Norman’s Rd pullover
  • Icon for Mobile Reception (Telstra) Mobile Reception (Telstra)

Featured in journeys:

Image for Fitz-Stirling Drive
Fitz-Stirling Drive

Overview

At the turn-off to Norman Rd there is a place to park safely. From here, you can look across the road to the edge of the Corackerup Nature Reserve.

The pullover area adjoins the privately-owned conservation property that was initially restored by Carbon Neutral.

The property is in a very strategic position for the broader restoration efforts in the Fitz-Stirling as it adjoins Nowanup and Corackerup Nature Reserve.

Story of the place

Ecological restoration

It is obvious that there is still some way to go until this patch of revegetation looks like the original bush, particularly when compared with the original bush over the road in Corackerup Nature Reserve.

The practice of ecological restoration is constantly evolving and improving, and many properties in the Fitz-Stirling (particularly Nowanup) have been sites of experimentation with different techniques, different mix of species.

While it may take decades, if not longer, for them to look more like the original bush, there are two important achievements here already.

First, the wildlife is back – various monitoring programs have shown substantial use by wildlife, for both moving through and breeding – within the first five to six years after planting.

Secondly, the ecological trend line has been reversed and the old farmland is now at a point where it can ‘heal itself’ – gradually become more like the original bush over time.

Eugene Eades - 
Noongar Leader

Justin Jonson

Threshold Environmental

“Ecological restoration is like being a detective. You’ve got to dig in the soil to find out what the soils are and create detailed maps. You’ve got to look at the vegetation on the sides of the cleared land. You’ve got to look for any kind of remnant trees that may be still growing in an area like a rocky pile or something like that, that the farmers weren’t able to clear and you build the map and that map then becomes your stepping stone to deciding how to put back the plants where they need to go.”

“This arid evergreen vegetation is amazing and it’s the complexity that actually drew me here. I mean, if you want to do restoration, it’s sort of like anybody can fill out an easy crossword puzzle, but when the crossword puzzle gets challenging that’s when it becomes more interesting and unpacking this flora, unpacking the relationship between the soils and the plants and where they grow and what they grow with. I mean that is a challenge that is exciting.”

 

See & Do

Ecological restoration in action

If you walk about 50m to the north of the pullover area you will reach a fence, beyond which is a revegetated area, part of the privately-owned conservation property. This is private property, and a dieback protection area, so please do not go beyond the fence.

Giving back and getting involved

Gondwana Link plays a key coordination role in the ecological restoration work in the Fitz-Stirling area. 

Gondwana Link
Website 
Email

Practical Information

Facilities

This is a remote area and there are limited facilities available. There is a roadhouse at the Boxwood Hill intersection.

Where to eat and stay

See the suggestions from our friends at Great Southern Treasures:

See Visitor Information from the Shire of Jerramungup for accommodation, eating and camping options in Jerramungup and Bremer Bay.

Visitor Information

Jerramungup Community Resource Centre

8 / 10 Tobruk Rd, Jerramungup
Phone (08) 9835 1630

Website 

Facebook

Bremer Bay Community Resource Centre

7 Mary St, Bremer Bay
Phone (08) 9837 4171

Email

Website