• Threatened King Island Birds Conservation Action Plan
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• Threatened King Island Birds Conservation Action Plan • Version 1 • 31 March 2021 AUSTRALIA i. Acknowledgements Development and implementation of the Threatened King Island Birds CAP has been possible because of the enthusiasm, skill and effort of many people, in particular the King Island Landcare Group. This first version is itself an acknowledgement of their contributions. This Conservation Action Plan was funded through the generosity of BirdLife Australia’s supporters nationwide and received financial support from the Australian Bird Environment Foundation of BirdLife Australia. 2019 Workshop participants: Graeme Batey, Margaret Batey, Margaret Bennett, Sally Bryant, Luke Diddams, Stephen Florence, Robbie Gaffney, Rod Graham, Carolyn Hogg, Mark Holdsworth, Fiona Hume, Kirsty Kay, Jenny Lau, Kate Ravich, Helen Strickland, Janelle Thomas, Peter Volker, Pip Walsh, Matthew Webb, Alan Wiltshire, Anna Wind Front cover: King Island Brown Thornbill, image by Barry Baker ii. Recommended citation March (2021) Threatened King Island Birds Conservation Action Plan Version 1. BirdLife Australia, Melbourne. iii. Abbreviations Species KIBT King Island Brown Thornbill KIS King Island Scrubtit TKIB Threatened King Island Birds Organisations ANU Australian National University BLA BirdLife Australia BoKI Birds of King Island CAP Conservation Action Plan CCA Cradle Coast Authority DAWE Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, Australia DPIPWE Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment, Tasmania FPA Forestry Practices Authority KIC King Island Council KIFMC King Island Fire Management Committee KINRM King Island Natural Resource Management Group HYDRO Hydro Tasmania PWS Tasmanian Parks & Wildlife Service STT Sustainable Timber Tasmania TFGA Tasmania Farmer and Graziers Association TFS Tasmania Fire Service TLC Tasmanian Land Conservancy WoK Wings on King 1 CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................ 4 1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................. 7 1.1 CONTEXT ........................................................................................................... 7 1.2 PROJECT AREA ..................................................................................................... 7 1.2.1 Climate and rainfall ..................................................................................... 8 1.2.2 Vegetation ................................................................................................. 8 1.2.3 Key Biodiversity Area .................................................................................. 8 1.2.4 Land use history ....................................................................................... 10 1.2.5 Protected areas ........................................................................................ 11 1.3 CONSERVATION ACTION PLANNING ........................................................................... 12 2. PROJECT VISION AND CONTEXT ....................................................................... 13 2.1 PROJECT TEAM ................................................................................................... 13 2.2 SCOPE ............................................................................................................ 14 2.3 VISION ........................................................................................................... 14 2.4 IDENTIFICATION OF TARGETS .................................................................................. 15 2.5 TARGET DESCRIPTIONS ......................................................................................... 15 2.5.1 King Island Brown Thornbill (Acanthiza pusilla archibaldi) .............................. 16 2.5.2 King Island Scrubtit (Acanthornis magna greeniana) ..................................... 18 2.5.3 King Island forest systems ......................................................................... 20 2.6 VIABILITY OF CONSERVATION TARGETS ...................................................................... 21 2.7 THREATS TO CONSERVATION TARGETS ....................................................................... 24 2.7.1 Fire (large scale, high proportion of reserve) ................................................ 26 2.7.2 Land clearing ........................................................................................... 27 2.7.3 Grazing by wallabies ................................................................................. 28 2.7.4 Grazing by Fallow Deer ............................................................................. 28 3. ASSESSMENT OF CONSERVATION SITUATION ............................................... 30 4. DEVELOPMENT OF STRATEGIES ..................................................................... 31 5. CONSERVATION STRATEGIES, OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES ........................ 34 6. MONITORING PLAN ....................................................................................... 35 7. OPERATIONAL PLAN ...................................................................................... 35 8. WORK PLAN ................................................................................................... 35 9. ANALYSE AND ADAPT..................................................................................... 36 10. SHARE ............................................................................................................ 36 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 37 APPENDIX 1. CONCEPTUAL MODEL FOR CAP ANALYSIS AND PLANNING ....................... 39 APPENDIX 2. RESULTS CHAINS FOR THREATS TO THREATENED KING ISLAND BIRDS ... 41 2 Figures & Tables FIGURE 1. CAP COVERAGE: KING ISLAND, AUSTRALIA ................................................ 8 FIGURE 2. LOCATION OF KEY BIODIVERSITY AREAS ON KING ISLAND (FROM BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL 2019) ............................................................................................ 10 TABLE 1. KEY BIODIVERSITY AREAS LISTED ON THE BASIS OF THEIR SIGNIFICANCE FOR 19 BIRDS. (BIRDLIFE INTERNATIONAL 2019) ......................................................... 9 TABLE 2. ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED IN CAP PLANNING, COORDINATION AND IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................................... 13 TABLE 3. NATIONAL AND STATE CONSERVATION STATUS OF THE TWO TARGET TAXA ... 14 TABLE 4. GOALS, INDICATORS AND TARGET VIABILITY ASSESSMENT FOR THREATENED KING ISLAND BIRDS ................................................................................................ 23 TABLE 5. THREAT RATINGS FOR EACH OF THE THREE TKIB CAP TARGETS .................... 26 TABLE 6. STRATEGY RATINGS FOR EACH OF THE THREE TKIB CAP TARGETS ................ 33 King Island coastal landscape. Image: Dejan Stojanovich 3 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This first version of the Threatened King Island Birds Conservation Action Plan (TKIB CAP) is a direct and coordinated response to the very high risk that, without urgent action, the King Island Brown Thornbill Acanthiza pusilla archibaldi and King Island Scrubtit Acanthornis magna greeniana will become extinct in the next 20 years (Geyle et al. 2018). The conservation action planning process, initiated by King Island Natural Resource Management Group and BirdLife Australia, brought together key stakeholders to assess the reasons for the parlous state of King Island’s most threatened birds and agree on a multi-partner program to generate the recovery of these birds’ populations. The planning process is based on best available information and a principle of shared capacity, and addresses two threatened King Island bird taxa: 1. King Island Scrubtit (KIS) 2. King Island Brown Thornbill (KIBT) At the conclusion of the planning workshop, participants (excluding representatives from the Tasmanian Forest Practices Authority) agreed on the following key workshop messages: The King Island Scrubtit and King Island Thornbill are nationally significant, and they are a unique part of King Island’s biodiversity. Populations of both birds are now fewer than 50 individuals each, and without intervention they are facing imminent extinction. In addition, the conservation of King Island forest systems is essential to the conservation of these threatened birds. Taking decisive action now is essential to saving these two species from extinction. Successful recovery will rely on strong partnerships between the King Island community, State and Federal Governments, NGOs and specialist scientists to address their key threats. We urgently need to: • Complete surveys of potential habitats to better understand both species' distribution and requirements • Update State and Federal assessment processes with improved habitat descriptions, vegetation mapping and on-ground assessment methods • Increase the level of protection at Pegarah State Forest and focus management on strengthening this area as a stronghold for both species 4 • Increase capacity to prevent and respond to fire in key habitat • Identify and protect critical areas on private land through a range of measures, including incentives to maximise landholder participation. This CAP outlines strategies to address key threats to TKIB. The priority strategies (not in order of priority) and activities for the first 12 months of TKIB CAP implementation are: Change status