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Home , Casuarina glauca, Eucalyptus bancroftii, Eucalyptus robusta, Melaleuca quinquenervia, Sclerophyll

Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll of South-eastern NOMINATED AS A NATIONAL THREATENED ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY

CONSULTATION GUIDE (updated 9 April 2021)

The Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests of South-eastern Australia ecological community was nominated in 2017 and is undergoing an assessment by the independent Threatened Species Scientific Committee to determine if it meets the criteria for listing as nationally threatened under national environment law, the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

The Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests of South-eastern Australia is a type of or scrub associated with freshwater (to brackish) on low-lying coastal areas with minimal relief from around Gladstone, , through and Gippsland Plains in Victoria to the Strzelecki Ranges. The ecological community consists of the , animals and other organisms associated with these forested wetlands. In typically intact forest, the canopy is often layered, with a typical canopy where one species dominates or mixed melaleuca and eucalypts.

Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forest near Port Stephens, NSW

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Consultation details Comments are sought on the Committee’s assessment of the Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests of South- eastern Australia as potentially endangered and the draft Conservation Advice that will be finalised, approved by the Minister for the Environment and published if the ecological community is listed under the EPBC Act. Comments close on 12 May 2021 About the assessment The national environment law defines an ecological community as an assemblage of native species that inhabits a particular area in nature within Australia. An ecological community can be eligible for listing as threatened if it is shown to be at risk of extinction in the wild, in accordance with prescribed criteria. Ecological communities are typically on the path towards extinction by transformation over time rather than complete loss – becoming different communities with different characteristic species (often non-native and/or other invasive species). The criteria used to determine the level of risk for an ecological community are set out in the EPBC Regulations. There are six criteria, each representing a different type of extinction risk. An ecological community is considered threatened if it meets the thresholds under any of the six criteria, it does not need to be threatened under all of them. The overall threat category is determined by the highest threat category met - Vulnerable, Endangered or Critically Endangered. Ecological communities listed as either Critically Endangered or Endangered are protected under the national environment law from significant impacts. The decision to list an ecological community as nationally threatened is made by the Australian Government environment Minister. It follows a rigorous and transparent assessment by the Department and Threatened Species Scientific Committee, in the form of a Conservation Advice to the Minister. When an ecological community is approved for listing by the Minister, the Conservation Advice is published. This describes the ecological community, outlines the threats and why it meets listing criteria, and provides guidance on priority research and recovery actions that could be undertaken to help conserve it. An approved conservation advice for this ecological community would provide advice to help manage threats to biodiversity values at a landscape scale, supplementing conservation measures for other matters of environmental significance, such as threatened species, migratory birds and Ramsar sites. About the Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests The Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests is a type of palustrine1 community of plants, animals and other organisms that occurs in the South East Queensland (SEQ), NSW North Coast (NNC), Basin (SYB), South East Corner (SEC), and South East Coastal Plain (SCP) , between the Great Dividing Range and the coast from the Gippsland Plain east of the Strzelecki Ranges in Victoria, through New South Wales to near Gladstone in Queensland.

Historically, since non-Indigenous settlement from about 230 years ago, the east coast has been extensively cleared and drained for agriculture, forestry and urban development. Population growth and urban development are ongoing key threats. More recently the region has been exposed to increasingly severe periods and bushfire events that are likely to be exacerbated by climate change.

Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests are typically found on a wide range of soils that are waterlogged or intermittently to episodically inundated. The composition of Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests varies with latitude and is determined by the frequency and duration of water inundation (which may be freshwater or brackish flows) and the salinity and nutrient content of the soil. In the northern extent, the canopy is typically dominated or co-dominated by Broad-leaved Paperbark () and Swamp Mahogany ( robusta). Swamp Oak ( glauca) and Cabbage Tree Palm (Livistona australis) are frequently present but never dominant. In some areas, other melaleuca species may be locally common canopy or sub-canopy trees. Other eucalypt trees, for example, Bloodwood () or Forest Red Gum/Queensland Blue Gum (E. tereticornis) may be scattered through the canopy in some areas. In the southern part of the ecological community’s range, Southern Mahogany/Bangalay (E. botryoides) is more likely to be present and Swamp Paperbark (M. ericifolia) is the dominant paperbark, forming a typically lower and denser scrub-forest. Woolly Tea Tea () may dominate or occur as a co-

1 Palustrine wetlands cover vegetated non-channel wetlands such as billabongs, swamps, bogs, springs, soaks and tend to be smaller, so exclude larger waterbodies such as lakes. 2

dominant in the Victorian extent. Vines are frequently found on the trunks and, climbing into the crown, of and/or eucalypts, notably the Common silk-pod ().

Ground layer composition is also variable depending on the local environment and climate. Commonly, there is a mid-dense to a dense cover of freshwater sedges (e.g. Gahnia spp., Plume Rush (Baloskion tetraphyllum)), Spiny-headed Mat-Rush (Lomandra longifolia ), ferns (e.g. Blechnum spp. (syn. Telmatoblechum spp.), Hypolepsis spp.), and grasses such as Bordered Panic (Entolasia marginata) and Blady Grass (Imperata cylindrica). Closer to estuarine areas, brackish species, for example, Twig-rushes (Machaerina spp. syn. Baumea spp.) are more evident. Other locally abundant species include Carex spp., Pennywort (Centella asiatica), Blue Flax Lily (Dianella caerulea) and Viola hederacea (Ivy- leaved Violet). Scramblers such as Glycine clandestina (Twining Glycine) also occur. Where a dense canopy cover limits light penetration, there will be more mosses, lichens and liverworts. Sphagnum moss may also be regularly present in waterlogged patches. Wetland specialist plants may sometimes extend into the understorey from adjacent open wetlands. Grassy species are more likely to be evident during drier periods and at relatively drier sites. There may be a layer of dense -litter and logs from fallen trees.

The Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests correspond to the traditional lands of several Indigenous groups. These include the Gureng Gureng, Bajtala, Gubbi Gubbi, Yuggera, Bundjalung, Gumbaynggirr, Dainggatti, Biripi, Worimi, Wonnarua, Awabakal, Darkinjung, Kurin-gai, Eora, Dharug, Tharawal/D’harawal, Yuin, Bidwell and Gunakurnai peoples.

How is the Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests ecological community identified? Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests occur on the mainland plus islands within 20 km of the coastline from south-east Queensland to eastern Victoria, specifically within the South Eastern Queensland (SEQ), NSW North Coast (NNC), Sydney Basin (SYB), South East Corner (SEC), and South East Coastal Plain (SCP) Bioregions. The key diagnostic features of these forests are: • typically found at or below 30m ASL, often fringing coastal waterbodies, such as bays, lakes and lagoons and including but not confined to, floodplains of major drainage lines. Occasional patches may occur up to 220m ASL, most likely where the natural water-table is perched or high. • a varied structure - from tall closed to open forest to , to dense (closed) or scrub. • a typically layered canopy where melaleucas dominate or co-dominate with , most often Melaleuca quinquenervia (northern extent) or M. ericifolia (southern extent). The canopy may be locally dominated by other melaleuca species including: M. dealbata (SEQ ), M. biconvexa (mid-NSW coast to south of Sydney) and M. decora (north of Shoalhaven). Leptospermum lanigerum (woolly tea-tree) can also often dominate in Victoria. Other frequently scattered emergent eucalypts include: Corymbia intermedia, C. gummifera, C. maculata, , E. botryoides, E. longifolia, E. ovata and E. tereticornis, noting these tree species never dominate the tree canopy.

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• typically has a native understorey with a poorly developed mid (shrub) layer and a variable ground- layer, depending on canopy cover and inundation rate/period. Tall sedges (typically Gahnia spp). and/or ferns often dominate the ground layer, mixed with graminoids and other herbs.

The ecological community is NOT present if the canopy and/or the ground layer of an area is dominated by species that are more typically associated with estuarine/saltmarsh areas, e.g. Coastal Swamp Oak () Appium prostratum, Atriplex cineria, Chenopodium glaucum, Rhagodia candolleaus and Samolus repens.

It is proposed that occurrences of Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests which meet these key diagnostic features are only protected where they are at least 5,000m2 (0.5 ha) in area. These would typically be patches with reasonable stands of remnant Melaleuca spp., Leptospermum lanigerum and/or Swamp Mahogany with good native ground cover. Smaller patches can be contiguous with, and/or form a mosaic with, other types of native vegetation, such as Lowland Rainforest of Subtropical Australia, Littoral Rainforests and Vine of Eastern Australia, Coastal Swamp Oak Forests, and the Riverflat Eucalypt Forests of Coastal Floodplains, all of which are already recognised as nationally threatened. Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests that do not meet the requirements for protection under national environment law, as outlined in pages 22-29 of the Conservation Advice, may still be protected under state regulations. The Queensland, New South Wales and Victorian Governments also have laws on vegetation clearance and protecting State-listed vegetation communities that may apply to certain activities. The Queensland the Vegetation Management Act 1992 (NVMA) regulates the clearing of regional ecosystems, especially those listed as “endangered” or “of concern”. Regional ecosystems that correspond (at least in part) with the ecological community are found in the table below:

Regional Short Description Classification Ecosystem under NVMA RE 12.2.7 Melaleuca quinquenervia or rarely M. dealbata open forest on sand plains Least Concern RE 12.3.4/ Melaleuca quinquenervia, Eucalyptus robusta woodland on coastal alluvium/ Of Concern RE 12.3.4a Eucalyptus bancroftii open woodland often with Melaleuca quinquenervia. RE 12.3.5 Melaleuca quinquenervia open forest on coastal alluvium Least Concern RE 12.3.6 Melaleuca quinquenervia +/- , Lophostemon Least Concern suaveolens, Corymbia intermedia open forest on coastal alluvial plains RE 12.3.20 Melaleuca quinquenervia, Casuarina glauca +/- Eucalyptus tereticornis, E. Endangered siderophloia open forest on low coastal alluvial plains Source: Queensland Government, Regional Ecosystem Descriptions: apps.des.qld.gov.au/regional-ecosystems/

In New South Wales, much of this ecological community corresponds to the NSW-listed ‘Swamp Sclerophyll Forest on Coastal Floodplains of the New South Wales North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner Bioregions Endangered Ecological Community’. Some patches that are dominated by Melaleuca spp. may also correspond to the NSW-listed ‘Swamp Oak Floodplain Forest of the New South Wales North Coast, Sydney Basin and South East Corner Bioregions Endangered Ecological Community.’ NSW is currently revising its state-wide classification of Community Types, of which several will correspond to the ecological community.

Victoria lists threatened communities of flora and fauna under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988; but protection under the Act only applies to patches that are on public land tenures. No formally listed threatened communities equate with the draft national definition for Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests. However, it does correspond to Victorian Ecological Vegetation Class 53 Swamp Scrub in the East Gippsland Lowlands and Gippsland Plain bioregions, which are identified as Endangered in these regions.

Why is the Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests considered threatened? The draft Conservation Advice recommends the Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests may be eligible for listing as Endangered. The ecological community was part of a once extensive complex of coastal forests and other fringing coastal wetland vegetation that responded to a dynamic coastal climate and provided corridors for wildlife that had 4

active roles in preserving the ecosystem function of the area. The ecological community now typically occurs as isolated occurrences adjacent to heavily disturbed and modified land and water bodies, including several other ecological communities threatened at the national and state levels. These forest wetland areas have now been substantially reduced in area, losing approximately 157,000 to 444,000 ha, with around 140,000 ha of the Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests remaining scattered along an almost linear range near to the eastern coastline, with many gaps in native vegetation due to over 200 years of development. These forested wetlands face ongoing losses from clearance, drainage and other changed hydrological regimes, including from constructed barriers, and other causes of declining freshwater inflows and groundwater levels.

Reductions in geographic distribution are one of the key symptoms of extinction risk for

ecological communities. A significant reduction in geographic distribution almost certainly comes with a significant loss of diversity in the community. As the area an ecological community occupies declines, so do carrying capacities for component species, niche

diversity and opportunities for species to access resources or avoid competitors, predators and pathogens. If the areas lost have fragmented or isolated the remaining occurrences, these may not retain sufficient species or genetic diversity for the ecological community to

survive over the long term. These changes will increase risks for individual species and reduce an ecological community’s ability to sustain its characteristic biota, even if the distribution is not continuing to decline. The ecological integrity of the remaining occurrences is also severely compromised. Many remaining occurrences are fragmented or isolated remnants and under threat from altered hydrological regimes, weeds as well as the impacts of pathogens, such as Myrtle Rust, and climate change. Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests are likely to be adversely affected by rising sea levels, increased average temperatures and evapotranspiration, more hot days and warm spells and fewer frosts - coupled with a harsher fire-weather climate. All these stresses reduce the ecological function of the remaining occurrences.

Reductions in ecological function are one of the key symptoms of extinction risk for ecological communities. Ecological function refers to the ability of communities to support their full diversity of species and to sustain their functional roles, such as nutrient cycling, provision of food or shelter, predation, decomposition, pollination etc. Environmental degradation may diminish the ability of an ecological community to sustain its characteristic native biota by changing the variety and quality of environmental niche space available to individual species. These changes will increase risks for individual species and reduce an ecological community’s ability to sustain its characteristic biota, even if the degradation is not continuing.

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A paperbark swamp on grazed farmland, near Port Stephens (Worimi Country) © Department Agriculture, Water and Environment Why is it important to protect these forests? Our native ecological communities are part of Australia’s rich and diverse natural heritage. Their occurrence in the landscape enriches the environment in which we live, and provide many important biodiversity, social and economic functions. They are a signature natural asset important to local communities, landholders and to Indigenous cultures. There are therefore many reasons why it’s important to keep what’s left of the Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests, and to recover or expand remnants. These reasons include:

• The remaining forested wetlands provide habitat for many plants and animals, including drought refuges for itinerant animals and essential breeding and nursery areas for amphibians, native fish, crustaceans and waterbirds. Above:a mother guraban (Yuin language, NSW • The ecological community includes habitat for at least 35 OEH 2014) - (Phascolarctus cinereus) - nationally threatened species and many migratory bird and her joey in a eucalypt tree. Several species. This includes species such as the Long-nosed important food sources for guraban and other Potoroo, the and the Koala, that had their canopy species like bugaali (ring-tailed habitats badly affected by the 2019-20 fires. possum) and other gungara and well several important budjan (birds). ©Department of • Birds, bats and other animals that live in the swamp forest Agriculture, Water and Environment. can help to control pest rodents and insects that attack nearby crops or plantations and also play an important role in the pollination of native and crop plants.

• These forested wetlands are an essential clean water source to surrounding areas.

• Many of the species found within these forests have traditional and valuable medicinal properties. • Forested wetlands can sequester and store atmospheric carbon for thousands of years. • They also provide a focus for local recreation activities and tourism. How will the Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests be protected? Together with threatened species, threatened ecological communities are protected under the EPBC Act as a matter of national environmental significance. The aim of listing is to prevent further decline and promote 6

recovery through land manager and community efforts. Once listed under the EPBC Act, protection for threatened ecological communities comes down to three main things:

• Increased awareness of threatened ecological communities, the threats that they face, the important roles they play, and the priority conservation and restoration actions that are needed to turn around their decline.

• Funding for programs and activities that improve or protect the threatened ecological communities and threatened species they contain. The aim here is for better management of bushland, land and water in and around threatened ecological communities

• Regulation of new activities that may significantly impact the threatened ecological communities. How will national protection affect farmers and land managers? How you may be affected if the ecological community is listed depends on:

• Whether you have an occurrence of good quality Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests on your land. Given that a good proportion of these forests occur in conservation reserves and much has already been cleared from the floodplain or degraded and converted into non-native wetland systems, the chances of having this ecological community on your property is very low.

• What you intend to do with any such areas. Exemptions apply for continuing use such that routine and long-term farming and business activities can continue without needing approval. Referral under national environment law is only required if there is a considerable change in practice (e.g. from grazing to clearing for cropping), and that change may have a significant impact on a threatened ecological community or species.

• Listing is intended to further support land managers who want to continue managing occurrences of swamp forests that still remain in good quality, for future benefits. Supportive practices have helped to retain coastal swamp sclerophyll forests. For instance, some remnants are intentionally set aside because they include watercourses or serve as shelter for stock and windbreaks for croplands and pastures, or because of their habitat values.

If no new actions are intended, then the listing won’t affect you. Land managers who want to retain a good quality forest or intend to restore any areas of vegetation on their properties may apply for funding to help with their conservation.

Landholders who have the threatened ecological community on their property may be able to access opportunities to manage threats that impact both natural systems and agricultural productivity (e.g. invasive plants and pest animals). Opportunities are available to restore remnants through current or future Australian Government natural resource management programs, such as National Landcare. Talk with your local NRM agency or Landcare group for more advice on any opportunities.

What about water management implications? Listing the Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests ecological community is unlikely to affect existing water allocation processes under statutory water sharing arrangements. It is important to note that water extraction will remain regulated by state governments. Large-scale water related infrastructure projects with the potential to have a significant impact on the ecological community would need to be considered in the same way as is required already for other EPBC Act matters of national environmental significance that occur in the region such as threatened species, migratory species and Ramsar wetlands.

Buffer zones are recommended to protect the Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests and avoid a decline in condition, but they are not considered part of the ecological community itself. There are already state and federal requirements to mitigate impacts within buffer zones.

National protection only applies to new actions likely to cause significant damage to occurrences of these forests that remain in relatively good condition.

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Business as usual for many routine activities

The listing of a threatened ecological community under the EPBC Act will not prevent land managers from continuing to use land or water in the same way they were previously, providing they do not significantly change or intensify their activities.

It is important to note that the EPBC Act only regulates activities that have, or may have, a significant impact on a matter of national environmental significance, including threatened ecological communities. Whether or not an action is likely to have a significant impact depends on the sensitivity, value and quality of the environment which it impacts, and on the intensity, duration, magnitude and geographic extent of the impacts.

The normal activities of individual landholders, residents and Local Councils will typically not be affected by a listing. Routine property maintenance, land management and other established activities, such as most farming activities or ongoing road maintenance, are continuing use activities that do not require consideration under the EPBC Act.

For instance, the following actions are unlikely to require approval under the EPBC Act: • continuation of existing grazing, cropping or horticultural activities; • maintenance of existing roads, fences, access tracks or firebreaks; • maintenance of existing farm gardens or orchards; • maintenance of existing farm dams, weirs or water storages; • maintenance of existing pumps, irrigation systems and drainage lines; • replacement and maintenance of sheds, buildings, yards and fences; • control of weeds and management of pest animals on individual properties or roadsides. In all these activities, landholders are encouraged to avoid any severe impacts to ecological communities, and to help restore remnants. For example, landholders should try to avoid native vegetation clearance and detrimental hydrological changes in or adjacent to an ecological community, and try to protect them from nearby activities, such as spray drift from fertiliser, pesticide or herbicide sprayed in adjacent land.

Note that human settlements and infrastructure where an ecological community formerly occurred do not form part of the natural environment and are therefore not considered to be a part of a listed ecological community. This applies to sites that have been replaced by crops or exotic pastures, or in other situations where an ecological community now occurs in a highly-degraded or unnatural state.

Referral of actions with significant impacts

The main consideration if the ecological community was listed would be to undertake an environment impact assessment and refer for approval of a new activity that could significantly impact2 upon good quality areas of the swamp forest. Significant impacts are likely to affect the sensitivity, value, and quality of the environment where an action is proposed to occur. Most activities are already considered through state and local vegetation and water regulations.

EPBC Act referrals usually apply to major projects, for instance major new road works, new housing and industrial developments, or proposals to convert large areas of intact forest for plantations or cropping.

Activities likely to require referral include, but are not restricted to: • clearing large areas of relatively good quality native vegetation for development or clearing close to a patch of forest in such a way that it impacts its future survival ; • fragmentation through construction of large new roads, tracks or fencing through a swamp forest; • significantly changing natural drainage and local water flow or recharge patterns; or • use of herbicides, pesticides or fertilisers within or near a swamp forest in a way in which substantial chemicals can flow or drift into the patch.

2 Significant impacts are likely to affect the sensitivity, value, and quality of the environment where an action is proposed to occur. For more information on the Significant Impacts Guidelines see: www.environment.gov.au/epbc/publications/significant-impact-guidelines-12-actions-or- impacting-upon-commonwealth-land-and-actions

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Agricultural activities will only need approval if you have a good quality patch of Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forests on your property and want to substantially change the way you manage the land in a way that will significantly damage the patch of forest. Consider alternative ways to carry out the proposed activity that will avoid substantial impacts on a listed ecological community. These are often required for state approval as well. It is best that you first get advice to see whether EPBC Act approval is needed before undertaking any new actions in case your actions have a significant impact on the ecological community. It this is the case, the requirement would be to:

• Check you have the right type of vegetation present and if it’s in good enough condition to be referred. • Plan to avoid or minimise impacts to vegetation occurrences, especially the best quality occurrences. • Talk with the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment.

Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forest near Port Stephens (Worimi Country) © Department Agriculture, Water and Environment

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Where can I get more information?

The draft Conservation Advice and other information about how to make a submission, including questions to guide your responses, are on the website of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment: www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/nominations/comment

Advice about Australian Government environmental funding programmes (e.g. National Landcare or the Environmental Restoration Fund) can be found online at: www.environment.gov.au/about-us/grants-funding

Australian Government natural resource management initiatives are located at: www.nrm.gov.au

Information about the EPBC Act referral and assessment process is available on: www.environment.gov.au/protection/environment-assessments/assessment-and-approval-process

Further information for farmers on the national environment law and agricultural development is available at: www.environment.gov.au/land/farmers

If you need further information, contact the Department’s Community Information Unit by: phone on 1800 803 772 (freecall); or email [email protected]

On Biripi Country, melaleucas and other plants, such tall-sedges, typically found in Coastal Swamp Sclerophyll Forest at Coopernook Wetlands, NSW. © Department Agriculture, Water and Environment

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