‘Taronga Zoo‘ by Pat Magee (CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
Posted on February 24, 2020 by moondrift
Australia is facing a crisis on so many levels. The worst natural disaster in its history has seen fires break as early as mid-August 2019 near Bega in New South Wales. Today we have been informed that the East Gippsland bushfire in Victoria has burned for three months and is finally considered ‘contained’ (ABC News, 2020). This disaster has put immense pressure on native fauna populations, killing at least an estimated 1 billion animals, according to terrestrial ecologist, Professor Chris Dickman (The University of Sydney, 2020). The staggering numbers are difficult for anyone to comprehend. Think of around forty times the current Australian population to get an idea of what has been wiped out. We cannot wish reality away, no matter how distressing it is. They are gone forever, and with their departure, so does a loss in genetic diversity, disrupted food webs and inevitable extinctions.
Fire-impacted landscapes are not expected to recover in the manner people may expect, given the intensity and significant range compared to previous bushfire events. The usual stories of hope and resilience are accompanied by images of new growth and regeneration, however those feel-good images are accompanied by stories of anxiety, trauma and the overwhelming scale of recovery needed. It is therefore hard to believe that people in planning departments continue to push for development approvals which are expected to impact local endemic koala populations before they are afforded any higher level of protection through anticipated changes to legislation. There is a perceived urgency and reshuffling of zoning in getting planning approvals accepted at a time when there is the possibility that the koala’s conservation status will need to be revised to ‘endangered’ (Bladen, 2020). It is poorly concealed.
Koalas and other native fauna in the Somerset region of Queensland are under direct threat from strategic rezoning to gradually transition land from rural to urban zones (Fig. 1). The need to satisfy housing demand is both insatiable and clearly unsustainable.
Risk mitigation measures for koala populations are subject to the separating out of what is deemed primary and secondary habitat. It is as if the plight of the koala is a bureaucratic irritation, rather than a serious obligation councils have in practicing what they preach in their vision statements about sustainable development. The term ‘precautionary principle‘ seems a world away from the minds of councilors, whereas the Australian government mantra for “jobs and growth” is never too far away in council meetings.
On the 21st August, 2019, the Somerset Regional Council provided conditional approval of a preliminary permit to a 147 lot housing development in an Emerging Community Zone (SRC, 2020). It is the wedge-shaped land parcel shown in Figure 2 and an interactive map for overlays can be found by scrolling to the bottom here. According to the Somerset Regional Council website, the purpose of Emerging Community Zones are to:
a) identify land that is intended for an urban purpose in the future;
b) protect land that is identified for an urban purpose in the future from incompatible uses; and
c) provide for the timely conversion of non-urban land to land for urban purposes. (SRC, 2020)
Source: Google Maps.
This zoning description indicates that more wildlife will be lost as the land transitions over time. The reader may be lulled into a false sense of security, given the more dense vegetation stands to the east of the land in question. Unfortunately, it is also classified as secondary habitat in an Emerging Community Zone. Even more ominous, a senior planner for the council recommended that this zone be changed to a General Residential Zone – Park Residential Precinct “should there be no Appeals against Council’s decision” (SRC 2019, p. 82). Poorly concealed…
Furthermore, the councils response to a submission on the removal of wildlife was simply: “It is acknowledged that the development will result in the reduction of vegetation across the site. Notwithstanding this, the lots are of a size that a portion of the vegetation will be able to be retained…” (SRC 2019, p. 72). In fact, many trees are to be removed close to construction works.
Koalas don’t know anything about zoning, but they do know about the vegetation that sustains them. Koala conservation status in Queensland is currently listed as ‘vulnerable’ and requires referral under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) if it is considered critical to survival of the species. This lot has been used for cattle grazing, but the land owner decided it was less viable than having a subdivision. Vegetation buffers for this project has only been set to 200 m, whereas a minimum buffer of 425 m with connecting habitat and a water source has been recommended in a scientific study for the Campbelltown Koala Plan of Management (Phillips 2018, p.76). The Biodiversity Overlay Code ensures us that ‘development minimises adverse impacts on koalas and koala habitat’ (SRC, 2020). As previously indicated, a glaring concern is that there are larger patches of alleged secondary habitat on the site and a considerably more vegetated area on the eastern side that are not included in any biodiversity overlay.
Why?
Why have the Somerset Regional Council conditionally approved a development with an inadequate ‘corridor’ that is certainly not by all appearances, a wildlife corridor that has a minimum band of at least 200 m width on the site? It is a effectively a tiny patch that adjoins a larger area outside the land parcel, which is classed as an ‘important agricultural area’. There is also a road in between these sites.
Koalas are being treated as if they should coordinate themselves in finding a tiny exit route away from the housing – that being the section of biodiversity corridor in the north-east corner of the land parcel, the only area where ‘koalas and other significant species are appropriately protected’. This is madness, what I call ‘boundary fixation’. Koalas are expected to magically avoid roads within the development and around the periphery and make their way calmly to greener pasture at the sound of bulldozers and other construction noise.
What can we possibly do to stem this tide of endless development that is having significant impacts on the genetic diversity of koala populations in Australia? We need to take action through helping our experienced wildlife rescuers and carers. We can lobby local, state and federal politicians to stop this war on trees spouted by conservative radio shock jocks. We need to not blindly accept local MPs who wring their hands with statements of pathetic surrender, and at times, invested acts of manipulation. We need to respect nature – what we have left. Nothing is a ‘done deal’ to a plan still on paper and not etched in soil.
Let’s say no to a future where our children can only play with a stuffed koala toy in much the same way as we look at Tasmanian tiger toys on cruise ships; without knowing how incredible these animals were in their natural habitat, and the outright lies and misinformation that led to cruel bounties and species extinction – the first ‘fake news’ in species eradication.
Koalas have been subjected to intensive logging threats wrapped up as post-bushfire land clearing and covert support for the cruelest of land owners in recent months. International condemnation of heinous acts do no favours for local tourism, and it’s time people woke up to what is driving that tourism. People love koalas and our wildlife in general. They come here in the millions along the Great Ocean Road annually to see the wildlife. Do councils for one minute understand the knock-on effect with every planning approval they sign off on, the bigger picture?
Make no mistake, a new generation of environmental activists are going to remind those directly contributing to species decline that koalas don’t really care for your boundary fixations, and they vote.
Susan has worked as an environmental consultant, queries the level of compromise in development applications, and is mother to an awesome environmental champion.
References:
ABC News (2020) ‘Huge East Gippsland bushfire that burned for three months finally declared ‘contained’, ABC News, 20 February 2020, URL: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-02-20/east-gippsland-bushfire-contained-after-burning-for-three-months/11982744
Bladen, L (2020) ‘Koalas could become endangered in some places because of bushfire crisis’, The Canberra Times, 13 January 2020, https://www.canberratimes.com.au/story/6577632/koalas-could-become-endangered-in-some-places-because-of-bushfire-crisis/
Phillips, S (2018) Campbelltown Comprehensive Koala Plan of Management. Prepared by Biolink for Campbelltown City Council (revised draft)
Queensland Government (2020), ‘Koala Facts‘, Department of Environment and Science, 7 February 2020, URL: https://environment.des.qld.gov.au/wildlife/animals/living-with/koalas/facts
Somerset Regional Council [SRC] (2019) SOMERSET REGIONAL COUNCIL – OFFICER’S REPORT 7 August, 2019. In: Somerset Regional Council Agenda Ordinary Council Meeting, 14 August 2019, URL: https://www.somerset.qld.gov.au/downloads/file/2109/2019-08-14-agenda-ordinary-council-meeting-vol-1-pp1-107
Somerset Regional Council [SRC] (2020a) ‘eServices Property Information’ https://eservices.somerset.qld.gov.au/propres2.asp?lp=461CC58&fbclid=IwAR2xBNsDLRjDu6ZNnGBGwDPiVnJCNUFvdvGAA7Op9t9ljMoC2DIoAmeWlAE
University of Sydney (2020), ‘More than one billion animals killed in Australian bushfires’, The University of Sydney – News and Opinion, 8 January 2020, URL: https://sydney.edu.au/news-opinion/news/2020/01/08/australian-bushfires-more-than-one-billion-animals-impacted.html