Wildlife and Sustainability
Part of the Freycinet National Park, Schouten Island is home to a fantastic variety of endemic Tasmanian wildlife. Colonies of penguins, sea birds, seals, small mammals and a wonderful array of vegetation create an isolated treasure that must be preserved.
Sustainability:
Schouten Island has been partially adapted to facilitate the tourism venture advertised, however we have created these activities with as minimal impact on the land forms and flora and fauna of the island as possible. Appropriate measures have been taken to ensure that rubbish and waste products are completely removed and prohibited on the island. The "Leave No Trace" policy is kept rigidly for the general safety of the wildlife and environment on Schouten Island. This means that if you wish to stay overnight on Schouten Island, everything you bring with you must either be disposed of safely at the information centre, or be brought back with you.
All cabins provided on the island run on clean energy, meaning that they source power from solar energy (energy from the sun), hydro electricity (made from wave pumps) and wind energy (Musselroe Wind Farm).
The rules regarding the areas surrounding the cabins and campsites are fairly simple. The area is marked out and venturing outside of this zone is prohibited so as to protect the wildlife of the island. However, while you are not allowed to walk inland, the sea is absolutely open for exploration, and kayaks and snorkelling gear are provided.
Wildlife:
Fauna-
Schouten Island is home to many seabirds, mammals, reptiles and native vegetation that thrive in the isolated environment, relatively undisturbed by humans. Presently, no exotic rodent species have been recorded on the island, other than the rabbit, and in order to preserve the endemic wildlife we wish to keep it that way. Unusually, the Tasmanian Pademelon (Thylogale billardierii), has not been sighted on the island, making it one of the few in Tasmania not to be populated with this species.
Sixty bird species have been identified on Schouten Island, including Little Penguins and Short-Tailed Shearwaters, along with other bird species such as the Tasmanian Native Hen and the Australasian Gannet. Schouten Island has been recognised as an important breeding ground for the Little Penguin, with stable colonies at Crocketts Bay, and other colonies also observed at Chain Locker and Trumpeter Bay. On the Eastern side of the island, Australian Fur Seals haul onto the rocks.
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Schouten Island is a significant resource for biological information on the the islands surrounding the Freycinet Peninsula. However, while the wildlife inhabiting the island is extremely interesting and has occasionally been monitored and surveyed, until 2011 there were significant gaps in the knowledge of the island due to a limited range of previous reports made.
Now, Schouten Island has been recognised as a prime location for observing the wildlife of the Freycinet area and the marine activities of the surrounding waters.
Vegetation of Schouten Island:
The natural flora of Schouten Island is dominated by dry Eucalypts. Due to the geology of the island, the area of granite has a different vegetation to the area of dolerite.
Dolerite area:
The natural vegetation of the dolerite area consists of dry Eucalypts with the main species being Eucalyptus Amygdalina, or Black Peppermint; Eucalyptus pulchella, or White Peppermint and Bedfordia saLicina-NoteLaea ligustrina, or Broadleaf Scrub.
On the exposed sandstone areas within the dolerite zone, the main species of vegetation are Casuarina stricta or Drooping She-oak; Callitris rhomboidea, or Oyster Bay Pine and in some areas Stipa stipodes, or Australian Coastal Spear Grass has been sighted.
Granite Area:
Due to the fault line bisecting the island, the vegetation is different on either side of the fault zone. The vegetation of the granite area consists of scrubland, heathland and sedgeland communities.
The main species are:
Gymnoschoenus sphaerocephalus or Button Grass is the dominant species of wet grassland on the island.
The main Eucalyptus occupying the high canopy is the Eucalyptus amygdalina, or Black Peppermint, with the under storey dominated by Gleichenia dicarpa, or Pouched Coral Fern.
