workshop that will enable the community to have input into the Regional Landscape Plan for the next 5 years. To be held in:

• Port Lincoln on October 28
• Ceduna on October 30.

Contact us on eplbadmin@sa.gov.au for more information.

Late 2025: carbon farming workshops
Are you a farmer and curious about carbon farming and what it really means for your farm? Join us for a free, practical workshop that cuts through the jargon to give you the facts on carbon farming. We'll explore how it fits into everyday farming, how it might benefit your business, and what you need to know to make informed decisions.

Our next round of workshop dates in late 2025 will be announced soon. To register your interest contact amy.wright@airep.com.au. 

• The Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board region extends from Whyalla in the east, along the Gawler Ranges in the north, to the edge of the Nullarbor Plain in the west. There are eight offices within the region. Want to get in touch with us? See our contact page for your nearest office.
   
• Need to check your stock water? We offer free salinity testing for landholders.
   
• Landholders have responsibility for controlling declared pest plants across the EP. See our pest plant page to find out more about the priority pest plants in our region and control options.
   
• Spot a feral deer, fox, rabbit, cat, goat or wild dog? Report your sighting on FeralScan. See our pest animal page for more details.
   
• Undertaking works on an existing or new water source? Our Water Affecting Activities page has permit information including application forms and factsheets. We also have a guide for siting, design, construction and management of EP dams.
   
• Find out what is happening across statewide landscape management on the Landscapes SA website or subscribe to the statewide newsletter to hear news from across the state.