Taking action

Government and community based action is now under way to investigate the causes behind the observed decline in tuart health, and to devise a Tuart Conservation and Protection Strategy and Action Plan.

In 2002, Murdoch University, the Department of Conservation and Land Management, Edith Cowan University, Alcoa World Alumina Australia and the City of Mandurah were awarded an Australian Research Council (ARC) Linkage Grant to investigate the cause(s) of the decline in health of tuarts at Yalgorup. An allocation of $100,000 was also made to this tuart research program from the Cable Sands 'offset payment' for tuart conservation initiatives. A second ARC Linkage Grant has recently been awarded to the group to consolidate and expand research activities. Findings were presented at a Woodland Decline Symposium in November 2006.

Tuart Response Group

As an initial step, the then Minister for the Environment and Heritage established the Tuart Response Group in November 2001 to advise on, and coordinate, the development of this work. Up to August 2002, the Response Group has:

• prepared for public release the Status Report on Tuart Conservation and Protection;
• completed the Tuart Communications and Public Involvement Plan;
• evaluated future research needs with key stakeholders at the July Tuart Science Workshop;
• commenced the development of a Tuart Atlas that will map and describe the extent and condition of tuart trees and understorey; and
• supported Murdoch University's tuart research funding application to the Australian Research Council.

The draft Tuart Conservation and Management Strategy was released for public consultation in December 2004. Thirty formal submissions on the draft strategy have been received and assessed , and public forums have been held at Guilderton, Lake Clifton and Busselton to seek community advice for developing the Government's approved 'tuart strategy and action plan'. At the tuart strategy launch, the then Minister announced a proposal to create nine new tuart conservation reserves and also to allocate $200,000 of new Governmnet funds to a Tuart Community Grants Scheme.

The outcomes of the Tuart Strategy are to:

• encourage the community to be more aware of tuart and more involved in its conservation and protection;
• ensure tuart ecosystems are identified and adequately represented and managed for conservation within and outside reserves;
• ensure that significant stands and specimens of tuart trees outside conservation reserves are retained and appropriately managed;
• promote partnerships with community groups with differing interests in tuart trees and ecosystems;
• introduce research based remedial support to minimise the impact of processes that threaten the health of tuart trees; and
• ensure that accumulated knowledge leads to improved tuart management.