Lake Monger Reserve
About the Reserve
Lake Monger Reserve, one of the Towns major assets provides for environmental, educational, picnic and leisure pursuits for the local, regional, interstate and oversees visitor.
The best way to get to Lake Monger Reserve, is via the visitor facility car park at the Powis Street end of the Reserve. The facility provides visitors easy and safe access to the Reserve, with suitable capacity for car, coach and bus parking.
Lake Monger Reserve is located 5 km north of Perth’s central business district in the suburb of Wembley and has long been a popular tourist and recreational venue. The lake’s shoreline incorporates a recreational pedestrian path, measuring 3.5 km in length. The Reserve covers an area of 113 hectares, (parkland 43ha, lake 70ha). The Lake is an important feeding and breeding habitat for waterbirds, migratory birds, tortoises and is a drought refuge when other wetland areas dry up in the summer months.
How You can Help
Here are some of the ways in which you can help take care of this wonderful urban wetland:
- refrain from feeding the birds, it’s for their own good.
- keep dogs on a leash and out of the conservation area. Please clean up after your dog and use the receptacles provided for their refuse.
- keep to the designated paths and lawn areas only.
- place rubbish in the bins provided.
- report vandalism or antisocial behaviour to the ranger on 9347 6000.
- don’t release unwanted domestic fowl, pets or fish into the reserve.
- join the Lake Monger Working Group or attend their meetings. Telephone 9347 600 for further details.
- learn about and appreciate the sights and sounds of the natural environment.
Wildlife Refuge
Tree Planting
History
Landscape
Vegetation
Wildlife
Managing the reserve
Improvement works update
Wildlife Refuge
The Lake is recognized as a significant wildlife refuge, passive recreation facility and culturally significant urban wetland. The Reserve has been zoned for the purposes of Parks and Recreation under the Metropolitan Region Scheme and the City Planning Scheme and is managed by the Town of Cambridge. Current use and reasons why people visit the Reserve include, picnics and barbecues, kids playgrounds, nature walks within the rehabilitation zones, education and appreciation through the various interpretive information signs, viewing birds nesting or swimming, jogging, walking, rollerblading, cycling or just sitting and relaxing.
Tree Planting
Families and loved ones of donors and recipient of donor organs, participate in an annual tree planting ceremony which commenced in 1992. The Town is proud to continue this tradition in recognition of those individuals who have assisted others in maintaining a quality of life. Trees planted and information signs can be viewed at the north west corner of the Reserve adjacent to Dodd Street.
History
Prior to European settlement, Lake Monger was an important camping and hunting ground for Aboriginals, in particular the Nyungah’s. The area was valued for its food resources and mythological significance. The Aboriginals hunted for kangaroo, emu, snakes, tortoise, mudfish, gilgies and waterbirds and their eggs, to name a few. Aboriginal camps were still located to the south and west areas of the lake in the 1860’s and a bush camp, although not in its original state, was still in use in 1923.
Towards the end of the 1800’s, settlers began moving into the area. The lake, although previously known by several other names, was given its present name after the early settler and pioneer John Henry Monger.
Land reclamation began in the early 1900’s, with rubbish being dumped near the shore, between 1905 and 1963. Later, silt was also dredged from within the lake to fill in the swampy areas. The changes made to the area resulted in the lake retaining water all year round and therefore becoming an increasingly popular recreational venue. During the early part of the century, Lake Monger was a major aquatic venue with rowing, yachting and swimming facilities.
These days, the lake and surrounding grass and rehabilitated areas is valued for its aesthetic qualities, passive recreational pursuits and as a habitat for an abundance of waterbirds. Algal blooms can occur during the summer months when water levels are low and nutrient concentrations high.
Landscape
Lake Monger Reserve is situated in a natural basin surrounded by urban land uses. It is positioned in an interdunal swale in the Spearwood dunes. The soils beneath the lake are peaty, consisting mainly of saturated organic material.
The lake is part of the Perth group of wetlands which also includes Big Carine Swamp and Lakes Gwelup, Jack adder and Herdsman. These lakes all tend to have irregular elongated or regular circular shapes occupying depressions in the limestone dunes and occur at altitudes of less than 10 metres.
Vegetation
Vegetation is extremely important in maintaining the health of wetland ecosystems as well as providing important breeding sites for waterbirds. Vegetation on the reserve has changed dramatically since European settlement. As part of the Lake Monger Reserve Rehabilitation Plan, exotic tree species (which includes trees from the eastern states) have been replaced by species indigenous to the local area, particularly along the eastern and south eastern areas of the lake. Some of these include Eucalyptus rudis and Melaleuca preisiana, which assists in reducing the levels of nitrogen and phosphorus in the water, thereby depriving algae of these nutrients for growth.
Consistent with the Management Plan, the avenue of Norfolk Island Pines and Phoenix Palms planted around 1935, have been retained as a reminder of the planting theme of that era. Also to be retained is a small group of weeping willow trees just south of the island to the west of the Lake.
Wildlife
Lake Monger has at least thirty three species of waterbirds at the lake, twelve of which are breeding species. The lake is also an important habitat for transequatorial migratory waterbirds and those from inland water bodies which dry up in the summer. The majestic black swan (Cygnus atratus) nests at the lake in high numbers and is known to nest at Herdsman Lake and bring the cygnets to Lake Monger to be reared on the lawn areas of the Reserve. Other birds that can be found here include domestic ducks, the great crested grebe, Australian grebe, Australian pelican, great cormorant, Australian shelduck, purple swamp hen, red wattlebird, and the singing honeyeater.
The lake is home to a large population of Western Long-necked Tortoises (Chelodina oblonga). These creatures can sometimes be observed from the viewing platforms to the north side of the lake. The tortoises are a significant predator of midges (Chironomids) which can be a nuisance to reserve users and local residents.
The Large Skink (Egernia luctuosa), the Western Green and Gold Bell Frog (Litoria moorei) and the Banjo Frog (Limnodynastes dorsalis) also inhabit the area.
Managing the Reserve
The rehabilitation works on the Lake’s foreshore, are the results of the Lake Monger Rehabilitation Plan (1995). All works in relation to this Plan are now complete. The rehabilitation works plus the management of the Lake and the surrounding parkland are consistent with the Lake Monger Management Plan (1993), which was developed by a widely representative community working group.
The Rehabilitation Plan was reviewed and adopted by the Town of Cambridge soon after its inception in 1995. This Plan was endorsed by scientists and organisations including the CSIRO, Murdoch University and the Waters and Rivers Commission.
The works program includes revegetating the lake with indigenous plant species, preventing eutrophication of the water, improving breeding habitats for birds and tortoises and the general health of the fauna and raising the profile of the lakes Aboriginal history. Educating the community and reserve users to help reduce the impact on the wetland ecosystem.
Storm water drains have been redesigned as vegetated nutrient filter channels. These channels are planted with high nutrient use plants to reduce nutrients entering the lake. The channels are also designed to capture rubbish and to slow the movement of water coming into the lake and in turn create a series of habitat refuges.
Through the non use of fertilizer on the surrounding lawn areas, and encouraging local residences to restrict fertilizer use in their gardens, helps to reduce the amount of nutrients leaching into the water. High levels of nutrients trigger algal blooms which degrade the environment and result in offensive odours, midge plagues, bird and fish deaths.
Feeding bread to waterbirds is harmful, as food missed by the birds will settle on the sediment near the shore and cause outbreaks of avian botulism and death. Highly processed food such as bread also results in unhealthy birds as this is not a natural part of their diet. Boardwalks, viewing platforms, signs and information boards have been constructed to educate and encourage appreciation of the natural and aesthetic values of Lake Monger.
In recognition of the achievements in implementing the rehabilitation plan, the Town of Cambridge, in 2002, won the WA Environment Awards for the category of “Protection and Sustainability of WA’s Natural Environment”.
Improvement Works Update
All works undertaken within the Reserve are consistent with the Management Plan and associated Improvement Program.
Major works programmed for the 2007/2008 financial year include replacing the barbecue at the Dodd Street picnic area and the ongoing management of the bird refuge island and the vegetated channel, which acts as a biological filter on the Lakes storm water drains entereing the Lake. This work is financially assisted by Main Roads WA and the Townof Vincent.
The Council plans to review the Lake monger Reserve Management Plan in 2007/2008.
Visitor Facilities
Visitors to the Reserve can enjoy the following:-
- Easy access to car parks and toilets.
- Playground facilities including an accessible playground for children of all abilities.
- Picnic facilities including free push button and flood lit barbecues.
- Perimeter recreation path for bike riding, walking and jogging.
- A nature trail with lookouts through the rehabilitation areas to the east to view nature at work including open vegetated nutrient stripping channels, bird nesting sites and lake views.