- NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT STRATEGY FOR THE NORTHERN AGRICULTURAL REGION OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA
The Shire of Dandaragan has an extensive Indian Ocean coastline that includes the coastal towns of Cervantes and Jurien Bay, sandy beaches and dunes, limestone reefs, sheltered lagoons and numerous offshore islands. These environments support significant ecological, recreational, cultural and economic values. Much of the Shire’s coastal marine environment lies within Jurien Bay Marine Park, which extends from Wedge to Green Head and approximately 5.5 km offshore. Limestone reefs, seagrass and other marine habitats support a diverse mixture of temperate and tropical species. Offshore islands provide important habitat and breeding areas for seabirds and Australian sea lions. Coastal erosion and future sea-level rise are important long-term planning issues and the Shire manages these risks through coastal hazard risk management and adaptation planning and is undertaking ongoing coastal monitoring to improve understanding of changes to beaches, dunes and nearshore environments.
The Shire of Dandaragan has an extensive Indian Ocean coastline that includes the coastal towns of Cervantes and Jurien Bay, sandy beaches and dunes, limestone reefs, sheltered lagoons and numerous offshore islands. These environments support significant ecological, recreational, cultural and economic values. Much of the Shire’s coastal marine environment lies within Jurien Bay Marine Park, which extends from Wedge to Green Head and approximately 5.5 km offshore. Limestone reefs, seagrass and other marine habitats support a diverse mixture of temperate and tropical species. Offshore islands provide important habitat and breeding areas for seabirds and Australian sea lions. Coastal erosion and future sea-level rise are important long-term planning issues and the Shire manages these risks through coastal hazard risk management and adaptation planning and is undertaking ongoing coastal monitoring to improve understanding of changes to beaches, dunes and nearshore environments.
The Shire of Dandaragan has a diverse economy based on agriculture, fishing, tourism, mining, renewable energy and local services. Economic activity varies across the Shire, with agriculture and resource industries important in inland areas and tourism and fishing particularly significant along the coast.
Agriculture is a major land use and includes broadacre cropping, sheep and cattle production and horticulture. Mining is also important, including mineral sands operations within the Shire. Renewable energy has become an increasingly significant part of the local economy, with major wind-energy developments and further investment in energy generation, storage and transmission infrastructure.
Commercial fishing, particularly the Western Rock Lobster industry, is important to the coastal communities of Cervantes and Jurien Bay. Tourism is another major contributor, supported by natural attractions including the Pinnacles in Nambung National Park, Lesueur National Park, Jurien Bay Marine Park and the Turquoise Coast. Jurien Bay and Cervantes provide accommodation, hospitality, retail and recreational services for residents and visitors.
The Shire of Dandaragan lies within the northern Perth Basin, including the Dandaragan Trough, and is underlain by a sequence of sedimentary rocks of mainly Mesozoic age. Much of the surface is covered by younger sediments associated with coastal dunes, sandplains, drainage systems and other depositional landscapes.
Cretaceous sedimentary units underlying parts of the Shire include the Lancelin and Osborne formations, Leederville Formation and Coolyena Group. These contain varying combinations of sandstone, siltstone, shale, claystone, glauconitic sediments, chalk and marl. The Coolyena Group, which includes the Osborne Formation, was deposited largely in shallow marine environments during the Cretaceous period.
Soils and landforms vary considerably across the Shire. Coastal areas are dominated by sandy soils associated with dunes, limestone and the Swan Coastal Plain, while the Dandaragan Plateau includes extensive sandy and gravelly soils. Inland landscapes also include valleys, drainage systems and areas of exposed or shallowly buried sedimentary rock.
The Shire includes parts of the Dandaragan Plateau (SWA01) and Perth (SWA02) subregions of the Swan Coastal Plain IBRA bioregion. Its vegetation is diverse and includes kwongan heathlands and shrublands, Banksia woodlands and other woodland communities. The Lesueur area is particularly significant for its exceptional plant diversity and high levels of endemism.
The Shire supports ecological communities recognised as threatened under Western Australian and Commonwealth legislation. Nationally listed communities include the Endangered Banksia Woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain and Vulnerable Subtropical and Temperate Coastal Saltmarsh. Western Australian threatened ecological communities include the Critically Endangered Stromatolite community of stratified hypersaline coastal lake – Lake Thetis and the Critically Endangered Lesueur-Coomallo Floristic Community D1.
Lesueur National Park and surrounding areas support a particularly rich flora and provide important habitat for threatened fauna, including the Endangered Carnaby’s Cockatoo (Zanda latirostris).
The coastal and marine environment is also of high conservation significance. Jurien Bay Marine Park extends along much of the Shire’s coast and contains limestone reefs, seagrass meadows, offshore islands and other habitats that support diverse marine and coastal wildlife. The park and its islands provide important habitat for the Vulnerable (WA State determination)/Endangered (Federal determination) Australian Sea Lion (Neophoca cinerea), seabirds and other native fauna.
Offshore islands support populations of threatened species including the Endangered Dibbler (Parantechinus apicalis) on Boullanger, Whitlock and Escape islands and the Vulnerable Jurien Bay Skink (Liopholis pulchra longicauda). The islands and surrounding marine environment also provide important breeding and resting habitat for seabirds including the Wedge-tailed Shearwater (Ardenna pacifica) and Roseate Tern (Sterna dougallii).
Agriculture is the dominant productive land use across much of the inland Shire of Dandaragan. Broadacre cropping and livestock production occur extensively around Dandaragan and Badgingarra, while horticulture and other more intensive agricultural activities occur where soils and water resources are suitable.
Urban and tourism-related land uses are concentrated primarily around Jurien Bay and Cervantes, with smaller settlements and service centres at Dandaragan and Badgingarra. Mining, renewable-energy infrastructure, transport corridors and other utilities also form important components of the Shire’s land-use pattern.
The Shire contains extensive areas of native vegetation and a significant network of conservation reserves. Major protected areas include Lesueur National Park, Nambung National Park and Badgingarra National Park, together with numerous nature reserves protecting heathlands, woodlands, wetlands, coastal dunes, limestone landscapes and other habitats.
These conservation areas are particularly important because the Shire lies within a region of exceptionally high plant diversity. Lesueur National Park alone supports more than 900 native plant species, while Nambung National Park and associated coastal reserves protect important dune, limestone, wetland and coastal environments.
The Shire of Dandaragan has a dispersed population across coastal towns, inland settlements and rural properties. Jurien Bay is the largest population centre and the Shire’s main administrative and service centre, while Cervantes is another important coastal community. Smaller communities are centred on Dandaragan and Badgingarra.
At the 2021 Census, the Shire of Dandaragan had 3,355 residents. The median age was 51 years, and 96 people — 2.9% of the population — identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander.
The Shire has an older population profile than Western Australia overall, reflecting in part the popularity of coastal communities such as Jurien Bay and Cervantes for retirement. Population numbers also increase seasonally as visitors travel to the coast and the Shire’s national parks and other attractions.
The Shire of Dandaragan contains a wide range of surface-water and groundwater environments, including seasonal rivers and drainage systems, coastal and inland wetlands, saline lakes and groundwater resources of the Northern Perth Basin. The Hill River is one of the principal waterways in the Shire, flowing westwards through the landscape towards the Indian Ocean. Numerous wetlands and lakes also occur across the coastal plain and inland areas of which Lake Thetis, near Cervantes, is particularly significant for its living stromatolite and microbial communities, which provide an important example of some of Earth’s earliest forms of life. Groundwater is an important resource for towns, agriculture, industry and the environment. Groundwater resources around Jurien Bay and Cervantes are managed through the Jurien groundwater allocation area, while other parts of the Shire are associated with the Gingin groundwater area and groundwater systems of the wider Northern Perth Basin. Water availability and aquatic ecosystems are influenced by the region’s variable rainfall, groundwater abstraction, land use and longer-term climate change. Sustainable management of groundwater, wetlands and waterways is therefore important for both human use and the conservation of groundwater-dependent and aquatic ecosystems.
