Bringing back Osborn's Eyebright: A local conservation success

Mylor Parklands – In a significant stride for local conservation efforts, the Biodiversity Team has secured a $20,000 Landscapes Hills and Fleurieu Grassroots Grant to improve habitat quality at Mylor Parklands for the endangered Osborn's Eyebright.

This native plant, currently considered extinct in Mylor Parlands, is listed as Endangered under both the National Parks and Wildlife Act (NPW) and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC).

Photo credit: Peter Watton

The project aims to restore the vegetation condition and habitat quality around the previously recorded population of Osborn's Eyebright. This effort will involve a combination of pest plant and animal management and a prescribed burn, a method known to stimulate regeneration in fire-responsive species like Osborn's Eyebright. As Osborn’s Eyebright is very difficult to propagate, it provides a perfect opportunity to trial direct seeding before and after the burn, to help gather information about effective methods for threatened species recovery

These include Mountain Gum, Pink Gum, and Purplish Wallaby Grass. The parklands also provide critical habitat for threatened native wildlife such as the Yellow-footed Antechinus, Southern Brown Bandicoot, Brush-tailed Possum, Bibron's Toadlet, Bassian Thrush, White-winged Chough, Grey-headed Flying Fox, and Rosenberg's Goanna.

This initiative builds on previous investments by the Landscapes Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Priorities Fund and the Department for Environment and Water's (DEW) "Strategic Restoration of Bassian Thrush Habitat" project. The prescribed burn will not only serve as a follow-up to earlier efforts to eradicate the invasive Erica but will also help reduce fuel loads, thereby increasing the vegetation's resilience to climate change and the anticipated rise in bushfire frequency and intensity.

The project is a collaborative effort involving the Adelaide Hills Council, DEW's Fire Team, the South Australian Seed Conservation Centre and the Mylor Parklands Bushcare Group. This partnership supports over 30 years of minimal disturbance bushcare work by volunteers and underscores the Council's long-standing commitment to vegetation management in this valuable reserve. The ongoing monitoring program has demonstrated improved biodiversity scores, highlighting the positive impact of these efforts.

This project is a promising step toward the revival of Osborn's Eyebright and the broader preservation of Mylor Parklands' rich biodiversity.