Friends of Granite Island Recreation Park

A must visit place at the bottom of the Fleurieu peninsula our friends group is busy bringing back the "bush". Why not come and help us in this worthwhile activity. New members are always welcome.

The Granite Island Recreation Park is the most visited tourist destination in the Southern Fleurieu region, attracting between 700,000 to 800,000 visitors each year. Friends of Granite Islands aim is to enhance the experience for visitors to the island by restoring its native plant communities so that they showcase the diversity of native plant species that are indigenous to the island. To achieve these objectives, Friends of Granite Island is revegetating several different sites on the island that include:

(a) Southern side of the island where penguin burrows had previously been constructed. Aim is to reduce the spread of weeds by reintroducing native plants to enhance the quality of penguin habitat provided. This includes shelter from predators and access to suitable plant materials (sedges & grasses) used by male penguins to construct breeding nests in the burrows.

(b) Southern side of the island with heavy load of kikuyu grass. Aim is to control the spread of the kikuyu weed throughout this site and to reintroduce native plant species to increase ground cover.

(c) Western side of the island at the end of the causeway which is the entry point to the island. Aim is to establish plantings along the boardwalk to enhance the aesthetics for the many visitors that use the boardwalk. Secondary objective is to stabilise the soils at this site that is characterised by steep slopes with sandy non-wetting soils.

(d) Northern side of the island near the built facilities used by tourists, such as the kiosk, horse tram station and Penguin Centre. Given that this site has the highest visitor numbers, several “coastal gardens” have been established to showcase the diversity of native plant species that are well adapted to harsh coastal conditions, and thereby, suitable candidates for use in local domestic and/or community gardens. One garden includes a large number of artificially-constructed penguin burrows. This garden is being replanted to enhance its habitat value for penguins by improving access to these burrows.

More detailed information is published on the Friends of Granite Island website.