Underwood Bushland

Underwood Avenue Bushland consists of 32 hectares of unique Banksia, Tuart and Jarrah bushland located on the corner of Underwood Avenue and Selby Street, in Shenton Park, Perth. It is one of the largest patches of remnant costal bushland, notable for its diversity and mostly good condition.

The bushland forms part of a bushland corridor linking Kings Park, Shenton Bushland and Bold Pak and supports such animals as the Goulds Monitor and Little Eagle that would otherwise not be able to live there. It also enables movement of the Moaning frog and Banjo frog as they move between Perry Lakes and adjacent areas of bushland.

Historically it was a place of refuge for Nyungah people up until the 1950s when they were being displaced from their traditional lands and camping grounds. The bushland site as a whole is still sacred to the Nyungah people and a part of the spiritual dreaming. There ae several sites within Underwood which hold special significance for the Nyungah people who visited and lived there. UWA's current development proposal will destroy 3 government-registered aboriginal heritage sites, and UWA have not consulted properly with all Nyungah people claiming connections to this bushland.

Underwood Avenue bushland is a Bushforever listed site owned by the University of Western Australia (UWA), subject to a development proposal opposed by Friends of Underwood Bushland

There are many reasons for protecting this significant area of urban bushland, but several of the most important are:

• Underwood Avenue Bushland acts as a link between Kings Park and Bold Park; and this linkage is important for ensuring the protection of local species and for preventing the fragmentation of ecosystems.

• Underwood Avenue Bushland has a significant population of the flowering tree species, Banksia prionotes. The Banksia prionotes provides crucial habitat for feeding the endangered Carnaby’s Black Cockatoo, and it is therefore vital that the Bushland is protected. There is only one other area of similar significance in the Perth metropolitan area.

• Reducing the size of Underwood Avenue Bushland by more than 60% is likely to cause loss of approximately 20% of flora and fauna species. The bushland is in many cases better than other regionally significant areas of the Spearwood Dune.

• The community does not want to lose Underwood Avenue Bushland! 8000 signatures have been collected on a petition to save the Bushland, and in a Water Corporation survey, 82% oppose UWA’s proposal! 

You can view and join the networking and file sharing site at:

www.underwood-bushland.ning.com

sign-up to the Underwood Action organisers email list at: http://lists.perthimc.asn.au/mailman/listinfo/saveunderwood

Attached below is a list of documents which are relevant to Underwood Avenue Bushland.

These range from stories and informational material to government and academic reports. (We don't make any material/documents available without the authors prior permission).

Please feel free to consult these and use them to help gain a better knowledge and understanding of Underwood Avenue Bushland.