Eyre Peninsula’s landscape priorities open for feedback
A new regional plan for the Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board - to set the 5-year direction for landscape management for the Eyre Peninsula region – has now been drafted and is open for community feedback.
The plan, reviewed and updated every five years, will guide how the Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board safeguards Eyre Peninsula’s natural and productive environment in partnership with the local community, in line with requirements set out in the Landscape South Australia Act, 2019.
Eyre Peninsula Landscape Board General Manager Jonathan Clark says the draft plan is an opportunity to make sure the Board’s actions continue to meet the changing needs of our diverse landscapes and the people who care for them.
“Under the Landscape South Australia Act 2019, we have statutory requirements in relation to managing declared plant and animals, land protection and management, and water planning and management,” Mr Clark says.
“Under the Act, a landscape includes land, water, soil, native plants and animals, geological features, and the natural processes that keep them healthy. On Eyre Peninsula, this means everything from our sandy beaches, dunes and coastal saltmarshes, to farming land, wetlands, and bushland.
“These landscapes support biodiversity, local communities, and industries like agriculture and tourism, while also holding deep cultural significance for Aboriginal people.
“During the review of the plan, we heard that our existing priorities were close to what was expected for the landscape board to focus on given what the Act allows us to do.
“One emerging theme was for more of a focus on healthy coasts which led us to amending the existing priority of ‘biodiversity’ to ‘land and coastal biodiversity’ which would see us protect and enhance land and coastal ecosystems to recover threatened species and build ecosystem resilience.
“Our other priorities remain similar, and it was generally agreed through feedback that ‘action to adapt to a changing climate and reduce emissions’ will be part of all priorities.”
The five updated priorities are:
- Water: Sustainable, climate responsive management of watercourses, wetlands and groundwater to improve condition and support productive uses
- Primary Production: Protect and maintain soil health and land condition to enable productive, adaptive and sustainable primary production
- Land and coastal biodiversity: Protect and enhance land and coastal ecosystems to recover threatened species and build ecosystem resilience
- Pest plants and animals: Reduce the impacts of pest plants and animals on biodiversity and primary production, and prevent new invasive species from establishing
- Collaboration and partnerships: Work together to deliver programs and empower communities to sustainably manage natural resources
The draft plan was developed following an extensive review process, including workshops with local government representatives, one-on-one interviews with a diverse range of people, hosting two Healthy Country Conferences for the Aboriginal community, and a YourSAy consultation page.
The Board thanks everyone who helped to shape the draft plan and now encourages feedback on it.
A YourSAy consultation page is open from now until February 15, 2026.
After this, any final changes will be made and then the plan will be presented to the Minister for approval, for implementation from July 2026.
Visit the YourSAy page for full details and to get involved.
