Wild Wielangta

For everyone’s interest here’s the content of a letter we presented to Minister David Llewellyn (Minister for Primary Industries and Water) at our meeting yesterday. The letter summarises points raised in the meeting and we’re hopeful of achieving some positive results!

“We greatly appreciate you making time to meet with us today to discuss the future of the endangered Swift Parrot and its critical breeding habitat in Wielangta.

Firstly, we would like to commend you on your far-sighted decision, which followed on from our previous meeting in October of last year. Your announcement to defer harvesting of coupe 19D whilst Swift Parrots were breeding in the area, and for the Department of Primary Industries and Water to contribute funding to a strategic survey of Swift Parrot breeding in the broader Wielangta area over the 2008/09 breeding season, has set in train a chain of events that could well prove to be pivotal in terms of securing a brighter future for one of the world’s rarest birds.

Much has changed since we met last October and we are very pleased to note that both you and Premier David Bartlett have made public statements to the effect that the State Government is committed to the conservation of the Swift Parrot.

We understand that the Wielangta report is due to be released any day and that this report will now feed into a Strategic Management Plan for Swift Parrot Breeding Habitat across Tasmania, currently under preparation by the Fauna Strategy Group within the Forest Practices Authority. This report is due to be released at the end of June.

Our purpose in requesting a meeting with you today is to raise a number of issues of concern over the future direction of Government policy in regards to both Wielangta and its significance as a critical breeding area for Swift Parrots. We raise these concerns with you both in your role as Minister for Primary Industries and as our representative in the electorate of Lyons, an electorate that encompasses much of the Swift Parrot’s critical breeding habitat, including Wielangta.

The first point we would like to raise is about the process surrounding the development and adoption of a Strategic Management Plan for Swift Parrot Breeding Habitat. We believe that this report should be made public when completed in June and that, as per Clause 96D in the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement (RFA), there should be a public comment period on the proposed plan. This clause requires public comment to be noted when there are any new or altered management prescriptions for threatened species.

Will the State Government follow the recommendations in the Tasmanian RFA and immediately release the proposed Swift Parrot Management Plan, on its’ completion in June, for public comment? How long will the public comment period be? We would anticipate a period of three months being allowed for the adequate public consideration of such a document. What will the process be for taking account of public comment? Who will be involved? Who will take responsibility for the final decisions?

It is our belief, based on our own research and lengthy consultations with many of the experts in the field, that the only way to ensure that Swift Parrots are brought back from the brink of extinction, is to afford all of their critical breeding areas in Tasmania permanent protection in the form of legislated conservation reserves. These extraordinary birds are so imperilled, with their numbers believed to have declined significantly over the last few years, that any more piecemeal or discretionary approach to their management is, we believe, doomed to failure. There seems to be unanimous agreement amongst scientists that the biggest threat to the survival of Swift Parrots is the “extensive, ongoing loss of old growth nesting habitat in Tasmania” (p32, “The State of Australia’s Birds 2008”, Birds Australia).

We are extremely concerned that the State Government may choose to continue to try and manage the State’s endangered species under the mechanisms available under the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement, which would effectively be a prescription-based rather than a reserve-based approach. Prescription-based management has clearly failed the Swift Parrot and has contributed to the bird’s increasingly endangered status.

Will the State Government commit to permanent protection of critical breeding habitat for Swift Parrots through a system of legislated conservation reserves?

A pertinent example of the shortcomings of prescription-based management occurred in the last coupe to be logged in Wielangta, coupe 17E. After consultations with the Senior Zoologist, Ray Brereton, and others in 2002, prescriptions were put in place to exclude harvesting operations from “high quality nesting habitat” and other nearby areas where “Swift Parrots were observed nesting” (“Swift Parrot Nesting Habitat in Wielangta State Forest”, K. Ziegler,  2002). During subsequent harvesting operations a substantial number of trees were felled in the area identified as “high quality nesting habitat” and trees nearby where “Swift Parrots were observed nesting” were felled in roading operations to access coupe 19D last year. (These prescription failures only came to light through the careful observations of members of the local community.)

This situation clearly illustrates the weaknesses of trying to manage a highly endangered species through management prescriptions, which with the best of intentions can fail through communication breakdowns, errors in mapping and interpretation, and variability in definitions. If the State Government really is committed to the conservation of Swift Parrots and as the Premier recently stated is prepared to “continue to do whatever we can to support their ongoing survival” (undated letter from Premier David Bartlett, 2009), then permanent protection of scientifically-identified critical breeding areas in legislated reserves, is the only way forward.

It would then be appropriate for areas outside critical breeding habitat reserves to be identified and protected by management prescriptions, where they are considered to have values as possible foraging habitat or potential breeding habitat, pending further research.

The reservation of Swift Parrot critical breeding habitat in the Wielangta State Forest would provide the State Government with a wonderful opportunity to not only make a major contribution to ensuring the survival of one of the world’s rarest, most extraordinary and colourful birds, but would also serve to protect for future generations (including the many tourists currently flocking to marvel at Tasmania’s natural treasures) the many other ecological riches of Wielangta.

As far back as 1993, the Forestry Commission’s botanic consultant recommended the then proposed Wielangta Refuge, be protected in it’s entirety (3,000 ha), to conserve an area whose botanical values encompass rare, threatened and restricted species within a diverse range of plant communities.

Areas within Wielangta have also been identified as containing:

• Core habitat critical to the continued viability of the Tasmanian fauna as a whole (Register of the National Estate, May 2004)
• Some of Tasmania’s tallest trees
• Rich and diverse forest cover ranging from dry grassy forest to closed canopy rainforests
• The largest area of remote forest within close proximity to Hobart
• At least 11 threatened species of flora, 34 endemic plant species, rare flora communities and 11 plant communities of significance
• Unusually diverse conjunctions and rapid transitions of forest community types
• Five threatened fauna species, with a further six thought to be present
• A high degree of fauna species richness within a restricted area
• High wilderness quality and biophysical naturalness ratings

It is important to note that whilst much of this information relates back to research undertaken up to 15 years ago, the area that was previously identified as the Wielangta Refuge has only had one area logged during that time (coupe 17E), in addition to the roading associated with proposed coupe 19D. The values of Wielangta as an important refuge for biodiversity on Tasmania’s east coast can therefore be assumed to be largely unchanged.

Aside from its contribution to maintaining the biodiversity of our beautiful island state, the creation of a substantial conservation reserve in Wielangta would offer other obvious benefits to the Tasmanian community and to the Tasmanian economy, particularly at a local level within the Lyons electorate. As you are perhaps aware, the Wielangta Forest Road has now become established as a major tourist route. Local tourist operators recommend visitors use the road as a scenic connection from Freycinet and the east coast to the Tasman Peninsula and its attractions, including Port Arthur. The creation of a major conservation reserve in Wielangta would further enhance visitor’s east coast experience and contribute to the possibility of their allowing more time for exploring this part of the state, with all the flow-on benefits this would represent for local communities, tourism business operators and the local service industries. Opportunities exist to develop interpretative and educational facilities along the Wielangta Road, which passes through the centre of this extraordinary forested area.

This presents the State Government with a wonderful opportunity to foster the growth of sustainable employment opportunities in this region, particularly in this time of a rapidly changing situation in regards to climate change and the global financial crisis, which is having a very deep impact on woodchip markets at present.

The sticking point in this potentially exciting way forward for the region is the treacherous condition of the Wielangta Road itself.  With the cessation of logging operations in Wielangta since the Federal Court ruling in 2006, the agency responsible for the management of the road, Gunns Ltd, has had no incentive to maintain the road. This has lead to the dangerous situation where the main users of the road, interstate and international visitors, are literally taking their life in their hands when taking this recommended scenic route as part of their visit to Tasmania. There have been numerous accidents involving visitors rolling vehicles after encountering the unexpectedly dangerous driving conditions that include; extensive areas of potholes and corrugations, areas where the surface has been worn down to the road base and poor signage for the numerous sharp bends. Many of the tourists travelling the Wielangta Road are in hire cars (including numerous campervans), which are totally unsuited to the conditions.

There seem only two options at this stage, either the road should be closed to non-local traffic or the State Government should resume control of the road and maintain and promote it as a major tourist route, which has currently happened by default, but in a way that leaves visitors at risk of serious injury or even death.

We support the state’s tourism industry in calling for the State Government to act immediately to bring an end to this dangerous situation that is casting a shadow over tourist’s experience of Tasmania.

Will the State Government take action to resume control of the Wielangta Road:
• To ensure the road is suitably maintained as a scenic tourist link between Freycinet and the east coast and the Tasman Peninsula and Port Arthur
• To make an investment in this important part of the region’s infrastructure, with the possible economic benefits this could provide to the region, particularly if a substantial conservation reserve is declared in Wielangta?

As we have previously requested, we would urge you to find time in your undoubtedly busy schedule, to come on a tour of Wielangta with us, to see for yourself:
• The values of Wielangta as an important refuge for the endangered Swift Parrot,
• The potential and possibilities of creating a major conservation reserve both to protect biodiversity and to enhance the east coast experience for tourists
• The treacherous condition of the important tourist link road through Wielangta?

The final issue we would like to raise with you is to ask you if you will approach the Premier, David Bartlett, on our behalf and request that he meet with us. We have previously requested meetings to no avail, but are hopeful that with your support the Premier may be more responsive. Our desire to have the opportunity to discuss the future of the Swift Parrot with the Premier, has only been heightened by the Premier’s announcement in March of this year to undertake a tree-planting program on the east coast, to address what the Premier has identified as a “lack of breeding-season foraging habitat” which is “likely to be a limiting factor in Swift Parrot population recovery” (Premier’s media release 3/3/09).

Despite extensive enquiries we have been unable to ascertain where the Premier could have received scientific advice to support such a program as a key strategy to protect these endangered birds. We are very pleased that Swift Parrots are firmly on the Premier’s agenda, but are concerned he has received advice that is not in line with current scientific thinking on the best way to ensure the Swift Parrot’s survival. Your intervention, as our representative in Lyons, and as the responsible minister, in securing a meeting for us with the Premier, would be greatly appreciated.

We thank you again for your time today and would appreciate an early response to the key points we have raised:

• Will the State Government follow the recommendations in the Tasmanian RFA and immediately release the proposed Swift Parrot Management Plan on its’ completion in June for public comment? How long will the public comment period be? What will the process be for taking account of public comment? Who will be involved? Who will take responsibility for the final decisions?

• Will the State Government commit to permanent protection of critical breeding habitat for Swift Parrots through a system of legislated conservation reserves?

• Will the State Government take action to resume control of the Wielangta Road, with the possible economic benefits this could provide to the region, particularly if a substantial conservation reserve is declared in Wielangta?

• Will you come on a tour of Wielangta with us, to experience first-hand the issues we have raised today, and to see the possibilities this biologically diverse area holds for the local community in your electorate?

• Will you approach the Premier, David Bartlett, on our behalf and request that he meet with us?”

Please contribute any comments you have to the blog or contact me at wildwielangta at gmail dot com.

Actions resulting from the meeting will be posted as soon as they come to light!

Sharon East
Spokesperson
Wildwielangta at gmail dot com