Beecroft Peninsula facts for kids
Beecroft Peninsula is a special piece of land on Australia's east coast. It's the northern tip of Jervis Bay. Imagine tall sandstone cliffs, some as high as a 30-story building (91 metres!), rising from the ocean on its western and southern sides. You'll also find beautiful white sandy beaches and rocky areas along its northern, eastern, and southern edges.
This peninsula covers about 5,250 hectares, which is like 5,250 football fields! It's located just south of a town called Currarong, about 200 kilometres south of Sydney.
At the very southern tip of the peninsula, you'll see the historic Point Perpendicular Lighthouse. It was built way back in 1899 and helps guide ships into Jervis Bay.
A big part of Beecroft Peninsula, about 4,200 hectares, is used by the Australian Defence Force as a live-firing range called the Beecroft Weapon Range. Because of this, public access to some areas is limited at certain times.
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Where is Beecroft Peninsula?
The entire Beecroft Peninsula is part of New South Wales. It belongs to the South Coast area for state elections and the Gilmore area for federal elections.
In 1909, some government-owned land on the southern coast of the peninsula was given to the federal government. This happened with the same law that transferred the Jervis Bay Territory on the other side of Jervis Bay.
Later, in 1915, the Jervis Bay Territory was put under the care of the Australian Capital Territory. However, the Beecroft Peninsula part was not included. It stayed as part of New South Wales. Most of the other land on the peninsula has since been bought by the federal government for the Royal Australian Navy to use.
Sometimes, people mistakenly think the southern part of the peninsula is part of the ACT or a separate federal territory. This is because it's close to Jervis Bay Territory and used by the Navy.
What is Beecroft Peninsula Made Of?
Beecroft Peninsula is a great example of a Permian cliffed coast in New South Wales. It's what's left of an old plateau made of sandstone and siltstone from the Permian period. On top of this, there are patches of sand and gravel from more recent times.
The eastern coast has almost continuous cliffs, reaching 91 metres high at Point Perpendicular. Over time, natural processes have carved out cool features like caves, blowholes, small peninsulas, cracks, arches, and rock stacks. A famous example is the "Drum and Drumsticks." The western coast slopes gently into the bay with some low cliffs and sandy beaches.
The peninsula connects to the mainland at its northern end by a narrow strip of land called the Carama Isthmus. This sandy, swampy area is only 211 metres wide at its narrowest point during low tide.
The rocks of Beecroft Peninsula are near the southern edge of a large rock formation called the Hawkesbury Sandstone. This means the area has many different types of plants and animals that are at the very edge of where they normally live.
Amazing Nature and Wildlife
Beecroft Peninsula is home to a rich variety of plants and animals. It has a mix of different natural areas like heathland, eucalyptus forests, rainforests, mangroves, saltmarshes, and swamps. The most common type of plant life is heath, and this area has the largest remaining heathland on the south coast of New South Wales.
Plants
There are 573 different plant species found here! They grow in many different types of plant communities. Heathland, with plants like heath banksia and scrub she oak, covers about half of the peninsula. Other heath areas have narrow-leaved bottlebrush.
You can also find shrublands with scrub she oak, heath banksia, and tick bush. Forests with eucalyptus trees, rough barked apple, and black she oak grow in deeper soils in sheltered spots. There are also special rainforests, swamp oak forests, and turpentine forests in specific locations.
Swampy areas have plants like jointed twig-rush and swamp paper-bark. A small area of grey mangrove trees grows near Chinaman's beach.
Two plant species on the peninsula are considered vulnerable, both in Australia and New South Wales: the coastal mint bush and the magenta lilly pilly. The littoral rainforest found here is also a critically endangered ecological community.
Animals
Twenty-three different kinds of native mammals live on Beecroft Peninsula. These include animals like the brown antechinus, bush rat, common ringtailed possum, brushtail possum, long-nosed bandicoot, sugar glider, eastern grey kangaroo, red-necked wallaby, and swamp wallaby. There are also eight types of bats, including the vulnerable large footed myotis.
The peninsula is a birdwatcher's paradise, with 126 different bird species recorded. This includes 12 types of honeyeaters, the endangered eastern bristlebird, and the vulnerable ground parrot. Two pairs of the vulnerable powerful owl and the vulnerable masked owl also live here. Many birds are protected by international treaties, such as the endangered pied oystercatcher and the vulnerable sooty oystercatcher.
Nineteen types of reptiles have been found, including six kinds of skinks and six snake species like the death adder. The common scaly-foot, a legless lizard, also lives here. Twelve species of amphibians have been recorded in streams and swampy areas.
Protecting the Peninsula
Beecroft Peninsula is very important for its nature, culture, and history. It has many different plants, rare animals, and important Aboriginal and historical sites. Because of this, it was added to the Commonwealth Heritage List in 2004. This gives it special protection under Australian environmental laws.
Since the area is used as a firing range, much of the original plant life has not been cleared. This means it's in good condition and provides great homes for native animals, even with occasional short-term damage from military exercises.
The land on Beecroft Peninsula is managed by the Department of Defence’s Shoalhaven Environment Team.
Littoral Rainforest
The critically endangered littoral rainforest community is found on the western side of the peninsula. It's a small piece of coastal rainforests that used to be much larger in southern Australia. It contains several plant species that are at the southern edge of their natural range.
This rainforest is important for studying how plant communities change from sub-tropical to temperate areas. The rainforest behind Long Beach is a well-preserved example of rainforest growing on sand, which is rare in New South Wales.
Littoral rainforests are threatened by habitat loss, invasive weeds, badly placed paths, and fires that happen too often or are too big. Important ways to protect it include restoring damaged areas, moving paths, removing weeds, and carefully managing fires nearby.
Small Mammals and Fox Control
From 1993 to 2002, a study on the peninsula looked at how small and medium-sized mammal populations changed when foxes were controlled. The peninsula's narrow entrance, surrounded by ocean, makes it an ideal place to control foxes.
A surprising result was the appearance of the long-nosed bandicoot, which had never been recorded there before, even with surveys. However, their remains have been found in old Aboriginal sites. The long-nosed bandicoot not only appeared but also increased a lot in numbers after it was first seen in 2000. Similarly, the bush rat also appeared in surveys after fox control began. The common ringtailed possum also showed a big increase in numbers.
This nine-year study showed that small to medium-sized mammals, which are often hunted by foxes, can recover when foxes are controlled. This is also supported by the fact that most of the original plant life on the peninsula is still there, meaning habitat loss wasn't the main reason for mammal decline.
Eastern Bristlebird
The eastern bristlebird is an endangered small, brownish bird, about 20 cm long. It's shy and lives on the ground in thick, low plants. In 2000, this bird hadn't been seen on Beecroft Peninsula for over 100 years. Bringing them back was seen as an important step to help the species recover.
From 2003 to 2005, 45 birds were successfully moved from the Bherwerre Peninsula (on the other side of Jervis Bay) to Beecroft Peninsula. This reintroduction has been quite successful; by 2012, the Beecroft population had grown to 94 birds. The plan to help eastern bristlebirds recover focuses on managing their habitat, controlling predators like foxes, and removing invasive weeds.
Eastern Ground Parrot
The eastern ground parrot is a unique, bright green, long-tailed parrot that lives on the ground in coastal heathlands. It can grow up to 30 cm long. It's a rare and important bird found in heathlands in southern Australia, including Beecroft Peninsula. There are an estimated 450 of these parrots here.
A long-term study found that these parrots live in habitats that haven't been burned by fire for a long time. This means that fires should not be used to manage their habitat if we want to help the ground parrot population survive. Frequent and widespread fires are a threat to the eastern ground parrot. It's recommended that areas are not burned for at least 7 years after a fire.
Environmental Challenges
Like many natural areas in Australia, Beecroft Peninsula and its wildlife face threats from introduced animals and invasive plants. Five types of wild mammals have been recorded here: the red fox, feral cat, black rat, rabbit, and house mouse. Foxes are a big threat to the peninsula’s small mammal population.
The soil on Beecroft Peninsula is not very fertile, so few weed species can grow, except in cleared areas. They usually don't spread into undisturbed plant communities. There are 23 weed species on the peninsula, with the main ones being Senecia Madagascariensis, Protoaparagus aethiopucus, and Kalanchoe tubiflora.
Erosion also causes local habitat damage. Many dirt tracks used by vehicles have become badly eroded after heavy rains. New tracks have been created through heathlands where old roads became impassable. The frequency of fires, some started by naval exercises, can also harm some plants and animals.
Aboriginal History
Archaeological evidence shows that Aboriginal people have lived on Beecroft Peninsula for at least 7,000 years. This is likely an underestimate, as evidence from nearby coastal sites in New South Wales shows occupation dating back 20,000 years.
Beecroft Peninsula is especially important to the Jerrinja and Wreck Bay Village Aboriginal communities. Their traditional stories describe how ancestral beings, like Bundoola, Spandula, and the Bip Bip women, shaped the land, people, and laws. Areas like Beecroft Hill, Devils Hole, the Drum and Drumsticks, and Duck Hole are part of these stories. The southern part of Jervis Bay has strong cultural ties for women.
The stories of these ancestral beings connect this area with neighbouring regions. Aboriginal people with traditional links to the area say that Jervis Bay is the birthplace of the thirteen tribes of the south.
There are many middens (piles of shells and other remains) mainly found near the beaches on the southern and western sides of the peninsula. These show how Aboriginal people used marine resources in the past. Other sites showing past Aboriginal activity include rock shelters with living remains, scattered tools, grinding grooves, ceremonial grounds, and rock shelters with paintings and stencils on the walls.
Images for kids
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Point Perpendicular at the tip of Beecroft Peninsula with Jervis Bay in the background
