A West Australian Government department says it will work more closely with local conservation groups after admitting staff accidentally destroyed a collection of highly coveted native orchids in a national park.

Key points: DCBA staff accidentally ploughed through a collection of Southern Queen of Sheba orchids with a front-end loader

DCBA staff accidentally ploughed through a collection of Southern Queen of Sheba orchids with a front-end loader Conservation of the species, described as being exceptionally beautiful, has mostly been left to volunteers

Conservation of the species, described as being exceptionally beautiful, has mostly been left to volunteers The DCBA says it will work more closely with local conservation groups to ensure such an incident does not happen again

Last week a botanical group described scenes of devastation in an area of the Gull Rock National Park, 470 kilometres south of Perth, which volunteers said was once home to approximately 30 of the 200 Southern Queen of Sheba orchids they had surveyed in the region.

The southern variant native to Western Australia's south west, is one of three Queen species prized by orchid lovers' and photographers for its flamboyant multi-coloured flowers.

"We just stood there on top of one of the piles of dirt," WA Native Orchid Society member Lyn Alcock said.

"And we were absolutely speechless."

Front-end loader caused flower carnage

The locations of the orchids are often a closely guarded secret to protect them from thieves and over-enthusiastic flora lovers who risk trampling sites.

Ms Alcock said the plants in the Gull Rock park, which tend to start flowering from early August, were destroyed by a front-end loader operated by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA).

"[They] acknowledged that there was human error in this occurring," she said.

"No matter what we do now it doesn't change the fact the orchids are gone … so I think all we can do is look at working now to make sure this never happens again, and [that] information is shared more freely.

"We certainly discussed [with them] at length ways of making sure this doesn't happen again."

Department says it 'disturbed' orchids

In a statement, a DBCA spokesperson said staff had "inadvertently disturbed" their own Priority 2 listed native plants while carrying out rehabilitation work as they closed an illegal track in the park.

The damage done. Lyn Alcock says dozens of orchids once flowered at this site. ( Supplied: Lyn Alcock )

"[The track] was 60 metres in length [and] had been used by people for dumping rubbish and abandoned cars," the statement said.

"Under the supervision of DBCA staff, the track was rehabilitated and closed by ripping and heaping soils."

The Department said it conducted stringent environmental assessments before pressing ahead.

"[We were] aware of the presence of orchids in [an] area adjacent … however there was no record of the orchids on the actual track," the spokesperson said.

"[Staff] met with representatives from the local orchid group on 5 August to discuss this matter … [we have] committed to improved communications and processes for data sharing … to minimise the occurrence of this type of event in the future."

While Ms Alcock said she found the Department's claim that it did not have GPS data submitted by the group of the plants locations on hand "a difficult point" to take, she said she came away from the meeting feeling very positive about the future.

Hope for future

Dr Mark Brundrett, from the University of Western Australia, has authored a book on orchids native to Australia's south-west.

He described the Southern Sheba as one of the most "beautiful terrestrial orchids on earth," but said little was known about their population numbers because volunteers were driving the bulk of the conservation work.

Dr Brundrett said he hoped the situation would turn from a negative into a positive.

"It is such an iconic species that I think it would be really nice to get some funding to do a project on not just assessing how rare it really is, but bringing it back," he said.

"It seems to be fully extinct in Perth … and it used to be here, so there's no reason we couldn't be reintroducing it to some of its previous haunts.

The Southern Queen has been described as one the most beautiful terrestrial varieties on the planet. ( Supplied: Terry Dunham )

"I think we are equipped to do some of this work already — it's just it is very hard to get it funded.

"Other than a lot of [volunteers] … there doesn't seem to be much money at the moment to look at their actual recovery and making sure they survive."

In the wake of the accident, DBCA has added the flowering plant to its volunteer-driven survey program for threatened and little-known flora.

"Very detailed surveys are going to be done next week, with each orchid [mapped], and hopefully that gives them the information they need," Ms Alcock said.

"They have committed very definitely to working with the volunteers.