Thanks Stephen,
Could you please expand on how the rally would threaten the frogs,
bristlebirds and BBBQ?
I can see how the Lyrebirds, Quolls and Potoroos etc might be hit by
cars traversing the route. I'm less clear on how the rally will
affect the other species. In particular, where would the rally be
passing through bristlebird habitat? Looking at the maps, it doesn't
seem to pass along the Lions Rd through the McPherson Range (The Mt
Gipps to Black Snake Ridge section of the Range is the only spot that
I know of bristlebird records) or through the Border Ranges NP.
On 08/08/2009, at 12:15 PM, Stephen Ambrose wrote:
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: [Birding-Aus] 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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