Milyu Nature Reserve and Marine Park

Statement of Significance

• The place has aesthetic value as an area of unstructured wetland featuring indigenous plants, supporting water and bird life located alongside a dense urban landscape.
• The place has historic value as an area which has been modified since settlement but continues to provide a rich habitat for indigenous wildlife.
• The place has historic value for its association with the holiday camping grounds which were located along this foreshore until the mid 20th century.
• The place has social value for the many members of the South Perth and wider community who use the place for passive recreation.
• The place has research value as the wetland has been identified as a rare and rich habitat which hosts many migrant birds species which are studied by academic, government and volunteer groups.

Physical Description

The City of South Perth contains approximately 11 km of Swan River Estuary foreshore, of which about 3 km lie within the Milyu Nature Reserve and Marine Park A-Class Reserve 33803. The Milyu Nature Reserve and Marine Park is situated on the western side of the Kwinana Freeway. The Marine Park has an area of about 95 ha, extending out into the river in a triangular shape between Judd Street and South Terrace. It consists of tidal flats and the fringing belt of vegetation adjacent to the Kwinana Freeway on reclaimed land.

The vegetation of the area mainly consists of a belt of sedges dominated by Giant Rush, Juncus pallidus and Scirpus nodosus. Patches of Halosarcia species and small Melaleuca species are also found. Tidal flats are extensively covered with the “seagrass”, Halophila ovalis. The tidal flats of the area support a rich invertebrate fauna which is characterised by low faunal diversity and high abundance of a few species. The tidal areas provide significant feeding grounds for bottom-feeding fish, and the seagrass meadows in the shallower areas are important fish nurseries and feeding areas.

History

Milyu Nature Reserve and Marine Park, is part of the riverine foreshore of the City of South Perth. The word ‘Milyu’ is Noongar for a common plant in the area known as Halosarcia, or samphire.
Geographically, Milyu Nature Reserve and Marine Park forms part of a larger Swan Estuary Marine Park which consists of three biologically important areas; Milyu, 95 hectares adjacent to the Como foreshore and Kwinana Freeway; Alfred Cove, 190 hectares adjacent to the suburbs of Attadale and Applecross; and Pelican Point, a 40 hectare area in Crawley. These areas comprise mudflats, seagrass beds and intertidal vegetation such as sedges and saltmarsh, which provide many different habitats for shore-birds (migratory and non-migratory), wading birds, waterbirds and seabirds bird and a variety of animal species. The migratory birds come from as far afield as Asia, Mongolia and Siberia.
The Milyu Nature Reserve and Marine Park supports at least 37 species of waterbirds and is important for the Great Cormorants, Sacred Ibis, Grey Plover, Sanderling and Fairy Tern. It is used extensively by waterbird species as a feeding and loafing area, although few breeding species have been recorded at the place. Migratory wader species (known to travel between Australia/Japan and Australia/China) also use the area. The Milyu Nature Reserve and Marine Park was registered by the Australian Heritage Commission on the Register of the National Estate.
Before South Perth and Como became densely settled as inner-city residential areas, these areas were popular picnic and camping grounds. The abundant wildlife which also visited the river foreshore areas would have been an attractive feature of the camp grounds.
Milyu Nature Reserve and Marine Park has been affected by extensive reclamation and reshaping of the foreshore during major works which took place during the mid-twentieth century as part of the construction of the Kwinana Freeway. This has had some benefit of reducing the amount of human traffic in the area.
Milyu Nature Reserve and Marine Park remains a frequented location for walking and cycling along the riverside, bird-watching, canoeing, picnicking and wind-surfing. Information panels describing the habitat and its inhabitants have been located along the dual-use path.

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Good

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Disclaimer

This information is provided voluntarily as a public service. The information provided is made available in good faith and is derived from sources believed to be reliable and accurate. However, the information is provided solely on the basis that readers will be responsible for making their own assessment of the matters discussed herein and are advised to verify all relevant representations, statements and information.