Friends of Forktree: Rewilding on the Fleurieu Peninsula
The Fleurieu Peninsula is a diverse region 40 minutes south of Adelaide bordered by Gulf St Vincent, the Southern Ocean and Lake Alexandrina. Traditionally home to the Ngarrindjeri, Kaurna and Peramangk people, the peninsula covers approximately 6,700 square kilometres of land and sea. But today, it’s home to only 130,000 people.
A Mediterranean climate of cool, wet winters and hot, dry summers made the region popular for settlement, farming, tourism and recreation. But converting the land for wheat growing and pasture for cows and sheep came at a cost. It’s estimated that over 90 per cent of mature native vegetation cover and 99 per cent of native grass cover has been lost, leaving only a small number of remnant native vegetation patches in the region.
Enter the Forktree Project, a registered charity with the goal of returning a 133-acre pastoral property on the Fleurieu Peninsula to its pre-agricultural glory. The group hopes to use this small land holding to
demonstrate the possibilities of rewilding in the area.