Natural Coastal Walk

As you can see, Waverley’s natural landscapes are dominated by rugged cliffs, sandy soils and strong salt-laden winds. Tough coastal conditions mean our local plants are generally low-growing, hardy and drought-tolerant. The unique qualities of our sedges, heath, scrub and patches of low woodland were not valued by early settlers who struggled to grow more traditional plants, and our natural landscape has undergone massive changes over the past two centuries.

Remnant bushland refers to those small pockets of bush that have escaped development and retain intact native vegetation – mostly due to their inaccessible or precarious location. The pressures of coastal development within Waverley have reduced our remnant vegetation to only small patches, covering less than 6 hectares, which means we have lost over 99% of our pre-European vegetation and habitat for native animals.

Waverley’s remnant bushland areas face many external threats. If rarity accounts for value, then Waverley’s remnant bushland is priceless, as it provides essential habitat, food and shelter for local wildlife and is an irreplaceable feature of our natural heritage. For these reasons remnant bushland sites are a prioritised for environmental protection. Waverley’s remnant vegetation has been mapped to ensure it’s protected now and into the future.

You can help to conserve and restore these precious bushland remnants and habitat areas by joining a local Bushcare Group

The Bronte-Coogee Aquatic Reserve stretches from the southern end of Bronte Beach to the northern end of Coogee Beach, and extends 100 metres from the shoreline, covering approximately 40 hectares and 4,000m of coastline.

Established in March 2002, the reserve protects the rocky shore habitats to conserve the biodiversity of local fish and marine vegetation, protect habitat and facilitate educational activities and scientific research. Research projects that have been conducted here include the blue groper Achoerodus viridis tagging study conducted in partnership with Waverley and Randwick Councils and Operation Crayweed which has replanted a local seaweed Phyllospora comosa, in Mackenzies Bay, after it became locally extinct in the 1970s due to extensive pollution.

In the Bronte and Coogee Aquatic Reserve you can fish, but not for blue groper. Nor can you collect anemones, barnacles, chitons, cockles, crabs, mussels, octopus, oysters, pipis, sea urchins, sea stars, snails and worms, whether they are dead or alive. Empty shells are also not to be taken from the reserve because they provide homes for local sea creatures. Marine vegetation cannot be collected except for sea lettuce and bait weed.

Our coastal landscape is shaped by complex interactions between waves, tides, currents and climate, which can result I n storms and storm surges, coastal inundation and erosion. These hazards can create risks to the coastal environment and coastal communities.

Climate change will exacerbate these natural hazards by making extreme events more frequent and more severe. In addition, as oceans warm and land-based ice, such as glaciers and ice sheets melt, sea levels worldwide are rising. It has been estimated that each centimetre of sea level rise will result in one meter of erosion on some low-lying beaches.

In Waverley, sea level rise combined with storm surges could lead to inundation and damage of our beaches and parks and the shrinking of our sandy beaches. An increasing risk to the stability of the seawalls during storms is also likely as sand is eroded from the beaches and overtopping of seawalls occurs. Risks to cliff stability from increased erosion caused by more intense storm events and elevated sea levels has also been identified.

Generally, storm wave direction for this area is from the southeast, and significant coastal storms, which historically occur with east coast lows in autumn and winter, have occurred in May and June 1974, the June-July 2007, June 2016 and most recently the April 2022 storm.

Bronte Gully was neglected for many decades during last century and became infested with a diverse range of environmental weeds and invasive species. Waverley Council is restoring and transforming the Gully from this weedy area into a biodiverse native haven for plants and animals in a staged process across 25 zones, guided by the Bronte Gully Ecological Restoration Action Plan 2015-2045. This will ensure that the habitat values of the Gully remain strong during this transition.  Thousands of locally indigenous plants have already been planted in the seven zones that have commenced rehabilitation.

In addition to the work of the Waverley Council, the Gully is also cared for by two volunteer Bushcare groups. New volunteers are always welcome. Contact Waverley Council if you are interested in this opportunity to become an active carer for our local bushland by joining a local Bushcare Group.

Walk all the way to Western end of the Gully to see the waterfall and admire the great diversity of native plants on the way. You may even see the resident Tawny Frogmouth if you have sharp eyesight (or hear them if you are walking at night).

Managing stormwater in a steep and densely populated coastal areas is challenging. Lots of paved areas, pathways and roadways means less water naturally enters the groundwater and surface water collects a wide range of debris as it heads downhill to the coast. In addition, increased extreme weather due to climate change, development, loss of topsoil and less vegetation results in more local stormwater run-off, carrying high levels of pollutants such as heavy metals, chemicals, sediments, grease, oil and nutrients into our coastal waterways and environment.

However, below the ground in Bronte, Tamarama and Bondi Parks lie one of Waverley’s best kept secrets: Our Stormwater recycling systems.

Our three coastal underground Stormwater recycling systems, at Bondi, Tamarama and Bronte collect, clean and recycle polluted stormwater that would otherwise flow into the gully and beaches. Together, these systems can recycle up to 80 million litres of water per year, and help to keep the beaches clean at Bondi, Tamarama and Bronte. Instead of wasting drinking water, this clean, recycled water is used by Council to flush our public toilets, irrigate our recreational areas and parks, undertake bushcare activities, maintain open space for our community and improve water security in times of drought. To learn more, watch this video. Video of Bondi Stormwater Recycling Here

Tamarama Gully and Park plays a key role in the coastal biodiversity corridor that extends from Waverley Cemetery to Diamond Bay. Clearing for development and services, polluted stormwater, weeds and soil erosion has significantly reduced the original littoral rainforest vegetation and ecosystem of the gully. But if you look above the road – Marine Drive – you can see one of the largest and most diverse patches of remanat vegetation in Waverley, with 56 native species across approximately 2800m2 of sea-cliff heath.

There is an enormous range of marine biodiversity along the coastal walk in Waverley. The rockpools and the intertidal zones have crabs, barnacles, sea urchins and snails to name just some. Below the low tide mark there are rocky reefs that have a range of fish, cephalopods (octopus), rays and sharks such as wobbegongs and grey nurse sharks.

Mackenzies Bay is located within an Intertidal Protected Area that extends from Bondi Icebergs to Tamarama Beach. The Bondi IPA is one of 14 areas established in 1993, to protect important intertidal plants and animals and their intertidal and marine habitats. Removing invertebrates such as crabs, snails, worms, cunjevoi, octopus, sea urchins, anemones, pipis, cockles, mussels, oysters and saltwater pink nippers (yabbies) is prohibited in this area. Mackenzies Bay is an occasional beach. Unpredictably, there will often be a large beach here, with sand stretching out 50m.

In addition to all the creatures found in the water and on the shoreline, the coast provides habitat for animals such as small birds and basking areas for lizards. To protect the biodiversity of this area, dogs are not allowed in Mackenzies Bay. Although well-meaning, dog behaviour is disruptive as they chase birds, dig and trample vegetation and uncollected dog faeces damages the local ecological communities.

Waverley is home to more than 120 native plant species supporting over 50 native animals, many living in this coastal biodiversity corridor.

Look out for the bright blue of the tiny male Superb fairy wrens, or the less showy grey brown females. These small insect and seed eating birds are in decline across Sydney but can be found in the dense, protective native vegetation along the coast. Considered the most unfaithful bird in the world, whilst they partner for life, they also mate with many others at night.

New Holland honeyeaters, characterised by mottled black and white foliage with yellow streaks on wing and tail, take refuge in the dense coastal vegetation. They are nectar eaters, using their long beak and even longer tongue to dip into the flowers of banksia and bottle brushes.

Blue tongue lizards, one of the largest skinks in NSW, can sometimes be found taking cover in the undergrowth foraging for slow moving beetles and snails. When threatened they might stick out and flatten their large blue tongue making a striking contrast to the pink of their mouth.

Half of the 20 Sydney microbat species are listed as threatened, but some live in the cliffside caves of Waverley in small colonies. You may see them darting around the lights at night, hunting for insects using echolocation. They consume up to half their body weight in insects each night.