Centennial Pioneer Park, Gosnells

The Djarlgarra (Canning River) foreshore and floodplain in Centennial Pioneer Park have undergone significant rehabilitation and restoration work that has produced a model rehabilitated natural landscape.

The City undertook the first River Restoration project in the Perth Metropolitan Area in 2001, in a partnership with the Department of Water, Swan River Trust and the Armadale Gosnells Landcare Group, in Centennial Pioneer Park in Gosnells Town Centre. Log and rock "riffles" were installed in-stream to help oxygenate the water, create habitat diversity and slow the movement of water during periods of low flow. Eroded river banks were "armoured" to protect them from being undermined, and to protect bankside trees from eventually falling into the river.

A degraded floodplain wetland, created in the 1950s when high quality peat and clay were excavated for use on sports fixtures, was released from a jungle of weeds and opened up for rehabilitation. Adjoining areas that had been grassed and maintained for public access were rehabilitated, and raised boardwalks provided along the river forshore and through the wetland.

The in-stream River Restoration project, combined with extensive rehabilitation and revegetation of the Djarlgarra foreshore and floodplain wetland, has been an unqualified success. The "Ecological Zone" of Centennial Pioneer Park provides, in addition to its environmental and recreational benefits, a reference site for environmental managers.

Funding for the project was provided by the City of Gosnells, the federal government's Natural Heritage Trust, and the Swan River Trust's Riverbank funding program.