WHEN the Minister for Planning referred the draft Bass Coast Statement of Planning Policy (SPP) and all written submissions to the Distinctive Areas and Landscapes Standing Advisory Committee for further investigation in October last year, few imagined the process would become a test case of the State Government’s mismanagement of threatened flora and fauna in the area, rather than a planning process.
But that’s what it has become.
Last week, when the advisory committee met at Cape Paterson, it was the threat posed to rare orchids, isolated populations of koalas and other native animals, and especially the incredible variety of marine life in the adjoining Bunurong Marine National Park, by an expansion of housing in Cape Paterson which was highlighted.
This week, the focus has returned to the Western Port Woodlands, where at the weekend, conservation volunteers documented rare examples of the Southern Toadlet, which they say live almost exclusively in the remnant vegetation which stretches from Nyora to Grantville.
Speaking on Gippsland ABC Radio on Tuesday morning this week, Brendan Casey from the group played recordings of the Southern Toadlet taken from locations in the Adamas Creek Nature Conservation Area at Nyora, at the northern end of the remnant bushland.
“Well, we didn't know it was there, we didn't know it was a special location for the Southern Toadlet. The information we had was that in 2005, the Southern Toadlet had been recorded within the grounds of the Holden Proving Grounds, which is about 5kms south of the area.
“Now, that's private property, so we’re not able to access that area, so what we did was targeted the area that we thought was most likely and nearest to the Holden Proving Grounds’ old records. So, we spread out around that area. Adams Creek is on the north side of the South Gippsland highway. It's a discreet reserve. It's surrounded by very large open cut sand mines.
“Now we had a couple of protocols in place about how we would our conduct searches and one of them was that we wouldn’t leave the tracks, we didn’t want to go off track wandering around through sensitive wetlands.
“But what we discovered, amazingly, was that the frogs were making their little nests in the road, one of the access road tracks at Adams Creek Nature Conservation Reserve.
“So that was a pretty unlikely habitat for these frogs, and not a really good spot to choose to make your nesting chambers either.”
Mr Casey said previously documented evidence of the Southern Toadlet through the Western Port Woodlands, to the Grantville Nature Conservation Reserve made it highly likely that the rare frog inhabited the area which was all the more reason why it deserved protection by planning controls and other means.
Could the confirmed recordings of the Southern Toadlet save the woodlands? Development has been stopped for less.
In August 2021, the Save Western Port Woodlands group, together with the National Parks Association, put out a paper calling for planning controls to protect the remnant vegetation and threatened flora and fauna of the woodlands between Nyora and Grantville.
And the existence of the Southern Toadlet was one of the key species needing to be saved.
Here in part was their conclusion:
“It is evident that the remnant vegetation that occurs throughout the string of reserves, VinFast/Holden Proving Ground and surrounding land holds undoubted significance for the local region, biodiversity and native flora and fauna and of the area.
“The extent of land clearing across the Gippsland Plain Bioregion has already caused major impacts to biodiversity through habitat loss and fragmentation, and if continued will be very likely to experience further species declines and localised extinctions.
The populations of many threatened species that inhabit the area have declined across their range, with land clearing and habitat loss commonly listed as both a cause of decline and a future threat. The heavily fragmented landscape and high levels of land clearing surrounding the area restrict the opportunities for dispersal for many of these species, particularly the small terrestrial or sub-terrestrial species such as the Southern Brown Bandicoot, Swamp Antechinus and Giant Gippsland Earthworm.
This indicates the significance of the remnant vegetation that provides habitat for these isolated populations, as well as the importance of the connectivity throughout the area. Multiple threatened species of flora and fungi have significant stronghold populations within the investigation area, where for some species there are few other extant populations. This is the case for Tea-tree Fingers, which has three quarters of its known Australian population within the area, and for the Green-striped Greenhood, with its largest known population within The Gurdies NCR.
The survival of these populations is crucial for the future persistence of both species. Increased pressure on remaining remnant vegetation will push these species further towards extinction. Protecting these areas will be of the utmost importance if we are to protect this array of species.
The VinFast/Holden Proving Ground contains the largest block of remnant vegetation within the area. It provides crucial habitat for many species including the Powerful Owl, Southern Toadlet, White-footed Dunnart and Swift Parrot, and includes some of the largest areas of vital riparian vegetation.
The property also serves as an important link of vegetation between Adams Creek NCR, Lang Lang EA and Hurdy Gurdy Creek NCR, which protect many threatened species such as the Southern Brown Bandicoot and Lace Monitor. These deserve better protection…
“Action needs to be taken to ensure that the ecological integrity of the area is not compromised in the interests of extractive industries. One key way this can be achieved is by enhancing planning controls over the investigation area, something that should be sought given the gaps in environmental protection overlays when compared with the high conservation values of the area.”
