Though set within a sensitive coastal location, the environmental profile of the Gnarabup Project site is a product of its history.
Prior to the identification of the landholdings as a suitable site for development or the zoning of the land for tourism development, the broader locality was extensively cleared and used for grazing farmland in the 1930s. This clearing removed much of the native vegetation and mature trees and may have left the land more exposed to bushfires in the decades that followed. These included the tragic fires of 2011, which again destroyed all of the vegetation.
While vegetation has regrown since these bushfires, the regrowth represents only the hardiest of the endemic species. The environment on the site remains degraded in terms of habitat suitability for local fauna and species diversity.
The project team have completed a number of environmental studies on the land that are available here, with the key findings summarised as follows:
The Environmental Protection Authority is currently undertaking an assessment. More information can be found here.
Emerge Associates were engaged to prepare a comprehensive flora and fauna report for Gnarabup Project. The report encompasses an assessment of the site's fauna, and flora and vegetation.
No. The development is on land close to the Gnarabup township and most of the site is actually closer to Gas Bay than Gnarabup Beach. The land has been zoned for tourism and future development by the Augusta Margaret River Shire since 2007.
No. Neither Gnarabup Beach nor Gas Bay will be directly affected by the development. Preserving and improving the landscape are priorities for the project.
No. The land was originally cleared of its native vegetation in the 1930s to be used as grazing land. It was tragically cleared of vegetation again during the bushfires in 2011.
The landscape design for the project will be reintroducing native trees and vegetation that have been previously eliminated from the land by these events.
We engaged an independent environmental study by Emerge Associates to determine the suitability of the land for development.
The various studies examined environmental and ecological concerns including the risk to valuable habitat for local fauna (including Carnaby’s cockatoo and the western ringtail possum) and the importance of any flora on the land.
No.
A detailed flora and fauna study as well as a targeted western ringtail possum survey have been completed by Emerge Associates.
These studies did not observe any western ringtail possums on the land and found that the predominant vegetation type on the land (low coastal heathland) was of a marginal quality for possum foraging and habitat. There are no large mature trees on the land, which are the preferred habitat for western ringtail possums. Western ringtail possums were however recorded within suitable habitat outside of the site during the nocturnal survey, indicating they are present in the local area. It is likely that the possums inhabit vegetation outside of the site but within the local area (particularly where peppermints are present in higher abundance) and only use the heathland habitat in the site opportunistically for refuge, foraging and/or dispersal.
No. The limestone headland that looks over Gnarabup Beach to the north and Gas Bay to the south will remain untouched.
The project site is not located on this headland. The site for the hotel is located on the other side of Ocean View Road from the headland. The Gnarabup Village is located further south on the other side of Seagrass Place.
Two species of conservation significance are known to occur in the local area: Carnaby’s cockatoo and the western ringtail possum.
Western ringtail possums were recorded within suitable habitat outside of the site during the nocturnal survey, indicating they are present in the local area. It is likely, however, that the possums inhabit vegetation outside of the site but within the local area (particularly where peppermints are present in higher abundance) and only use the heathland habitat in the site opportunistically for refuge, foraging and/or dispersal.
The remainder of the conservation-significant fauna species identified in the studies undertaken by Emerge (64 species) are considered ‘unlikely’ to occur in the site. This is either due to lack of suitable habitat or because the site lies outside of the species’ known distribution.
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