Dirk Hartog Island National Park – Return to 1616 Ecological Restoration Project

Dirk Hartog Island National Park is Western Australia’s largest island, and known to the Malgana traditional owners as Wirruwana. When visited by Dutch sea captain Dirk Hartog in 1616, the island’s wildlife and vegetation was pristine.

Since that time, the island’s environment has been gradually degraded by the introduction of:

  • sheep and feral goats that overgrazed native vegetation;
  • feral cats that hunted native animals; and
  • weeds that proliferated and smothered native vegetation.

Together, these changes devastated the island’s ecosystem and caused the local extinction of many native animal species.

In 2009, the privately held pastoral lease was purchased by the Western Australian Government and most of the island converted to national park, managed by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions. The Dirk Hartog Island National Park Return to 1616 Ecological Restoration Project began in 2012 and is reversing the decline and revitalising the island’s flora and fauna.

Dirk Hartog Island is now the World’s largest island to be completely cleared of feral cats, goats and sheep. As a result, the vegetation is recovering which provides native animals with more food and shelter. The removal of feral cats from the entire island has ‘paved the way’ for the return of threatened native mammal and bird species to the island. Eight species have now been returned and more are to follow soon.

Come along and visit the Return to 1616 stall where you can find out about the fascinating native animals you may meet if you visit the island, discover hot tips on how to prepare for a visit and how you can help protect the amazing native animal inhabitants of Dirk Hartog Island National Park.

Experience the island with a virtual tour, treat yourself to some Return to 1616 candy, watch footage of the native animals being returned to the island, and maybe take home some animal fact sheets, colouring in sheets, and information of the free Return to 1616 school education resource for the kids.

Contact Details

https://exploreparks.dbca.wa.gov.au/park/dirk-hartog-island-national-park