The bulrushes, reeds and sedges were used for basket-weaving or making rope, trees provided wood for spears, and stones were fashioned into tools.

The Geographical Names Advisory Committee advised in 2001 that the extent of the peninsula is:[6][failed verification]that portion of land between Gulf St. Vincent and the Southern Ocean (sic), a line from Aldinga (sic) (southern end of Aldinga Bay) to Middleton (eastern end) being the cut-off for the peninsula.

This boundary has not to be gazetted at present, and is intended to be the extent of the geographic feature only and is not to be applied to any industry or interest group regional identification.The coast of the peninsula stretches from around 140 kilometres (87 mi) from Sellicks Beach in the north to Middleton in the south-east.

[citation needed] In the past, there were extensive swamps and woodlands, which provided habitat and food sources for a range of birds, fish, and other animals, included snake-necked turtles, yabbies, rakali, ducks and black swans.

[3] The swamps of the Fleurieu Peninsula were listed as critically endangered under the EPBC Act in 2003; however, there is no adopted or made recovery plan for this ecological community, only "Approved Conservation Advice" (2013).