National Parks and Conservation Parks afford maximum protection for habitat and are appropriate where sites have conservation significance for a number of organisms or landscape features. Important Glossy Black-Cockatoo habitat has been included in Lathami Conservation Park, Parndana Conservation Park and Western River Conservation Park. Nepean Bay Conservation Park contains Drooping Sheoak, but this is generally of low food value and is not used by the cockatoos. Important potential habitat on Fleurieu Peninsula is contained within Deep Creek Conservation Park and Talisker Conservation Park. It is important that key areas are represented within reserves, although it is unlikely that a viable population of cockatoos could persist within the current reserve system alone. However, in most cases acquisition has been unnecessary to secure Glossy Black-Cockatoo habitat, as there is a high level of commitment to conservation by landholders on Kangaroo Island and nearby Fleurieu Peninsula, as has demonstrated in this report (Section 4).

Heritage Agreements are legal contracts between landholders and the minister responsible for the Native Vegetation Act, 1991 that aim to protect specific areas of native vegetation. They apply to a defined piece of private land and prevent grazing and clearance, while the landholder retains ownership. The agreement is registered on the title and continues if the property is sold. Through the Native Vegetation Council, the landowner may receive compensation for loss of property value or financial assistance to fence and otherwise manage the land. Heritage Agreements cover remnant vegetation rather than areas of revegetation. Applications for Heritage Agreements are currently handled by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs.

The majority of Glossy Black-Cockatoo habitat is on private land not covered by Heritage Agreements (Table 12). Protection of this habitat requires no more than landholder commitment. However, Sanctuary agreements formalise this commitment. Sanctuaries can apply to land containing remnant vegetation or revegetation projects. Approval for financial assistance for revegetation from the Glossy Black Rescue Fund is conditional upon a Sanctuary Agreement being made. No attempt has been made to place habitat under Sanctuary Agreements in cases where no financial assistance has been provided. All native plants and animals in the sanctuary are protected.

The Sanctuary agreement is made between the landholder and the minister responsible for the National Parks and Wildlife Act, 1972, and can be revoked by the land owner at any time by a written request to the minister. Applications for Sanctuary status are currently handled by the Department of Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs.

Although many landholders have undertaken the revegetation of Glossy Black-Cockatoo habitat without financial assistance (Section 4), others could not have done so without funding from the Glossy Black Rescue Fund. All landholders were appreciative of the availability of financial assistance. However, enthusiasm has commonly waned after the initial work has been completed and the funds have been spent. In some cases, the need to make up-front payments for materials before being reimbursed has been seen as a deterrent.

Each year the Glossy Black Rescue Fund has modified its funding procedures to provide increased benefits to the cockatoos. This means that selection criteria have become more stringent. In the first two years, all applications for revegetating with Drooping Sheoak were considered. In the third year, specific sites were targeted. No call for funding was made for the 1997/8 financial year, pending the findings of this report. We recommend continuation of this refinement, with the adoption the priority system described in Section 5 (Table 11). It may also be appropriate for the fund to commit itself for a number of years to specific sites or networks of sites within these priority areas.

The most cost-effective approach to protecting or re-establishing feeding areas would be to fence land systems that contain remnant Drooping Sheoak. Where this is not possible, planting of tube stock or direct drilling of Drooping Sheoak will be required. Subsidizing the cost of fencing materials for such projects would be an appropriate use of Glossy Black Rescue Fund money. This fencing need be no more than the minimum required, e.g 5-strand wire fencing to exclude stock. Project success does not appear to require anything more elaborate, but where a landholder wishes to use more expensive fencing, partial funding could be provided.

There are many organizations prepared to donate tube stock and labour (Section 2). So it should not be necessary for the Glossy Black Rescue Fund to do so. However, purchase of seed and hire of equipment for direct drilling may need to be covered, with the back up of repeat funding if a project fails in the first year. In some cases, it may be desirable for the Glossy Black Rescue Fund to approve the purchase of materials by a landholder, with the account being forwarded directly to the fund. Provision would need to be made for the landholder to reimburse expenses if the work is not completed within an appropriate time frame. However, if such arrangements are made only where commitment to Glossy Black-Cockatoo habitat regeneration has been demonstrated by a landholder over a number of years, such problems are unlikely to occur.

There is an enormous community commitment to conservation of the Glossy Black-Cockatoo on Kangaroo Island and nearby Fleurieu Peninsula. This has been demonstrated in the high number of habitat protection and re-establishment projects in the area. Some of these projects have received funding from the Glossy Black Rescue Fund, but most have gone ahead without even applying for assistance. Most have also been successful, particularly those using tube stock.

This report has identified factors which will ensure a higher success rate of habitat protection and revegetation projects, will maximize their chance of being of benefit to the Glossy Black-Cockatoos, and will make them more cost-effective.

First, it is essential that site selection be based on the criteria for potential Drooping Sheoak distribution, i.e. sandstone, mylonite and neo-Proterozoic rock, with a slope of more than 5°, and basalt, regardless of slope. These areas are identified in Figure 2. It is preferable that there is also some other evidence of the former presence of Drooping Sheoak at the site, notably some remnant trees.

Second, projects should be allocated funding according to the priorities listed in Table 11. Highest priority should be given to sites where at least one of the following is present: (1) trees already in use by Glossy Black-Cockatoos, (2) remnant trees high food value, or (3) site characteristics indicative of high food value (e.g. acid soils on sandstone slopes).

Funding should be restricted to simple, stock-proof fencing, and seed and machine hire for direct seeding.

We are grateful to Terry Dennis, and the Glossy Black Rescue Fund for commissioning this report. Our thanks also go to the many people who provided information and commented on sections of this report. These include Stephanie Thorpe, Lyn Dohle, Peter Willmott and Helen Richards (Primary Industries and Resources, South Australia), Sheryn Pitman (Rotary Greening), Anthony Maguire and Volker Scholz (Department of Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs), Karen and Chris Royans (Friends of Deep Creek Conservation Park), Betty McAdam (Kangaroo Island Bee Keepers Association), Kate Stanton and John Tagell (Parndana Area School), Nerole Edwards (Kingscote Area School), Libby Barrias (Penneshaw Area School), Felicity Dangerfield and Robyn Perry (Trees for Life), Dean and Bev Overton (Environmental Realists) and Jim Cooper (Kangaroo Island Garden Centre).

We also thank the many landholders who gave us information about their revegetation efforts and showed us around their properties. Without their efforts, both the revegetation program and this report would amount to little. They are Torston and Philomela Bazoche, Jamie and Gaynor Bowden, Malcolm and Fay Boxall, Russell Boxer, Bryon Buick, Geoff Cooper, Jack and Wendy Dunstan, Keith Bushnell, Peter and Joanne Graham, Steve Gregor, Belinda Hannaford, Geoff and Julie Hincks, Cherry Hobbs, Ian and Sharon Howard, Terry and Ros Howard, Tony Klieve, Michael Munday, Des and Elaine Pratt, Ian and Anita Pratt, Bill and Jean-Marie Prime, Graeme and Robyn Prisk, Tony Richards, Nan Rischbeith, Geoff and Lorraine Rothe, Russell Rowsell, D. Shearing, Barry Stoeckel, Cate Telfer, Mike Walsh, Quentin Willson, the American Beach Progress Association and the Department of Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs.