Threatened species finding - Winged Peppercress herb found on Gunbar sandhills
Above: Above: Landowner Stacey Lugsdin with a Deanes Wattle in 2022 and (top) 2024. Images: supplied.
By Krista Schade
When Stacey and Ian Lugsdin undertook a Local Land Services project to fence off some of the remnant endangered sandhills on their properties at Warrendale and Nauru near Gunbar in 2018 and 2019, they had no idea the journey that they were about to undertake.
Despite commencing fencing during the 2018/19 drought, the sites benefited almost immediately from the removal of the stock.
Slowly, the old needlewood trees began to sucker, small green shoots appeared on ancient rosewood trees, and the ground cover of annual weeds moved slowly to perennial grasses.
Some of the sites were direct seeded and once the rains came, small acacias and hopbushes began appearing in the seeding lines, a variety of saltbushes also appeared, and the old white Cypress pines began to seed.
The first field day for the site was held in September, 2022. It was organised by Sally Ware from Riverina and Andrea Cashmere from Western Local Land Services to highlight the success of the original project.
This day was well attended, and much discussion was had on site about the benefit of fencing off sandhills.
The next field day was organised by Jenny Dwyer from Murrumbidgee Landcare in November 2024, as a two-day session to discuss a number of topics including a new program called Natural Capital.
A field walk and discussion day was held at one of the Nauru sandhills.
It was during this walk that participant and local landholder David Nevinson from Booroorban, spotted some small herbs that looked like the highly endangered or potentially extinct Winged Peppercress.
Photos were taken and sent to a rangelands ecologist who confirmed the identification and assisted with the loading of the finding on the website NSW BioNet Atlas, which is the repository for such species sightings.
Back at the Nauru sandhills, the site where the plants are located is lightly marked and GPS co-ordinates taken.
The journey for the Lugsdins continues, as their sandhills regenerate more each year.
In just six years, the fenced sandhills have started to change back to their pre-settlement status.
Above: The Winged Peppercress was feared extinct, but the tiny herb has recovered on the Gunbar sandhills, thanks to protection works by the Lugsdin family.
