Interesting photo!!!! I'm not surprised that you saw some Eastern
Bristlebirds in inner Sydney on Thursday, if the SMH is anything to go by.
I've just returned to Sydney after spending a few days in the Tweed and
Kyogle shires, examining the route of the Repco Rally. Special legislation
was passed in the NSW Parliament in June [Motor Sports (World Rally
Championship) Act, 2009] to allow this rally to take place. The legislation
states explicitly that no state environmental or planning laws will prevent
the rally from going ahead.
The Repco Rally is planned for 3-6 September (now less than 3 weeks away).
It is not a one-off event, there are plans to have 5 rally events there,
occurring biannually to 2019. Although much of the rally circuit is through
agricultural land, some of the circuit goes through high conservation areas
such as the Richmond Range NP, Mooball NP, Wollumbin NP and across or within
a few metres of some major creek systems that flow into the Richmond and
Tweed Rivers. So, in my opinion, there is potential for significant
environmental harm to wildlife and their habitats to occur from the rally.
There are many NSW-threatened species that occur in these areas. However,
there are also some nationally-threatened fauna species including the Giant
Barred Frog, Fleays Barred Frog, Eastern Bristlebird and Spotted-tailed
Quoll (nationally endangered species), and Stuttering Frog, Three-toed
Snake-tooth Skink, Black-breasted Button-quail, Albert's Lyrebird,
Long-nosed Potoroo, Grey-headed Flying-fox and Large-eared Pied Bat. The
rally has the potential to significantly impact on the status of local
populations of each of these species through road kills, noise disturbances,
and degradation and pollution of habitats.
Therefore, it is my professional opinion that there is a need to refer this
event to the Federal Minister for the Environment, under the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, 1999 (EPBC) for approval. This
has not been done because the ecological consultant for the rally organizers
concluded that the event would not significantly impact on the status of
nationally threatened species or their habitats.
Local environment groups are now deciding whether or not they will take
their case to the Federal Court, but if they choose to do so, they must act
quickly because they are rapidly running out of time.
If you wish to learn more about the rally then you can view the details on
the following website: http://rallyaustralia.com.
Kind regards,
Dr Stephen Ambrose
Director
Ambrose Ecological Services Pty Ltd
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of Andrew Taylor
Sent: Friday, 7 August 2009 7:49 AM
To:
Subject: Eastern bristlebird in the news
I saw a number of Eastern Bristlebirds this morning on my run through
Pyrmont, Darling Harbour & Glebe, if I use this morning's Sydney Morning
Herald as a field guide:
http://www.smh.com.au/environment/conservation/world-rally-leg-threatens-nsw
-species-20090806-ebju.html
I'm sure they didn't consult Stephen Ambrose when choosing photots!
Andrew
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birding-aus.blogspot.com
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