The Great Western Woodlands is one of the very few large, intact landscapes remaining in the World. At around 16 million hectares in size it is the largest intact temperate (or ‘Mediterranean’) Woodland left on Earth.
Mediterranean habitats worldwide have had a long history of human influence with over 40% now modified.
There is ongoing loss and degradation of this habitat through development, population growth, and the conversion of native vegetation for urban and agriculture development.
Globally less than 5% of the remaining Mediterranean biome is protected. As a consequence, these areas consistently emerge as global priorities for biodiversity conservation.
In Australia over 35% of the Mediterranean habitat has been cleared for agriculture and urban development. Much of what remains is fragmented, and susceptible to overgrazing, salinisation and edge effects.
In WA over the last 180 years, more than 20 million hectares of bush (woodland and shrubland, as well as coastline communities including tuart forest) has been converted to agricultural or urban land. The western and southern boundary of the Great Western Woodlands is literally where the clearing has stopped.
Intact landscapes are important for healthy ecosystem function, a refuge for plants and animals and important for humans because of our reliance on healthy land for our survival.
Even in this large, intact landscape, the last century has seen the loss of species at a rate greater than that experienced for at least 250 million years.
Australia as a whole has suffered the highest rate of extinction of mammal species of any continent, and the Woodlands is no exception.
The changes we have already seen, and those bearing down on us through global warming and other large pressures, threaten to push the planet into the sixth great wave of extinctions.
Until now, our piecemeal approach to conserving species and areas has largely failed. Species loss and degradation of ecosystems is increasing globally and nationally.
Conservation of biodiversity and related natural heritage values demands a landscape-wide approach, recognising the importance of ecological connectivity at continental and regional scales.
By recognising the ecological processes that are essential in maintaining the integrity of the Great Western Woodlands we can work to implement strategies that ensure that these processes continue to operate in ways that benefit, not diminish, nature. Protection and maintenance is essential to maintaining healthy populations of species, ecosystems, and the human communities they support.
If any of these drivers are ignored, altered, degraded or destroyed, significant components of the region’s biodiversity are likely to disappear forever.
In this picture - Peak Charles National Park
This Park is named after its ancient granite peak with an elevation of 651 metres and its neighbour - Peak Eleanora. From the top you have fantastic views of hundreds of kilometres of intact bush.
