Andrew,
It was a result of the original (Nowingi) planning application and hearings
that the species was elevated to endangered. Jeff Davies first put me onto this
(he was the main protagonist, who had the risks to these birds fuirst
publicised) and I got commissioned by Mildura Council to act as an independent
witness in the planning hearing. Whilst I researched the topic, I decided to
put evidence to the IUCN and successfully got it from Vulnerable to Endangered.
Subsequently, I submitted it to the Australian Commonwealth and it was decided
they too would make it "endangered".
At the time I wrote to Minister Garrett for the relisting, I included a
covering letter to say that the listing process was slower than the rate at
which it was declining and that it was likely to be "critical" before it was
listed as Endangered. It has recently been elevated to critical in SA. I don't
know what the current situation is like in Victoria but Rohan Clarke would
probably have a view. If it wasn't for the fact that it is found in some widely
scattered geographic areas, it would already be listed as critical. IUCN and
EPBC listing is sadly not very appropriate for biodiversity management.
As for the EPBC Act, it makes little or no difference whether it's endangered
or vulnerable. The policy thresholds hardly vary. The decisions also come down
to questions of absolute rarity, rather than 'threat'. This is because jo blow
doesn't really understand the subtle population requirements of birds like
Mallee Emu-wren. During the Nowingi hearings, the planning panel was
unconvinced that the bird was under any threat at all (contrary to the IUCN and
BirdLife International view) and the panel report recommended rejection of the
application - but NOT as a result of any ecological questions. If you read the
panel report, you would see that they more or less rejected all my arguments
about why this species is dependent on Hattah-Nowingi as a last stronghold.
Plus, when a State government says something will happen, the Commonwealth are
unlikely to interfere to the extent that one species will make a difference.
Until it really is listed 'critical' it won't be considered a priority because
our biodiversity policy exists only to address final extinction, not to address
declines in species.
I'll be watching this one closely. But as Jeff pointed out, I wouldn't make any
assumptions yet.
...on another note, I thought the government had finally pledged to have this
location added to the adjacent National Park?
Regards,
Simon.
_______
Mustoe S and Clarke R (2004). Mallee Emu-wren; Management Burning and Toxic
Waste Dump Spark Concerns for a Listed Threatened Species. National
Environmental Law Review, 3:54-58.
Mustoe S (2006). Assessment of the Conservation Status of Mallee Emu-wren
Stipiturus Mallee AJ Campbell, 1908 Family Maluridae. AES Applied Ecology
Solutions Pty Ltd.
> Date: Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:33:25 +0800
> From:
> To: ;
> Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Mallee Emu-wren in trouble again. Nowingi
>
> OK Guys,
>
> Instead of handwringing, now is the time to start considering the
> situation. I have only driven through the area a few times, and know
> rather little about the area or its history. However the Mallee
> Emu-Wren is listed under the EPBC Act as an endangered species.
> Therefore any development which is likely to impinge upon its survival
> is subject to regulation under the act and this can include land
> clearing. Any developer who intends carrying out such work is required
> to make an application to DEWHA for consideration as a controlled
> action. Even if they don't, anyone else can do so if they feel that
> such development is likely to affect an EPBC listed species. Notifying
> the appropriate State Government department or private company of the
> requirements should help to ensure they comply with Commonwealth law.
>
> It is a complete process, independent of State Governments, in which the
> public can make submissions. DEWHA and its predecessor, rarely
> turn/turned down applications completely though that is changing. More
> likely they may require other mitigating actions. In this case, given
> the large areas of land already cleared in the vicinity I would say
> there is a reasonable chance of a reasonable result for Mallee
> Emu-Wren. But someone does have to get down and do it. Perhaps Birds
> Australia are already involved. I don't know.
>
> Cheers
>
> Andrew Hobbs
> Perth, Western Australia.
>
> Jeff Davies wrote:
> > G'day Chris, I very much doubt if they would embed an expensive solar array
> > within a flammable environment. Cheers Jeff.
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From:
> > On Behalf Of Chris Sanderson
> > Sent: Tuesday, 27 July 2010 3:01 PM
> > To: Adrian Boyle
> > Cc:
> > Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Mallee Emu-wren in trouble again. Nowingi
> >
> > Hi Ady,
> >
> > Thanks for bringing this to our attention, it was certainly the first I had
> > heard of it! The article is very light on details - are any birding-aussies
> > out there familiar with details about this project? I suppose it is
> > possible the impact would be low, if the panels aren't situated in mallee.
> > The toxic waste dump was bad among other reasons because any leaks would
> > have gone straight into the water table under the Mallee Emu-wren
> > stronghold.
> >
> > So more information would be great, but certainly if there are negative
> > impacts on Mallee Emu-wrens then I'll be the first to get behind a campaign
> > to stop the development.
> >
> > Regards,
> > Chris
> >
> > On Tue, Jul 27, 2010 at 10:30 AM, Adrian Boyle
> > <>wrote:
> >
> >
> >> Hi all
> >>
> >> Just found some disturbing news on the internet talking about destroying
> >> critical Mallee Emu-wren habitat for solar development.
> >>
> >> As most of you know this species is already in a huge amount of trouble
> >>
> > due
> >
> >> to fire and habitat loss.
> >>
> >> This development now looks to be planned in one of this species
> >> strongholds.
> >>
> >> A link to the news story is below.
> >>
> >> http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/26/2963815.htm?site=news
> >>
> >> I hope this doesnt get up and running.
> >>
> >> Sorry Adrian
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> >> send the message:
> >> unsubscribe
> >> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> >> to:
> >>
> >> http://birding-aus.org
> >>
> >>
> > ===============================
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> > send the message:
> > unsubscribe
> > (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> > to:
> >
> > http://birding-aus.org
> > ===============================
> >
> > ===============================
> >
> > To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> > send the message:
> > unsubscribe
> > (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> > to:
> >
> > http://birding-aus.org
> > ===============================
> >
> >
>
> ===============================
>
> To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
> send the message:
> unsubscribe
> (in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
> to:
>
> http://birding-aus.org
> ===============================
_________________________________________________________________
http://clk.atdmt.com/UKM/go/197222280/direct/01/
Do you have a story that started on Hotmail? Tell us
now==============================
To unsubscribe from this mailing list,
send the message:
unsubscribe
(in the body of the message, with no Subject line)
to:
http://birding-aus.org
=============================
|
