Saving Biodiversity Hotspots The need to protect crown land in NSW

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1 CLARENCE ENVIRONMENT CENTRE Inc Skinner Street South Grafton 2460 Phone/ Fax: Web site: Saving Biodiversity Hotspots The need to protect crown land in NSW March 2017 Introduction: Despite the loss of the vast majority of its original forest habitats, and the serious degradation of what remains, the state of New South Wales (NSW) still boasts levels of biodiversity that are the envy of the world, including renowned hotspots like the Northern Rivers region, and Eucalypt diversity that is deemed worthy of World Heritage status. Past land clearing for agriculture, and destructive logging practices across both state forests and private land, have decimated biodiversity across much of the state. However, scattered across the landscape there are hundreds, possibly thousands of 'islands' of relatively undisturbed bushland, crown land, that for one reason or another have remained in public hands and to some extent immune from the excesses of those industries that would exploit them. A typical New England landscape, long since cleared of native vegetation for cropping These crown lands are a conglomeration of remnant travelling stock routes (TSR), half a million hectares alone in NSW, water and camping reserves, commons, old rubbish tip sites, long abandoned school grounds, road reserves, some river banks, and residual areas of land that have simply never been acquired by private interests.

2 Successive cash-strapped governments have looked longingly at these 'assets', often quietly selling off 'closed' road reserves, and portions of no longer used stock routes, something not made easy by the fact that these lands are managed by an inordinate number of government agencies, councils, trusts and the like. In many cases there were no plans of management, and if they had a plan, they invariably lacked any knowledge of the natural values they were supposed to be managing. In recent years the NSW Government has undertaken a review into the management of Crown lands across the state, culminating in the release of findings by the General Purpose Standing Committee No. 6 in November The report made 20 recommendations, and possibly as a result of the overwhelming number of submissions asking that crown land remain in public hands, not all would have satisfied the advocates for divestment. The report acknowledged that: These reserves can have significant environmental and cultural heritage values, and that: In many cases this land is important to the social fabric of our society and is of vital importance to the biodiversity of the State. Residual crown land on the Coast Range east of Grafton supports high conservation value vegetation including 5 threatened species of flora, two of them endangered. The report also recommended: That the NSW Government, when implementing the stocktake of Crown land in NSW, must consider an audit of its ecological value including its local, regional and state environmental significance.

3 This was something the Clarence Environment Centre and other environment groups had advocated strongly for in our submissions to the review (see under submissions on this web site). Unfortunately, there has been a push to reduce these stocktakes to something referred to within government departments as a rapid assessment process. It is not certain whether this is to save money or to ensure that no impediments are placed in the way of plans by future owners or managers to use these properties in any way they see fit, such as finding threatened species or ecological communities. There is no better example of what happens when government departments make decisions on the use of crown land with no proper management plan in place, than that of the Want's Lane (Sandy Crossing) Travelling Stock Reserve (TSR) just off the Wooli Road south-east of Grafton. That decision was to lease it for cattle grazing. We hasten to add that in this instance our concerns were shared by many within that Department, and a satisfactory resolution appears to have been achieved. However, this may not have been achieved had the Clarence Environment Centre not intervened with firm evidence of the ecological values of the site, and outlining the illegalities of knowingly damaging threatened species. A contributing factor in this saga has been the merging some years ago of the NSW Catchment Management Authority, whose focus had been on maintaining a healthy catchment environment, with a number of agricultural service units including the former Livestock Health and Pest Authority (LHPA), to form the current Local Land Services (LLS). A major focus now for LLS is to promote and support sustainable rural industry. To some extent these sections still operate autonomously, which leads to situations where often one hand doesn't know what the other does. In this instance the section within LLS that manages TSRs, had decided to lease the Want's Lane TSR to a neighbouring grazier. It just so happens that as part of a federal government funded biodiversity project, the Clarence Environment Centre's ecologists had undertaken extensive flora and fauna surveys across the Upper Coldstream Project area, including several crown land portions within the project area, proving that the it contains a level of diversity rarely if ever equalled in Australia, identifying over 1,000 varieties of native plants including scores of rare species, 25 of which are listed as threatened. Lying within the project boundary, the Want's Lane TSR contains extensive, and some of the most significant wetland habitats in the Clarence Valley, home to an array of bird species including threatened Brolgas, Sea Eagles and Glossy-black Cockatoos, all of which nest on the site, Magpie Geese, Speckled Warblers and a host of other fauna.

4 The last sighting of Koalas in the Pillar Valley area, some 7-8 years ago, was also on the road next to the reserve which does support core Koala habitat with Forest Red Gum, Grey Gum and several other recognised Koala feed tree species. Brolga and one of two chicks photographed in January of this year at the Wants Lane TSR Glossy-black Cockatoo, photographed in In relation to Brolgas, the National Parks and January this year at Wants Lane TSR Wildlife (NPWS) threatened species booklet quotes the NSW Scientific Committee's determination as finding Destruction of nests by grazing Stock as a major threat to the species, recommending - Protect wetlands from grazing. That recommendation also applies to Magpie Geese. The threat from grazing likewise applies to the Glossy-black Cockatoo with the Scientific Committee's recommendation to, retain diverse understorey species and in particular to permit the regeneration of sheoaks. This recommendation is made in relation to too frequent burning, however, understorey destruction and suppression of regeneration from grazing is well documented.

5 While the threats to birds are significant, the threat to flora on the site is even greater. At least two Threatened Ecological communities occur, taking up most of the site: Subtropical Coastal Floodplain Forest of the NSW North Coast, and Freshwater Wetlands on Coastal Floodplains of the NSW North Coast. The Scientific Committee identifies threats to Subtropical Coastal Floodplain Forest as being, weed invasion (something that cattle grazing is renowned for spreading, the latest in this region being Tropical Soda Apple), inappropriate grazing, trampling and other soil disturbance by domestic livestock. Likewise the Committee identifies threats to Freshwater Wetlands on Coastal Floodplains, and identifies that: The remaining wetlands are severely fragmented by past clearing and are further threatened by continuing fragmentation and degradation,.. weed invasion, overgrazing, and trampling by livestock. The Clarence Environment Centre's surveys of the TSR has identified a significant population of Endangered Weeping Paperbark (Melaleuca tamariscina subsp irbyana). Again, threats identified by the NSW Scientific Committee include: Grazing by domestic stock. The NPWS booklet's recommendation is: fence known habitat to exclude stock. Melaleuca tamariscina subsp irbyana Other threatened species are the aquatic Maundia triglochinoides and Watershield, Brasenia schreberi. For both species grazing is again identified as a major threat. The Giant Water Lily (Nymphaea gigantia) is another species under threat from this grazing. Extremely Maundia triglochinoides Brasenia schreberi rare in NSW, we understand the occurrence of the species in this state is restricted to the Coldstream River wetlands around Sandy Creek.

6 The Royal Botanic Gardens Herbarium has determined a specimen we sent to them to be Asperula geminifolia. Up until 20 years ago, it hadn't been recorded in NSW (a Queensland sp.) and with only 2 previous records in NSW, one near Whitemen Creek, this is an extremely significant occurrence, and also a range extension for the species. Two other range extensions have been determined following our identification of the Narrow Thumbnail Orchid (Dockrillia linguiformis var huntianum), and Hygrophylla angusta. The Spear Grass (Aristida queenslandica); the Elbow Orchid (Arthrochilus prolixus); Common Sneezweed (Centipeda cunninghamii), and Common Wasp Orchid (Chiloglottis diphylla), have all been identified on the site and all are recognised as uncommon on the Upper North Coast of NSW (Sherringham and Westaway 1995). Grazing and trampling by livestock will be highly damaging to all the herb species mentioned above. Given the identified ecological values which are, or should be, well known, we asked LLS what ecological assessment had been undertaken prior to the decision to grant the grazing lease, and what measures had been put in place to protect the threatened species and communities that occur right across the site? Of course the answer is NONE, although there was no admission of that. However, as stated above, thanks to the information we provided, plans to graze the reserve have, we are told, been put on hold pending an audit and compilation of a plan of management. Unfortunately, the lessee had seen fit to bring his bulldozer onto the site, and open up some 1,800 metres of track. In the process, he gouged riparian vegetation from at least 5 floodways which drain the wetland overflow into the Coldstream River, and the soil disturbance has guaranteed further weed invasion will occur along the entire route. Track bulldozed by the would-be lessee In summary, it is our strong opinion that livestock should be totally excluded from the TSR and we have asked that the grazing licence be withdrawn completely. * * *