The Discovery Bay Coastal Park is a linear protected area of coastal land in western Victoria, south-eastern

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. The park extends along the coast of Discovery Bay from Cape Nelson north-westwards for to the border with South Australia. The park was listed on Australia's now-defunct

Register of the National Estate The Register of the National Estate was a heritage register that listed natural and cultural heritage places in Australia that was closed in 2007. Phasing out began in 2003, when the Australian National Heritage List and the Commonwealth Heritag ...

, and lies within the traditional lands of the Gunditjmara people. Part of the route of the

Great South West Walk The Great South West Walk is a / 262-kilometer (163mi) walking track, established in 1981, located in South West Victoria, Australia. The track passes through the Lower Glenelg National Park, the Cobboboonee National Park, the Discovery Bay Co ...

is located within the park. The

Discovery Bay Marine National Park The Discovery Bay Marine National Park is a protected marine national park located in the Western District of Victoria, Australia The marine park is located near , and extends along of coastline on the western side of Cape Bridgewater, from ...

adjoins the park to the west of Cape Bridgewater

History

After being recommended as a coastal reserve in 1973 by Victoria's Land Conservation Council, the park was first included in Schedule 3 of the Victorian National Parks Act in 1979, with an area of . Additional parcels of land were acquired in 1981, 1987 and 1997. Land within the coastal park, the Lower Glenelg National Park and the

Nelson Streamside Reserve Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

was listed as a

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

Glenelg Estuary and Discovery Bay Ramsar Site on 28 February 2018.

Environment

Landforms

Geologically the area is basalt overlain by limestone with the coastal landforms characterised by the rugged cliffs and headlands of Cape Nelson and Cape Bridgewater, dunefields, and by swamps and freshwater lakes further inland. The limestone contains mammalian fossil deposits of Pleistocene age.

Flora and fauna

Some 320 native vascular plant species have been recorded in the park. An important wetland is Long Swamp, fed by a groundwater aquifer, where declining water levels have led to encroachment by bare twig-sedge (''Baumea'' sp.) whose seeds are a favoured food of the ground parrot. As water levels continue to decline,

Woolly Tea-tree ''Leptospermum lanigerum'', commonly known as the woolly teatree, is a small tree or medium shrub from the plant family ''Myrtaceae''. Its common name derives from the conspicuously hairy capsules produced as fruit, along with the fine, silky ha ...

is beginning to colonise formerly sedge-dominated areas. The swamp's sedge habitat is also an important site for an endangered damselfly, the

ancient greenling ''Hemiphlebia mirabilis'', commonly known as the ancient greenling, is a species of damselfly, the only living species of the genus ''Hemiphlebia'' and the family Hemiphlebiidae. It is very small with a long, metallic-green body and clear wings ...

. The park forms much of the Discovery Bay to Piccaninnie Ponds Important Bird Area, identified by

BirdLife International BirdLife International is a global partnership of non-governmental organizations that strives to conserve birds and their habitats. BirdLife International's priorities include preventing extinction of bird species, identifying and safeguarding ...

as being of global significance for several bird species. Two threatened birds, the hooded plover and little tern, nest on the beaches. The ground parrot, Australasian bittern and

brolga The brolga (''Antigone rubicunda''), formerly known as the native companion, is a bird in the crane family. It has also been given the name Australian crane, a term coined in 1865 by well-known ornithologist John Gould in his ''Birds of Austral ...

frequent the wetlands while the orange-bellied parrot, rufous bristlebird, striated fieldwren and

beautiful firetail The beautiful firetail (''Stagonopleura bella'') is a common species of estrildid finch found in Australia. It has an estimated global extent of occurrence of 1,000,000 km2. The species inhabits temperate shrubland habitats in Australia. The ...

have been recorded in the dunes and shrublands. Threatened fish species, include the Yarra pygmy perch and dwarf galaxias. Mammals found in the park include the long-nosed potoroo,

heath mouse The heath mouse (''Pseudomys shortridgei'') is a species of mouse in the subfamily Murinae, the Old World rats and mice, found in Australia. Taxonomy A description of the species, based on material collected by Guy Shortridge at "Woyaline, ea ...

and swamp antechinus. There are

Australian fur seal The brown fur seal (''Arctocephalus pusillus''), also known as the Cape fur seal, South African fur seal and Australian fur seal, is a species of fur seal. Description The brown fur seal is the largest and most robust member of the fur seals. ...

colonies on rock platforms at Capes Nelson and Bridgewater.

References

External links