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Lower Hunter Koala Study Final Lower Hunter Koala Study Final Funded by the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population, and Communities through the Sustainable Regional Development Program June 2013 Lower Hunter Koala Study DOCUMENT TRACKING ITEM DETAIL Project Name Lower Hunter Koala Study Project Number 12SYDNRM-003 Robert Mezzatesta Project Manager PO Box 20529 World Square, NSW 2002 (02) 8536 8650 Prepared by Sophie Powrie, Daniel McKenzie, Andrea Sabella, Mark Walton, Steve Ward Approved by SW Status FINAL Version Number 1 Last saved on 19 June 2013 Koala photo from 2004 Port Stephens Community Monitoring Survey; Expert Koala Cover photos Workshop Feb 2013, Newcastle; Map of Data Audit Results Point Koala Records @ February 2013, ELA This report should be cited as ‘Eco Logical Australia 2013. Lower Hunter Koala Study. Prepared for Dept Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities’. Creative Commons This report is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia licence ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This document has been prepared by Eco Logical Australia Pty Ltd with support from Paul Keighley and Alistair Cockburn, SEWPaC. We gratefully acknowledge the input of the expert workshop participants; Anthony Marchment (PSC), Dan Lunney (OEH), David Paull (PSC), Geoff Bartlett (HKPS), Indrie Miller (OEH), Lucas Grenadier (OEH), Mark Roselle (PSC), Paul Keighley (SEWPaC), Ray Williams (Ecotone) and Robbie Economos (LMCC). Disclaimer The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Australian Government or the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure that the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Commonwealth does not accept responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of, or reliance on, the contents of this publication. © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA P T Y L T D i Lower Hunter Koala Study Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ 1 1 Introduction................................................................................................................................. 3 1.1 Context ......................................................................................................................................... 3 1.2 Study Brief .................................................................................................................................... 3 2 Methods....................................................................................................................................... 5 2.1 Overview....................................................................................................................................... 5 2.2 Existing knowledge of Koala populations and habitat in the Lower Hunter ................................. 5 2.3 Stakeholder Consultation ............................................................................................................. 6 2.4 Koala Habitat modelling................................................................................................................ 6 3 Results....................................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Koala Ecology............................................................................................................................. 14 3.2 Historical Distribution in the Lower Hunter ................................................................................. 15 3.3 Present Population Distribution .................................................................................................. 15 3.4 Tree species ............................................................................................................................... 17 3.5 Habitat modelling........................................................................................................................ 17 3.5.1 Model Limitations........................................................................................................................ 26 4 Discussion................................................................................................................................. 27 4.1 What is the current population number of koalas in the Lower Hunter region? ......................... 27 4.2 What is the rate of change in this population and has this rate changed? What are the major and minor causes behind this?................................................................................................... 27 4.3 What criteria should be used to identify high priority habitat areas?.......................................... 27 4.4 What is the current extent and quality of koala habitat in the region? ....................................... 28 4.5 What are the local key threatening processes and recommended conservation measures for koalas to assist with decision making for the Lower Hunter Regional Strategy and Regional Conservation Plan? .................................................................................................................... 29 5 Conclusions and Recommendations ..................................................................................... 32 6 References ................................................................................................................................ 34 Appendix A............................................................................................................................................. 39 © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA P T Y L T D ii Lower Hunter Koala Study Abbreviations ABBREVIATION DESCRIPTION CKPoM Comprehensive Koala Plan of Management ERIN Environmental Resource Information Network GDE Groundwater Dependent Ecosystem GHM Greater Hunter Mapping (version 4 by NSW Office of Environment and Heritage) GIS Geographical Information System HKPS Hunter Koala Preservation Society LGA Local Government Area LH Lower Hunter LM Lake Macquarie NATF Native Animal Trust Fund OEH NSW Office of Environment and Heritage PSC Port Stephens Council SEWPaC Dept Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities © ECO LOGICAL AUSTRALIA P T Y L T D iii Lower Hunter Koala Study Executive Summary This study was commissioned by the Department of Sustainability Environment, Water, Population and Communities (SEWPaC) to contribute to regional sustainability planning that will lead into a strategic assessment of future development in the Lower Hunter region under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act). The study area included the Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Cessnock, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Newcastle, and Port Stephens. This study utilises existing data available in the public domain to inform specific key information gaps regarding conservation planning needs of the koala in the Lower Hunter. The koala is listed as a vulnerable species in NSW under the EPBC Act and the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (TSC Act). The koala population at Port Stephens is a high profile one, and considerable research work has been undertaken within the LGA, but nevertheless, there remain information gaps for this area. The level of knowledge of the koala within the other LGA’s in the study area is poor, with much less information available for this study. Due to these data limitations, it is not possible to provide a reliable population estimate of the koala for the Lower Hunter region. Within Port Stephens, where more data is available, the koala population is estimated to be between 350 and 500 individuals (Phillips et al. 1996). A number of koala sightings have been recorded in the Cessnock and Lake Macquarie LGAs, but population size(s) are unknown. It is similarly not possible to reliably estimate rate of change of koala populations within the region. However anecdotal observations from Port Stephens LGA suggest that changes in koala numbers are not uniform, with some areas decreasing and one population at Boat Harbour/One Mile reported to be increasing. The current extent and quality of habitat across the Lower Hunter was modelled as part of this study, based on input from an expert workshop and a GIS modelling process. The resulting outputs were converted to low, moderate, high and very high koala habitat rankings. The greatest areas of very high and high ranked habitat were mapped in Port Stephens, Cessnock, and Lake Macquarie LGA’s. The Newcastle and Maitland LGA’s contained very little priority habitat and may therefore act as a barrier to koala movements in between population(s) in the Port Stephens LGA and Cessnock / Lake Macquarie LGA’s. A range of key threatening processes for the koala within the Lower Hunter study area were identified including (but not limited to): loss, fragmentation and degradation of habitat both at a fine and large scale; barriers to habitat connectivity (including natural and manmade structures); road fatalities; predation by dogs; disease (Chlamydia and other diseases); fire (including both control burns and natural fire); climate change; and groundwater abstraction (where it impacts on koala habitat). Conserving patches of greater than 100 ha with koala feed and
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