Download Biodiversity - Noosa Biosphere

Comments on
Sunshine Coast Regional Council DRAFT Biodiversity Strategy 2009
Noosa Biosphere Sector Boards working group, December 2009.
The following comments are relevant to the Draft Biodiversity Strategy for the
Sunshine Coast region; regional biodiversity management includes the Noosa
Biosphere. Although the Noosa Biosphere Boards’ focus is on land
designated within the biosphere, the protection and management of
biodiversity within the Noosa Biosphere is affected by biodiversity
conservation in surrounding areas hence the regional context is relevant.
The comments herewith consider the general concepts of the SCRC
biodiversity strategy as well as issues pertinent to the Noosa Biosphere.
The working group supports the approach taken in formulating the draft
strategy. The biodiversity strategy covers a wide range of relevant themes
and offers a number of sound strategies to address biodiversity management
in the region. Main issues that arise from our review of the draft strategy are
discussed in more detail below, key issues are;
1. The population increases assigned by the State government to the
Sunshine Coast Region are not based on research into land
management issues and sustainable land use in the region.
2. The Biodiversity Strategy and supporting documentation are
comprehensive documents and, while covering a breath of issues and
material, leave the reader searching for priorities and timeframes for
proposed strategies as well as reference to specific ‘research to date’.
3. The use of new and innovative tools for biodiversity management is
applauded, however we caution on the use of offsetting and advise that
it be applied judiciously and never used to facilitate clearing of remnant
vegetation.
The Biosphere working group identifies several projects and areas of interest
that are relevant to the draft biodiversity strategy. We are keen to work with
the council in developing programs and community strategies that assist in
both organisations working towards positive biodiversity outcomes.
1
Pressures of population growth
The documentation issued by council is prefaced by a discussion on carrying
capacity. We fully support this as an underpinning paradigm on which to base
sustainable regional development. The South East Queensland (SEQ)
Regional Plan identifies a growth of the Sunshine Coast population that does
have a clear link to carrying capacity.
We support the SCRC approach that “more detailed planning assessment is
required to determine the appropriate residential growth capacity and rate
Noosa Biosphere Working Group Comments on SCRC Draft Biodiversity Strategy
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including consideration of issues such as carrying capacity, character,
biophysical constraints and the provision of infrastructure”. The State
government also needs to accept the human carrying capacity limits and that
the protection of natural environmental values needs to be given equal merit
to economical and social factors when determining population limits of the
region.
We acknowledge the recognition of temporary visitors to the region, and their
impacts on natural resources and that these need to be factored into human
impact on our natural resources.
Regardless of population capacity, new development needs to adopt best
practice to minimise direct impacts on the local environment and the
associated impacts of infrastructure such as roads, powerlines, industrial
development and other services.
2
Further detail required
We would like to see some reference to the ‘research to date’ a term used
frequently within the document.
“… Council has prepared a draft Sunshine Coast Biodiversity Strategy to
guide investment in key environmental programs, provide the platform for
major landscape protection and restoration initiatives, and inform the
development of a Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme”. We seek some
indication of the priorities, timeframes and resources for current and proposed
projects. Similarly, there are no estimates of current and proposed programs
and funding allocation/sources for these.
An action plan is required o demonstrate priorities and timeframes for
implementing the Biodiversity Strategy. This needs to be part of the strategy,
not an addendum.
3
Vegetation offsets as a planning tool
Applaud council taking initiative to use these tools
The difference between vegetation offsets and carbon offsets needs to be
clear (maybe in the glossary) – vegetation offsets are areas of vegetation
offsetting areas that have been cleared or degraded, while carbon offsets aim
to sequester carbon to offset ‘emissions’ which may be local or elsewhere on
the globe.
We caution against the widespread use of vegetation offsets in allowing
development to proceed. Such a measure needs to be the very last resort and
that the ‘offset’ area must be ecologically equivalent and account for the loss
of natural areas appropriately. Offsets need to lie within the same landscape
elements as the original vegetation and support similar vegetation (i.e. same
Noosa Biosphere Working Group Comments on SCRC Draft Biodiversity Strategy
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Regional Ecosystem). Vegetation restoration in an offset needs to develop an
ecosystem that is able to function naturally.
All remnant vegetation should be protected. Clearing of regrowth vegetation
should be offset with larger areas of similar aged or older regrowth vegetation,
preferably in strategic locations to maximise linkages across the landscape.
Vegetation offsets should not be used to justify vegetation clearing of remnant
vegetation because another area may have greater connectivity or
biodiversity potential.
4
Potential partnerships and relationships
A major focus of this document is to foster ongoing partnerships with
community stakeholders to promote and implement biodiversity conservation
initiatives that meet the environmental, social and economic needs of our
region.
The Biosphere Reserve shares the objective of “Building our knowledge” in
relation to conservation of natural biodiversity and sustainable living. A key
project addressing this is the ‘Benchmarking the Biosphere’ project that is
championed by the Environment Sector board. The project will identify
performance indicators and benchmarks for successful biosphere
management. The Benchmarking project will seek to build on existing
community capacity to contribute to the data collection.
In the Benchmarking the Biosphere project we look utilise existing and
potential indicators of the biosphere community sustainability and biodiversity
conservation. The Sunshine Coast Biodiversity Report Card has the potential
to inform our project. We support the report card as it will be integral in
informing the community, council and others of the successes of the council’s
biodiversity programs.
Within the various Biosphere sector boards there are projects (proposed or
commenced) that parallel council initiatives identified in the draft Biodiversity
Strategy. Examples of this include;
Provide information that encourages and empowers the community to
make informed decisions about issues such as climate change,
liveability and biodiversity. This is one of the key tenants under which
Noosa Biosphere operates.
Investigate innovative multimedia tools to assist in educating the
community and other stakeholders. Innovative ideas have been
suggested within the sector boards and we would like to partner council
in the development and implementation of such tools
Develop a consistent monitoring and reporting framework. The
Environment Sector Board Benchmarking project seeks to establish
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such a framework for the biosphere. Consistency between the regional
systems is important.
Develop a regional database of significant flora and fauna. The also
parallels the benchmarking project which recognises there are existing
databases and is cognisant of not duplicating resources but rather
expanding the use of existing data sources. Access to the often quality
data collected within the Development Application process can provide
important baseline information for conservation management
decisions.
We would be keen to discuss with the SCRC ways of working together with
other organisations to develop biodiversity data management framework.
Directions for education and information relating to climate change adaptation
and resilience need to be explored – we are keen to be kept informed of
development is in this area.
The Noosa Biosphere Reserve
Our Sector Boards contain extensive human resources, we are happy to
assist council in identifying what has worked in the Biosphere Reserve and
our future challenges. The Noosa Biosphere is considered by UNESCO as a
‘living laboratory’ in which to develop and showcase humans living sustainably
and conserving biodiversity in the face of climate change and pressures of
population growth.
The boundaries of the reserve were determined by Noosa Council borders at
the time and, in places, some realignment may occur in the future. Review of
the boundaries is part of the 5-yearly review process at which time a case will
need to be built for new areas to be included in the biosphere. Remembering
that the biosphere is about humans living sustainably with the natural
environment, any expansion of boundaries would be expected to reflect
sustainable living practices and not just natural areas such as the national
parks.
Noosa Biosphere is seeking to organise an event to celebrate the biosphere
(in March 2010) and to promote biodiversity conservation. It is important that
we complement council’s and others efforts in sending appropriate messages
to the community regarding sustainability and biodiversity. Noosa Biosphere
will be keen to participate in the proposed SCRC event and conversely would
seek SCRC participation on Noosa Biosphere Day.
Innovative and engaging approaches will be required to encourage
community empowerment, participation and trust. …. Council will consult with
key stakeholder in finalising this document and its long term implementation.
Noosa Biosphere is keen to participate as a stakeholder in further
development of the Biodiversity Strategy. We also seek to establish
mechanisms that maintain delivery of sustainable environmental outcomes in
the long term regardless of /despite political and administrative change at the
various levels of government.
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General comments
The threats of climate change are a point of contention in some aspects of the
community. It is possible to over emphasise the impacts, particularly where
there is a lack of hard evidence presented. We recognise council’s
responsibility in presenting the possibility of dire consequences of climate
change and the need for the community to be prepared. We caution against
building a picture that is so dire that the public decides it is not worth doing
anything – ‘well if it’s that bad, nothing I can do will make any difference,’
The term “Iconic areas of interest’ is used in Figure 4 to identify areas of
biodiversity significance. The term ‘iconic’ introduces a whole lot of
assumptions and potential misunderstandings – its application as a whole
needs to be examined as it appears to be being overused generally. We are
not sure of the role of this section – it is a list of examples; do these areas
warrant conservation priorities, or are they just examples of the regions
diversity?
We support the Principles proposed in Section 5.2 and many of these are
mirrored in the Environment Sector Board’s Charter which include
• Promote conservation and preservation of natural areas, connectivity
and wildlife corridors
• Ensure a comprehensive environmental evaluation of strategies,
policies, practices and programs of the Noosa Biosphere to ensure
they do not conflict with ecologically sustainable practices and conduct
regular reviews
• Increase knowledge of ecological functions of the Noosa Biosphere
Reserve including continual development of flora &
fauna databases
• Foster partnerships and communication in the community to increase
environmental education.
“Green infrastructure’ needs to be defined in the glossary. Green
infrastructure encompasses a wide variety of natural and restored native
ecosystems and landscape features (Benedict & McMahon, 2006, Linking
landscapes and communities). What are the ecological goals of green
infrastructure in the SCRC context? These need to be defined in the strategy.
Greenways are discussed in the Open Space discussion paper; what is the
relationship between greenway concepts and proposed green infrastructure?
We support measures that maximise areas of natural vegetation and
landscape-scale connectivity and point out that the connectivity needs to be
functional and diverse. Landscape connectivity is greatly enhanced if overall
land use seeks to create connections within an urban or rural mosaic
comprised of networks of natural habitat.
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Specific points in the Draft Biodiversity Strategy
Biodiversity and healthy functioning ecosystems are fundamental to all life,
providing a range of essential ecosystem services such as oxygen production,
water purification, pollination, soil formation and nutrient recycling. We support
the concept of valuing ecosystem services is the basis of the strategy and
recognises the important role much of the natural things that are taken for
granted have in our everyday lives. A challenge for planning is assigning a
value ($) to often intangible ecosystem services. How does SCRC intent to
progress in the valuing of ecosystem services?
Section2.2
Green infrastructure is the physical environment within and between our
cities, towns and villages. Should the definition say ‘green infrastructure is
part of the physical environment?
The subheadings in Section 2.2 are somewhat disjoint and the relationship
between them is not clear – they are all factors of relevance to the strategy,
perhaps the direct links need to be elucidated at the start of the section.
Page 7 last paragraph
Queensland Acts preserve the “State’s” biodiversity and State-level protection
is the primary focus therefore it is at a broader scale than required for regional
initiatives. We commend the strategies to undertake assessment of the
natural resources at a scale appropriate for regional-scale biodiversity
planning.
Section 3.1, Page 13
The Commonwealth Government has declared two listings for wetlands of
national importance across 12,805 hectares of the Noosa River system. The
Noosa River lakes and adjacent wetlands are one of only a few wetland
complexes on the entire Eastern Australian seaboard. Forming part of the
Great Sandy Region, they have World Heritage values. This paragraph and
the following one are unclear regarding the two wetland listings referred to.
Section 4.2, Page 21
The challenge for the Sunshine Coast is to accommodate growth while
preserving, and ultimately enhancing, the natural environment. Population
growth and development pose a number of serious threats to the region’s
biodiversity, specifically:
_ Vegetation clearing
_ Habitat loss and fragmentation
_ Introduction of pest species
_ Pollution and stormwater run-off
Add that - In the face of climate change the consequences of these losses are
likely to have a greater impact on our native flora and fauna, and the
ecosystems services they provide in the future.
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Section 4.4
There appears to be limited work to date on how the local flora and fauna will
respond to climate change – the effect will vary with species and their
adaptability, resilience and mobility. Key species need to be identified that will
act as indicators of species’ response to climate change and sustainable
management.
To give the local native fauna the best chance of surviving we recommend the
following strategies;
• Conserving as large areas of habitat as possible and not allowing
existing large areas to be compromised or fragmented,
• Establish ecologically functional connectivity between all habitat –
where roads and development inhibit connectivity, retrofitting green
infrastructure to provide wildlife corridors/connections is required,
• Monitoring of indicator and threatened populations is required to detect
early signs of population decline and mitigate losses where possible,
Section 4.5 Weeds and pests
Weeds and pests increase with human population density and are predicted
to further increase with climate change. We are likely to have new species of
plants move into the area and establish as pests over time. Regional weed
and pest management priorities need to go beyond species identified as state
level priorities. The potential threats will vary with habitat and other factors
across the region and there are certain habitats that are prone to particular
weeds or pests.
We support the need for research into weed and pest management and
community education. This may include providing information to the
landscaping and nursery industries on topics such as prevention of weed
dispersal via machinery and other vectors, identifying potential pest plants,
and encouraging the planting of native alternatives to exotic species.
Section 4.6 Land management practices
Land management practices are not necessarily always a threat to
biodiversity – the section should be headed ‘poor or inappropriate land
management practices’ (or similar).
Section 5
The term ‘biodiversity values’ is used throughout this section; it is not defined
in the glossary and is unclear exactly what is meant here. A definition at the
start of the section or in the glossary is required or is it better expressed
simply as biodiversity and related values – which can include ecosystem
services.
5.2 Principles
We particularly support principles that seek to establish resilience to climate
change within the community and the use of innovative management
practices.
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Ensure sustainable use of areas of biodiversity value as a key component of
Ecologically Sustainable Development. How will the limits of sustainable use
be identified and monitored – will there be a feedback or similar?
Protect and enhance native vegetation communities and habitat areas
through innovative management practices We support the use of innovative
management but would like to see some examples of these.
Ensure that Council is responsive and flexible in its application of existing and
new biodiversity tools to achieve multiple benefits – again give some
examples – what are ‘biodiversity tools’?
5.4 Overarching themes
The seven themes proposed comprehensively cover most aspects of
biodiversity conservation.
Legal mechanisms, p.31
Separate first strategy/action into 2 actions:
• Develop biodiversity and habitat mapping......
• Develop policies and codes to inform..... planning scheme ......
For consistency, (start each action with a verb) second action should read:
• Integrate consideration of biodiversity into the corporate governance
framework....
5.5 Strategies
The Biodiversity Strategy needs to identify Timelines and Targets, and have
an Action Plan. These can be identified against relevant overarching themes /
activities. The draft strategy notes some actions are underway; an indication
of current and proposed actions would be useful and assist the community to
identify council’s priorities.
Investigate developing a targeted regional statutory covenants program with
effective compliance and monitoring programs. What does this mean?
Biodiversity Partnerships and Community Engagement
Develop an urban partnership program, possibly in partnership with the
development industry and branded as an ‘Urban Corridors’ program. We
support this as developing important linkages through the urban landscape –
use these links or networks to compliment the riparian links; this needs to fit
with the open space and waterways management strategies.
Environmental grants and incentives focussed on key corridors and
coordinated to deliver landscape scale outcomes. Continue to offer flexibility
in how these are applied. We welcome this and acknowledge focussing on
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key linkages is important – the emphasis on where resources are placed
needs to be balanced to avoid ‘all the eggs in one basket’.
Development of a ‘Biodiversity Interpretive Trail Network’ that provides
community and visitor access to the region’s natural assets in a range of
settings such as canoe trails, wetland boardwalks, viewing platforms,
rainforest, waterways and coastal trails and cultural heritage walks. Trails
already exist in the Noosa area and there have been projects recently
proposed to facilitate walking trails and interpretive material within the
sustainable tourism sector. This is a concept with existing community support.
Biodiversity Protection and Rehabilitation
Support a Regional Acquisition Strategy as long as it is based on sound
investigation of landscape corridor and network function.
We have some concern that the protection and investment will focus on the
iconic areas identified to the detriment of other areas.
P35
Add action about resilience to climate change, such as ‘Identify ecosystems
and geographical areas threatened by climate change and prioritise/direct
revegetation programs towards combating the identified threats’.
Investigate the range of options for long term protection of significant and
iconic areas such as the greater Glass House Mountains and Ninderry. Need
to investigate and implement ….
Investigate the potential for declaring further Ramsar sites to provide greater
protection for wetlands and migratory bird habitat. This should aim to prepare
submissions for declaration of all sites that qualify for Ramsar site status on
the sunshine coast. The Noosa River is one example of an area with
attributes worthy of Ramsar listing.
Develop revegetation guidelines and priorities for the Sunshine Coast to guide
restoration and rehabilitation initiatives. This will include mapping areas, to
focus revegetation efforts, where natural resilience is viable. These guidelines
and priorities will help ensure that quality biodiversity outcomes are achieved
from carbon sequestration plantings. We support this and propose that
landscape and open space plantings should also follow these guidelines
which include the use of native plants. Additionally council should seek to
engaging the nursery industry in developing and implementing these
initiatives.
Pest management
Good to use climate change predications to inform potential threats,
community education and engagement are important.
Council needs to set the example by appropriately managing weeds on
council land. The use of appropriate landscaping to minimise weed invasion
and spread should be demonstrated by council.
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Support Integrated Catchment management
Ensure riparian areas are included in revegetation priorities. And land
management i.e. fencing etc.
New and emerging tools
We applaud council taking intuitive to use these tools
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