Parks and Wildlife staff have completed an important prescribed burn at Windjana Gorge National Park, just prior to the peak dry season visitor period. Broome-based Parks and Wildlife regional fire coordinator Ed Hatherley said the prescribed burn had reduced flammable grasses that had accumulated throughout the national park and broader Kimberley over the wet season. “This type of strategic burning will help provide protection for the park’s significant natural values and infrastructure,” Mr Hatherley said. “Burning the savanna grass in strategic locations such as at Windjana will help stem the spread of potentially damaging bushfires later in the year and play an important role in protecting visitors to the national park.” Windjana Gorge, with its spectacular 100m walls and the Lennard River running through it,…

The Department of Parks and Wildlife is calling on the community to help protect Mt Lindesay from dieback by not riding motorbikes on designated walk trails. Mt Lindesay and Little Mt Lindesay, near Denmark, are important areas for rare plant species – there are five declared rare species and 26 priority-listed species in Mt Lindesay National Park. Parks and Wildlife Frankland District nature conservation coordinator Alison McGilvray said parts of the national park are still free from dieback (Phytophthora cinnamomi). “Dieback is a soil-borne pathogen which attacks the roots of susceptible plant species,” Ms McGilvray said. “The disease presents one of the greatest threats to biodiversity in Western Australia, affecting about 40 per cent of flora in the south-west of WA. “It’s really important that…