Download Interim koala referral advice for proponents

JUNE 2012
Interim koala referral advice for
proponents
Koala (Phascolarctos cinereus) populations in Queensland (QLD), New South Wales (NSW) and
the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) have been listed as vulnerable under the Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). This listing came into legal effect
on 2 May 2012. The listed threatened QLD, NSW and ACT populations are hereafter referred to
in these guidelines as the koala.
If your action is likely to have a significant impact
on the koala, you must refer the action to the
federal environment minister through the
Australian Government Department of
Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population
and Communities (the department). Projects
referred or approved under state, territory or
local environment laws in QLD, NSW or the
ACT, which have not commenced and are likely
to have a significant impact on koalas, will
require referral under national environment law.
This includes relevant projects given ‘significant
project’ status by state governments.
Certain actions are exempt from the requirement
of assessment and approval under the EPBC
Act. These include lawful continuations of land
use that commenced before 16 July 2000, or
actions that were legally authorised before 16
July 2000. An example of such actions would be
ongoing farming practices that are not being
intensified or expanded.
There are a number of criteria that must be
satisfied to rely on any such exemptions. More
information on exemptions under the EPBC Act
is available at www.environment.gov.au/
epbc/publications/exemptions.html.
Under certain circumstances a Regional Forest
Agreement (RFA) forestry operation that is
undertaken in accordance with an RFA may also
be exempt from having to be referred under the
EPBC Act. For more information on RFAs see
www.daff.gov.au/rfa.
It is your decision whether to refer your proposal
in relation to the potential for a significant impact
on the koala or other matters of national
environmental significance. The department will
produce referral guidelines to assist you to
determine whether you need to refer your action
for assessment under the EPBC Act. The
development of these guidelines will require
expert and public consultation over the coming
months.
In the interim, this document provides
preliminary advice on whether you may need to
refer your action. This advice is based on the
current understanding of the ecology and biology
of the koala, which is outlined in the species’
profile in the department’s Species Profile and
Threats Database, and written in accordance
with Significant impact guidelines 1.1 – Matters
of Environmental Significance. This advice
complements the koala species listing fact sheet
available on the department’s koala webpage.
What is known about the koala and its
habitat?
Koalas live in a range of temperate, subtropical
and tropical forest, woodland and semi-arid
communities dominated by eucalypt species.
Their distribution is affected by altitude,
temperature and leaf moisture, particularly at the
western and northern ends of their range.
What is the first step in deciding whether
your action is likely to have a significant
impact on the koala?
Firstly, you need to consider whether koalas or
their habitat could occur within the area to be
impacted by your action. For quick reference,
you can refer to the habitat map presented in the
koala species listing fact sheet. However, this is
a static map and you should use the
department’s Protected Matters Search Tool
(PMST) for an up to date indication of potential
koala occurrence in your area. You also need to
contact your relevant local and state
governments for confirmation as to whether a
koala population or habitat has been recorded in
your area.
What survey methods and level of effort
are required to characterize a koala
population and habitat?
As a leaf-eating specialist, the koala’s diet is
1
restricted mainly to foliage of eucalypt species .
There are around 120 species of eucalypt in
which koalas have been observed sitting in
and/or feeding. Whilst koalas are known to feed
on the leaves of Eucalyptus-related genera, they
usually get most of their nutrition from one or a
few eucalypt species found at a single site.
Preferences may also vary between regions or
seasons.
If the PMST indicates that your action may have
an impact on the koala, you need to gather
adequate information on the characteristics of
any koala populations and the quality of potential
2
habitat within your study area . This information,
including lists of primary and secondary food tree
species in your area, is best sought through your
relevant local and state governments.
1 The koala may also consume foliage of genera related to
Eucalyptus, including Corymbia, Angophora and
Lophostemon, and sometimes supplement its diet with other
species, including those from the genera Leptospermum and
Melaleuca (Martin and Handasyde 1999; Moore and Foley
2000).
2 For the purposes of these guidelines, the term, study area,
refers to the geographical area that is likely to be affected by
your proposed action and, therefore, should be assessed for
potential impacts on the listed species or habitat within. The
study area includes the project area and any additional areas
that are likely to be affected and should extend as far as
necessary to take into account all potential direct or indirect,
positive or negative, impacts
.
If adequate information is available on the
distribution and abundance of koalas, and the
character of potential koala habitat in your study
area, there would be no need to undertake a
koala survey or habitat assessment. Where the
PMST indicates that koalas may be present, but
there is little or no information available on koala
populations and habitat in your study area, you
should conduct both a habitat assessment and a
koala survey (see koala survey and habitat
assessment information below).
All koala population and habitat information
collected through research and/or on-ground
studies should be presented in your referral if
you decide that it is necessary to refer your
action.
Koala survey
The information gathered during a koala survey
is required to properly assess the likely impact of
your proposal on the koala. Where suitable
habitat for koalas occurs, but records and/or
other population information are limited, a koala
survey should be undertaken to detect the
species. Your koala survey should be
undertaken concurrently with a habitat
assessment. Once koalas have been detected,
the size, density and distribution of the
population needs to be measured as accurately
as possible with the use of line-transects.
The application of the survey techniques outlined
in Policy 4 (page 72) of the Queensland
Government’s Nature Conservation (koala)
Conservation Plan 2006 and Management
Program 2006-2016 (QLD EPA 2006 - see
www.ehp.qld.gov.au/wildlife/koalas/legislation/pd
f/conservation-plan-06-16.pdf) is an appropriate
approach in this regard.
Where koalas are identified as occurring in the
study area, it is recommended that you use the
Spot Assessment Technique (SAT), which was
developed by Phillips and Callaghan (2011), to
provide an indication of how much or frequently
the area of habitat is being used by koalas. This
method should help to identify the relative
importance of the habitat.
Habitat assessment
A habitat assessment is necessary to ascertain
whether habitat critical to the survival of the
listed species (see below) occurs in the area.
Koala abundance, distribution and habitat quality
is influenced by tree species, topography, water
availability, leaf nutrients, soil fertility, fire
regimes and land use. According to Jurskis
(2001), features of the study area which should
be recorded include:



the canopy tree species composition
the percentage of the canopy cover of each
of the above species
the vegetative ground cover (% of the
ground area)

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


the leaf litter cover (% of the ground area)
the bare ground (% of the ground area)
the area of surface water (% of the ground
area)
the distance to surface water (m) (in
drought years, survival of a population
may be dependent on the presence of
vegetation near permanent waterways;
Gordon et al, 1988).
evidence of dogs in the area (the potential
threat of mortality from dog-attacks will
influence impact assessment and impactmitigation measures required).
What are the key considerations in
deciding whether your action is likely
to have a significant impact on the
koala?
Important populations and habitat critical to the
survival of the listed species are important
considerations in deciding whether your action
is likely to have a significant impact on the
koala (see the significant impact criteria
for vulnerable species page 11 of Significant
impact guidelines 1.1). Habitat and population
information will help you to decide whether an
important population or habitat critical to the
survival of the listed species exists in your
study area.
Important populations
A koala population is defined by the capacity
of individuals to move from one habitat patch
to another. If two groups of koalas are
separated by a substantial barrier to
movement (e.g. river, mountain range, greater
than15 km of cleared rural land or artificial
barriers), and there is very little likelihood of
exchange of individuals between the two
groups, then the two may be considered
separate populations.
If you identify a koala population in your study
area, you need to determine whether it is an
important population. Until important
populations can be adequately identified
through consultation with koala experts, apply
the criteria for an important population of a
species outlined in Significant impact
guidelines 1.1:
An ‘important population’ is a population that is
necessary for a species’ long-term survival
and recovery. This may include populations
identified as such in recovery plans, and/or
that are:



key source populations either for breeding
or dispersal
populations that are necessary for
maintaining genetic diversity, and/or
populations that are near the limit of the
species’ range.

a relatively high density of koalas is
supported, regardless of the presence of
food tree species. Koala population
densities vary across their range and
regional data should be used to judge
relative density.
Habitat critical to the survival of the koala is
also considered to be any form of landscape
corridor which is essential to the dispersal of
koalas between forest or woodland habitats.
Habitat critical to the survival of the
listed species
What options are there to avoid or
reduce the level of impact on the koala
from your action?
Koala habitat is described generally on the 2nd
page of this document. Habitat critical to the
survival of the koala is currently considered to
be areas of forest or woodland where:
The main identified threats to the koala are
loss and fragmentation of habitat, vehicle
strike, disease, and predation by dogs.

primary koala food tree species comprise
at least 30% of the overstorey trees ,
primary koala food tree species comprise
less than 30% of the overstorey trees, but
together with secondary food tree species
comprise at least 50% of the overstorey
3
trees ,
primary food tree species are absent but
secondary food tree species alone
comprise at least 50% of the overstorey
trees
the above qualities may be absent in a
forest or woodland but other essential
habitat features are present and adjacent
to areas exhibiting the above qualities
(e.g. koalas in the Pilliga are known to
escape the heat of the day by taking
refuge in white cypress pines, which are
not food trees), or
3



When designing your action, avoiding impacts
on the koala should be your principal aim. This
can be achieved by preserving important koala
populations, retaining habitat critical to the
survival of the listed species and avoiding
actions that are likely to have a significant
impact on the species in other ways, such as
constructing a road adjacent to habitat which
is likely to increase vehicle-related koala
fatalities. If you believe that your options to
avoid such impacts are not feasible, you
should then mitigate or reduce the level of
impact. Impacts can be mitigated through
actions such as:

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3 Callaghan, unpublished, in NSW DECC 2008 (pages 93
and 94)
retaining koala food trees
promoting safe movement corridors
implementing koala friendly road and
easement designs using fencing, culverts
and other structures, and
preventing the access of dogs to koala
habitat (or ensuring that existing dog
accessibility is not increased).
Relevant state or local government koala
management/recovery plans for the koala also
provide information on best-practice impactmitigation and should be consulted. Impactmitigation should be monitored to ensure that
it is effective and to allow for adaptive
management responses.
What actions are likely to have a
significant impact on the koala?
This guidance is not intended to be
comprehensive. Other types of actions or
impacts may constitute varying degrees of
risk. For further information on significant
impact, refer to Significant impact guidelines
1.1.
Significant impacts on the koala are most likely
to result from direct or indirect impacts on
habitat critical to the survival of the species
and / or on important koala populations.
Significant impacts may include:

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the loss, fragmentation or permanent
degradation of habitat critical to the
survival or recovery of the listed species,
the permanent fragmentation of an
important population (e.g. through
proposed actions such as power lines and
easements, and main road developments)
the clearing or burning of habitat where an
important population (see above) is known
or suspected to occur, or
the removal of primary food trees to the
extent where an important population
declines.
In addition to impacts on important populations
or habitat critical to the survival of the koala,
you need to consider the potential for your
action to have a significant impact on the
species in other ways. Significant impacts on
the koala are also likely through indirect or
facilitated impacts such as:


If your action is likely to have a significant
impact on the koala, referral is recommended.
If you are uncertain whether your action is
likely to have a significant impact, the
department recommends that you refer or
contact the department. Examples of actions,
where uncertainty about the significance of the
resulting impact on the koala may arise, are
those that:


4
4 ‘Burning’ refers to medium to high-intensity burning – not
low-intensity, prescribed burns.
an increase in vehicle-related koala
fatalities leading to a long-term decline in a
population, or
an increase in dog attack-related koala
fatalities leading to a long-term decline in a
population.

facilitate the introduction or spread of
diseases/pathogens, such as koala
retrovirus or Chlamydia species
result in the loss, fragmentation or
permanent degradation of quality habitat
that is identified during surveys as not
currently supporting a koala population, or
result in the temporary fragmentation of
important populations or disruption of the
movement of koalas between patches of
habitat critical to the survival.
What actions are considered unlikely to
have a significant impact on the koala?
There is a low risk that significant impacts on
the koala will occur through impacts such as:



actions occurring in low-quality habitat
where koalas are known not to occur
selective logging of eucalypt species
identified during surveys as not being used
by koalas as food trees, or
the removal of a single primary food tree.
Where there is a low risk of your action having
a significant impact on the koala, referral is not
likely to be required.
References
Gordon, G., Brown, A. S., and Pulsford, P.
(1988). A koala population crash during
drought and heatwave conditions in southwestern Queensland. Australian Journal of
Ecology 13: 451–461.
Jurskis, V. (2001). A review of some
techniques used to describe koala habitat and
its use by koalas with particular reference to
low density populations at Eden. In The
Research and Management of Non-urban
Koala Populations (Eds. Lyons, K., Melzer, A.,
Carrick, F. and Lamb, D.) pp.71–88. Koala
Research Centre of Central Queensland,
Rockhampton.
Martin R and Handasyde K (1999) The Koala:
Natural history, conservation and
management. UNSW Press, Sydney.
Moore BD and Foley WJ (2000) A review of
feeding and diet selection in koalas
(Phascolarctos cinereus). Australian Journal of
Zoology 48:317–333.
New South Wales Department of Environment
and Climate Change (2008). Recovery plan for
the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus). Sydney,
NSW: New South Wales Department of
Environment and Climate Change. Available
from:
www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/
threatenedspecies/08450krp.pdf
Phillips, S. and Callaghan, J. (2011). The Spot
Assessment Technique: a tool for determining
localised levels of habitat use by koalas
(Phascolarctos cinereus)”. Australian
Zoologist, 35: 774–780.
Queensland Environment Protection Agency
(QEPA) (2006). Nature Conservation (koala)
Conservation Plan 2006 and Management
Program 2006–2016. Queensland
Government – Environment Protection
Agency, August 2006.