Honeyeaters vs development
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A Critically Endangered Australian honeyeater may be driven to extinction by plans to build an industrial estate, say conservationists.
Regent Honeyeater, an south-eastern Australian endemic, has no more than 400 individuals left in the wild, most of which are concentrated in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales (NSW), though there is some interchange with the other three core sites. A newly-published paper in the journal Australian Field Ornithology reports that plans to develop the Hunter Economic Zone (HEZ), in the lower Hunter Valley near Cessnock, NSW, could well make the species extinct.
The site of the proposed development contains a core breeding habitat for the rapidly declining bird, and contains around 100 birds; about 20 nests were recorded there in the last survey in 2007-08 (probably 25 per cent of the world population). A spokesperson for BirdLife Australia said: “Development of this site will be catastrophic for this imperilled species.” Regent Honeyeater's population has dropped by more than 80 per cent over the last 24 years and it is now extinct in South Australia, while despite a reintroduction scheme the species is only just hanging on in Victoria and Queensland.
The HEZ will develop the Tomalpin woodlands, essential to the survival of the species, which already faces threats from mining and climate change, as well as competition with more common native birds. BirdLife Australia has formally written to the NSW Federal Government requesting that their approval of the development is revoked based on the data presented by the new study. Clearing the woodlands would continue a process begun with European settlement a little over 200 years ago, since which about 80 percent of the temperate woodlands have been cleared.
The HEZ has already been the focus of much controversy, with conservationists having previously warned that allowing development would have a detriomental impact on many threatened plants and animals, and the regional ecosystem as a whole. Botanical surveys at the discovered two new species of eucalyptus tree.
BirdLife Australia has called on Cessnock City Council and NSW Government to find an alternative site for the industrial estate. clearly the development of the site could destabilise the remaining population to such and extent that Regent Honeyeater may be entirely wiped out.
Head of conservation at Birdlife Australia, Samantha Vine, said on the ABC News Australia website this week: "The development was approved but at that time there wasn't the knowledge of how important this area is to critically endangered species. So, this information is new since that approval was granted, and we want the Federal Government to re-look at the situation, and there are provisions within the law for when this happens."
Regent Honeyeater, an south-eastern Australian endemic, has no more than 400 individuals left in the wild, most of which are concentrated in the Hunter Valley, New South Wales (NSW), though there is some interchange with the other three core sites. A newly-published paper in the journal Australian Field Ornithology reports that plans to develop the Hunter Economic Zone (HEZ), in the lower Hunter Valley near Cessnock, NSW, could well make the species extinct.
The site of the proposed development contains a core breeding habitat for the rapidly declining bird, and contains around 100 birds; about 20 nests were recorded there in the last survey in 2007-08 (probably 25 per cent of the world population). A spokesperson for BirdLife Australia said: “Development of this site will be catastrophic for this imperilled species.” Regent Honeyeater's population has dropped by more than 80 per cent over the last 24 years and it is now extinct in South Australia, while despite a reintroduction scheme the species is only just hanging on in Victoria and Queensland.
The HEZ will develop the Tomalpin woodlands, essential to the survival of the species, which already faces threats from mining and climate change, as well as competition with more common native birds. BirdLife Australia has formally written to the NSW Federal Government requesting that their approval of the development is revoked based on the data presented by the new study. Clearing the woodlands would continue a process begun with European settlement a little over 200 years ago, since which about 80 percent of the temperate woodlands have been cleared.
The HEZ has already been the focus of much controversy, with conservationists having previously warned that allowing development would have a detriomental impact on many threatened plants and animals, and the regional ecosystem as a whole. Botanical surveys at the discovered two new species of eucalyptus tree.
BirdLife Australia has called on Cessnock City Council and NSW Government to find an alternative site for the industrial estate. clearly the development of the site could destabilise the remaining population to such and extent that Regent Honeyeater may be entirely wiped out.
Head of conservation at Birdlife Australia, Samantha Vine, said on the ABC News Australia website this week: "The development was approved but at that time there wasn't the knowledge of how important this area is to critically endangered species. So, this information is new since that approval was granted, and we want the Federal Government to re-look at the situation, and there are provisions within the law for when this happens."
