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The Swift Parrot is on track to extinction at a faster rate than almost any other Australian bird. BirdLife Australia’s Head of Conservation, Samantha Vine, explains why. With their vibrant colors, cheerful calls and fast-flying athleticism, it’s hard not to love the Swift Parrot. Yet the bird has a history of provoking animosity, with the parrot regularly finding itself at the centre of a conflict that has divided communities for decades: the management of Tasmanian forests. The species became infamous in 2006 when the Federal Court of Australia ruled that forestry operations in Tasmania’s Wielangta area were likely “to have a significant impact on the Swift Parrot by reducing part of its prime nesting habitat, being habitat used by it when suitable foraging conditions exist.” Yet logging of Swift Parrot breeding habitat continues apace under a deal between the Tasmanian and Commonwealth Governments, known as the Regional Forest Agreement (RFA). Under the RFA legislation, any deals reached are exempted from the protective provisions of the Environment Protection Biodiversity and Conservation Act (EPBC) which are in place to protect endangered species. Although they spend their winters foraging across Victoria, NSW, the ACT and Queensland, the less than 1,000 pairs of remaining Swift Parrots rely on Tasmania’s mature eucalypt forests to breed. As stated in the 2011 National Recovery Plan for the Swift Parrot, “the persistence of this species is mainly threatened by loss and alteration of habitat from forestry activities…” 22 AUSTRALIAN birdlife A swift exit Southern Forests SPIBA Forest loss (Hanson et al. 2014) Globmap_>5% blue gum or black gum Mature forest_>5% crown cover Recent revelations that the Tasmanian Government ignored the expert advice of its own scientists and allowed Swift Parrot breeding habitat to be logged shine some light on how this threat is allowed to continue. Documents obtained under Tasmanian Freedom of Information laws show that the Tasmanian Environment Department (DPIPWE) sought specialist expert advice regarding five proposed logging coupes within an identified ‘Swift Parrot Important Breeding Area’ in the Southern Forests. The expert advice warned that logging in the coupes would result in the loss of critical breeding habitat and interfere with the recovery of the species. Yet, despite the advice, the Department approved logging in three of the five coupes for which information was provided. The documents reveal that the Tasmanian government is both aware of the risk posed to Swift Parrots by ongoing logging of its habitat, and that it will permit logging to occur irrespective of clear, strongly worded expert advice to the contrary. Since these revelations, more evidence points to a systemic problem. Bruny Island is a critical refuge for Swift Parrots. Nevertheless, Swift Parrot breeding habitat on the island is currently being logged. Logging is also proposed adjacent to the beautiful Inala Private Reserve, which was fortunately protected by a conservation covenant as part of BirdLife Australia’s Woodland Birds for Biodiversity Project. As well as being home to Swift Parrots, Inala provides habitat for Forty-spotted Pardalote, the Tasmanian subspecies of Wedge-tailed Eagle, White-bellied SeaEagle, white morph of the Grey Goshawk, and Masked Owl. Almost 100 species of birds have been recorded at Inala and the nature-based tourism venture directly employs seven Bruny Islanders and several local businesses to provide services such as catering. Yet Forestry Tasmania has served notice of intent to clearfell the neighbouring property (identified as Coupe SB016B) in October this year. In April, local businesses and landowners called for immediate cessation of logging Bruny Island coupes known to contain Swift Parrot nests. The logging of documented nesting sites raises uncomfortable questions about why logging is still allowed in critical areas for Swift Parrots. Management tools like the ‘Threatened Fauna Advisor’ and the JUNE 2015 23 A swift exit Previous page: The Critically Endangered Swift Parrot. Photo by Chris Tzaros Map: Forest loss in Tasmania’s Southern Forests Swift Parrot Important Breeding Area (SPIBA) between 2000-2012 (red) alongside the remaining fragments of Swift Parrot breeding habitat (blue). Provided by Dejan Stojanovic Above: Swift Parrots following the pulses of flowering eucalypts, which can vary remarkably year to year. Photo by Chris Tzaros Right: This Swift Parrot habitat tree (with potentially suitable nesting hollow visible) stands within a coupe on Bruny Island, earmarked for logging this year. Photo by Tonia Cochrane Opposite: Current logging of essential Swift Parrot habitat is threatening to decimate populations of this vibrant bird. Photo by Chris Tzaros ‘Swift Parrot Interim Habitat Planning Guideline’ are already available and a great start for managing the competing interests of logging and Swift Parrots. However, the Freedom of Information documents and current logging of known breeding habitat on Bruny Island and in the Southern Forests points to a systemic failure of governance that could drive the species to extinction in the very near future. As if this wasn’t bad enough… The cutest assassin Last year, scientists from the Australian National University (ANU) led by Professor Robert Heinsohn published their discovery of a new threat to Swift Parrots— Sugar Gliders. Introduced to Tasmania, and small enough to enter the tree hollows where Swift Parrots nest, the gliders are not only eating Swift Parrot eggs and nestlings, but also adult females. On the Tasmanian mainland, most Swift Parrot nests are currently failing as a consequence of Sugar Glider predation. Dr Dejan Stojanovic and his colleagues at ANU made this discovery using motiondetecting cameras, which were deployed at Swift Parrot nests across Tasmania. Gliders were found preying on Swift Parrots at every mainland Tasmanian nesting location discovered so far. And they don’t just eat Swift Parrots—Sugar Gliders have been recorded killing and eating Orange-bellied Parrots (adult females and eggs), Bluewinged Parrots (adult females and eggs), Green Rosellas (eggs), Tree Martins (adult females, eggs, nestlings), Striated Pardalotes (adult females, eggs, nestlings) and closely inspecting nests of recently fledged Fortyspotted Pardalotes. 24 AUSTRALIAN birdlife But the risk of predation by Sugar Gliders varies from place to place. The Swift Parrot studies revealed that gliders are more likely to raid nests in locations where deforestation is severe, compared to other places where mature forest is abundant. This link between deforestation and predation on Swift Parrots points to subtler effects of deforestation on Swift Parrot habitat quality. Their study indicates that even in forests left undamaged by direct logging, nearby deforestation increases the impact of Sugar Gliders on birds in remaining habitat. Chasing the richest patch Recent research has also demonstrated how Swift Parrots follow pulses of food availability (flowering eucalypts) as they move across the landscape. Swift Parrots are known to appear locally when trees flower, and then disappear again until flowering next occurs. BirdLife Australia partnered with ANU to undertake a research program to confirm the link between tree flowering and habitat use by Swift Parrots. To do this, we surveyed more than 1,000 sites each year (we have just collected our sixth year of data) and assessed where food was available, and where the parrots settled for the summer breeding season. Our results drew a clear link between eucalypt flowering and the distribution patterns of Swift Parrots. We also discovered that in most years, birds have little choice about where they settle, and usually must nest in proximity to whichever flowering patches are available. These results reinforce the need to maintain large areas of mature forest for Swift Parrots, because in most years there are only a handful of small patches of flowering available, and the location and extent of flowering varies dramatically each year. In the context of Sugar Glider predation, these results are particularly important. Flowering forests occupied by gliders may pose a serious risk to birds looking for a place to nest. We found that Swift Parrots mostly breed on the Tasmanian mainland where gliders occur, and offshore islands only supported a minority of the population in most years. Synthesis of this new research has revealed just how much trouble Swift Parrots are in. The predation rates are shockingly high, and the settlement patterns indicated that most of the population could be at risk from gliders. Taken together, the new research pointed to a previously unrecognised crisis, prompting a review of the species' conservation status. The results were dire. In a paper published in Biological Conservation, Dr Stojanovic and colleagues used the available data to model the best-case scenario (where the effect of habitat limitation, disease, collisions with windows and other known sources of mortality were excluded). It indicated that the Swift Parrot population could decline by as much as 94 per cent over only 16 years as a consequence of Sugar Glider predation. What can be done? In recognition of the very high risk of extinction the parrot now faces, BirdLife Australia is calling for an immediate halt to all logging of Swift Parrot breeding habitat until we can be certain that enough breeding habitat is protected. Ongoing habitat loss will likely worsen the situation, which makes it all the more imperative that logging of Swift Parrot breeding habitat on Bruny Island—which is free from Sugar Gliders—immediately and permanently cease. We rely on our governments to look after our threatened species. Yet the situation in Tasmania demonstrates a breach of faith with the public, who have trusted both the State and Commonwealth Governments to protect this iconic species. With deforestation in core breeding habitat still happening today in Tasmania, BirdLife Australia’s Threatened Species Committee and Research and Conservation Committee found that the species satisfied the criteria for listing as Critically Endangered under the EPBC Act. A nomination to the Federal Government has been submitted. Swift Parrots are one of only three migratory parrots on the planet. To lose them due to a failure in governance is simply unconscionable. For so long as Forestry Tasmania continues to log known Swift Parrot breeding habitat it contradicts the principles of sustainable forest management, and BirdLife Australia will continue to oppose their application for Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Certification. The Regional Forestry Agreement that exempts Forestry Tasmania from our national environmental law expires in 2017 and BirdLife Australia will fight to ensure that the Commonwealth can once again intervene if the State continues to drive a species down the path to extinction. We also continue to oppose the handover of Commonwealth environmental approval powers to any state or territory under the proposed ‘one-stop-shop’ arrangements. Because the Swift Parrot is a matter of national environmental significance it belongs to all Australians—just like koalas or the Great Barrier Reef—and a federal safeguard should always exist so that a State Government can’t permit extinction just because it is inconvenient for the profit line of vested interests. Volunteers needed to survey for Swift Parrots in 2015 Each year since 1999 hundreds of dedicated volunteers survey for the now Critically Endangered Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater. Both of these species are highly nomadic and travel the south-east of the continent in search of food. The Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater survey weekends are on the third weekend in May and first weekend in August each year. They provide critical long-term data on the movements, habitat use and population size of the Swift Parrot and Regent Honeyeater. If you cannot do a survey on those dates, we are happy for people to get out a week either side of those weekends. Incidental sightings are always welcome, as we maintain a database of sightings for both species. For more information about the Swift Parrot surveys and to get involved go to www.birdlife.org.au/projects/woodlandbirds-for-biodiversity JUNE 2015 25