THE GIPPSLAND LAKES IMPORTANT BIRD AND BIODIVERSITY AREA MONITORING PROJECT: A REPORT ON THE FIRST FIVE YEARS 2011 - 2015 Photos: Top, Gippsland Lakes, Brian Martin Above left, Black Swan, Ken Sherring Above, Chestnut Teal, Chris Healey Left, Musk Duck, (C) Ian Wilson 2016 birdlifephotography.org.au 1 Prepared by Chris Healey on behalf of BirdLife East Gippsland Published by BirdLife East Gippsland PO Box 825 Bairnsdale Victoria 3875 April 2017 Acknowledgements The contribution of many members of BirdLife East Gippsland to the ongoing survey effort on which this report is based is gratefully acknowledged. Special thanks are due to members of the GLIBA review panel for their participation in the review process, and especially to Dr Lucas Bluff, Senior Biodiversity Office, Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, Bairnsdale for advice on project design, evaluation and interpretation of data. Thanks are also due to landholders who allowed members of survey teams to access their properties to undertake surveys. BirdLife East Gippsland is a regional branch of BirdLife Australia, promoting the appreciation, understanding and conservation of birds and their habitats. The BirdLife East Gippsland region covers the East Gippsland and Wellington Shires in Victoria’s east, and includes some of the state’s most magnificent wilderness areas. It encompasses the extensive waterways of the Gippsland Lakes, 90 Mile Beach, the iconic Snowy River region, extensive old-growth forests, alpine meadows and the last free-flowing wild rivers of southeast Australia. 2 THE GIPPSLAND LAKES IMPORTANT BIRD AND BIODIVERSITY AREA MONITORING PROJECT: A REPORT ON THE FIRST FIVE YEARS 2011 - 2015 INTRODUCTION: The BirdLife East Gippsland ‘Gippsland Lakes Important Bird and Biodiversity Area Monitoring Project’ (GLIBA Project) commenced in the latter part of 2011 in response to a call by the then Bird Observation and Conservation Australia for regional branches to ‘adopt’ a local IBA (Important Bird and Biodiversity Area). IBAs are sites which are recognised as important for bird conservation in accordance with a set of internationally agreed criteria. The Gippsland Lakes IBA is one of 314 IBAs in Australia. The Gippsland Lakes are also a Ramsar site, designated in 1982 under the terms of the international Ramsar Convention for the conservation of wetlands of national and international significance. The boundaries of the Gippsland Lakes IBA follow those of the Ramsar Site. In September 2016 the Important Bird and Biodiversity Area program was merged with other global conservation interests under the title of Key Biodiversity Areas. All of Australia’s existing IBAs were officially redesignated as KBAs. For the purposes of this report, the original designation of GLIBA will be retained. The objectives of the project are to: 1. Monitor the incidence and abundance of species identified as ‘trigger species’ for declaration of the IBA (i.e. where more than 1% of the global population of the species may be present in the area), these being: Black Swan, Chestnut Teal, Musk Duck, Fairy Tern. 2. Monitor incidence and abundance of ALL ‘wetland-dependent’ species. 3. Contribute survey data to the BirdLife Australia ‘Shorebirds 2020’ project. The goal of the GLIBA project is to detect change over time in (a) the abundance of individual bird species, or (b) composition of the avifauna community (that is, the mix of species). Surveys are conducted twice a year in June-July and November-December. As of December 2015 we have conducted 9 rounds of surveys. A core of 13 sites has been surveyed on each occasion, while some others have been discontinued for various reasons and new ones have been added. During 2016 a working party conducted a comprehensive review the first five years of our GLIBA Project. As part of the review process, working party member Dr Lucas Bluff undertook a Power Analysis of interim survey data to assess the capacity of the project to achieve results. This analysis indicated that: 3 As currently implemented the project has the capacity to detect: a. major changes to the whole avifauna community of wetland species (such as a 20% decline in species richness or mean abundance) after 5 to 10 years, and b. moderate decline (approximately 20%) in the abundance of more common species after 20 to 30 years. In the light of these comments on the project design and survey results the review concluded that the project should be continued for as long as possible and that any changes should be kept to a minimum in order to maximise the continuity of data. The following recommendations were approved by the project review working party: 1. That BLEG continue the GLIBA Project for at least 20 years (to 2031), and preferably well beyond that date. 2. The project should retain its original objective of monitoring wetland birds of the IBA with special focus on the IBA ‘trigger species’: Black Swan, Chestnut Teal, Musk Duck. 3. That BLEG actively encourage members and non-members to participate in the GLIBA Project. 4. Seek input from BLA National Office staff in developing survey and wetland bird identification skills among volunteers. 5. Surveys should be conducted twice a year at 23 designated sites (listed below). 6. Surveys should be limited to 20 minute counts from established static points wherever practicable. However, it is recognised that it may be appropriate to extend surveys beyond 20 minutes where there are large concentrations of birds over an extensive area, and that observers may need to move from a fixed point to achieve an adequate view of a survey site. In these circumstances surveys may be extended to a maximum of 40 minutes, and/or observers may move up to approx. 100 m from a fixed point to obtain better views. 7. Volunteers to be encouraged to participate in surveys across the Gippsland Lakes as a whole, to avoid becoming associated with a narrow set of sites. 8. An annual report should be provided to BLEG members and other interested organisations and individuals; and a comprehensive review of the project should be conducted every five years. A summary version of the working party review document was published in The Chat newsletter in December 2016. This current document provides a more detailed overview of project results for the period from November 2011 to December 2015. BACKGROUND: The GLIBA Project commenced in the latter part of 2011 in response to a call by the then Bird Observation and Conservation Australia for regional branches to ‘adopt’ a local IBA. As East Gippsland Bird Observation and Conservation we adopted the Gippsland Lakes IBA with regular surveys of wetland-dependent species across the IBA, with particular attention to 4 ‘trigger species’. Advice was sought from the then Birds Australia IBA Project Officer on project design, including selection of target species, survey methods and frequency of surveys. Advice was also sought from Dr Lucas Bluff of DEPI (currently Senior Biodiversity Officer, DELWP, Bairnsdale). The current project design and methodology has largely followed this advice, with minor modifications. Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas (IBAs – now Key Biodiversity Areas, KBAs) are sites that are recognised as important for bird conservation in accordance with a set of internationally agreed criteria. The Gippsland Lakes IBA is one of 314 IBAs in Australia. The Gippsland Lakes are also a Ramsar site, designated in 1982 under the terms of the international Ramsar Convention for the conservation of wetlands of national and international significance. The boundaries of the Gippsland Lakes IBA follow those of the Ramsar Site. A comprehensive Ecological Character Description of the GL Ramsar Site/IBA is available (DSEWPC 2010). In 2015 the East Gippsland Catchment Management Authority coordinated the development of an updated Ramsar site management plan. BLEG participated as a member of the Technical Advisory Group in the review and development of the plan (EGCMA 2015). The IBA regularly supports 1% or more of the global populations of Black Swans, Chestnut Teal, Musk Duck and Fairy Tern, which are listed as the ‘trigger’ species for the recognition of the IBA. The IBA also supports significant populations of many other wetland species including several officially recognised threatened and endangered species. Because DEPI/DELWP has been undertaking regular surveys of ‘small terns’ (including Fairy Tern) across the Gippsland Lakes for many years it was proposed that targeting Fairy Tern in GLIBA surveys would be an unnecessary duplication of effort. The ‘focus species for the GLIBA project are therefore: Musk Duck, Black Swan and Chestnut Teal. Nonetheless, insofar as the GLIBA project aims to record all wetland-dependent species, the project includes any Fairy Tern recorded during GLIBA surveys. The GLIBA project builds on birding records across many sites since the foundation of the club (as EGBOC) in 1982. In 2009 the club commenced a two-year project titled ‘Longitudinal study of bird communities of coastal wetlands and beaches in East Gippsland’ with funds from a grant under the Federal Government Community Coastcare scheme. The aims of this project were to assess long-term dynamics in bird species diversity and abundance and to communicate results to agencies and the general public. Project activities included: 1) digitising paper records; 2) monitoring of wetlands and beach-nesting birds at selected sites; 3) analysis of data; 4) dissemination of results to relevant land management agencies, birding enthusiasts, other environmental groups and the general public. 5 Monitoring concentrated on wetland-dependent species at sites as part of the club’s regular Monday outings. In addition, quarterly surveys were undertaken at two sites at Macleod Morass and two at Nyerimilang, involving 20-minute counts from fixed points. The grant was used to purchase a Kowa spotting scope for use in surveys. General knowledge based on EGBOC records and the 2009-2010 wetlands project was valuable in selection of survey sites for the current GLIBA project.