Covering 13,600 hectares, Dakalanta occupies a strategically important location on the Eyre Peninsula in South Australia. It is bounded to the north by Cocata Conservation Park, with other protected areas nearby forming part of the WildEyre Biolink program.
Dakalanta supports a range of vegetation communities including mixed Mallee and Callitris woodlands and Drooping She-oak grassy woodlands. It is home to a large population of the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat as well as a number of declining and regionally significant bird species.
Dakalanta Sanctuary protects a number of important species including a large population of the Southern Hairy-nosed Wombat, which is in decline across much of its range. Other notable mammals include the Western Pygmy Possum and the Little Long-tailed Dunnart.
Over 118 species of birds are confirmed or likely to occur on the property including the Peregrine Falcon, Scarlet-chested Parrot, Purple-gaped Honeyeater, Shy Heathwren and Restless Flycatcher. There is good habitat for Malleefowl, which occurs in the region.
AWC is the only conservation organisation to measure, in a robust scientific manner, the ecological health of a network of sanctuaries in Australia. At Dakalanta, we are establishing a suite of ecological health indicators each year to measure:
Our performance against these indicators will provide rigorous scientific data which enables us to track the ecological health of Dakalanta.
The full range of field programs for Dakalanta is being developed. Current programs include:
Dakalanta is located in the Polda Basin which has a shallow ground water aquifer on the Eyre Peninsula that recharges from local rainfall percolating down through the overlying limestone. The property has a typical Mediterranean type climate with cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers which are somewhat modified by the maritime influence of the nearby ocean.
The southern portion of the property consists of low rises and flats of calcrete with very shallow soils, areas of which have been cleared of the original Drooping She-oak grassy woodlands. The central and northern portion of the property supports more intact vegetation on low sand ridges or shallow calcareous loam flats both on the underlying calcrete sheet rock.
Approximately 250 species of plant are estimated on the sanctuary, including a stunning array of mallee species and around 10 species of small ground orchids.
In addition to the above major vegetation, there are several small pockets of different communities such as the hollow-rich Redgum woodlands and nectar-rich Swamp Paperbark shrublands.
The sanctuary has a significant revegetation program, funded by the local Natural Resource Management Board. This work has been carried out using local seed source and is focussed on restoring the threatened Drooping She-oak grassy woodland in the open degraded areas in the south of the property, which were affected by stock grazing and fire.