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Draft Lizard Management Plan for the Sumner Road Reopening Project

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Draft Lizard Management Plan for the Sumner Road Reopening Project DRAFT LIZARD MANAGEMENT PLAN FOR THE SUMNER ROAD REOPENING PROJECT Prepared for the Christchurch City Council by: Marieke Lettink Fauna Finders 176 Mt Pleasant Road Christchurch 8081 January 2014 Summary The Canterbury earthquakes that occurred in 2010 and 2011 caused significant rockfall damage to the 2.6 km-section of Sumner Road between Evans Pass and Lyttleton, Christchuch, leading to its closure. The Sumner Road Reopening Project, under development by the Christchurch City Council, will require substantial rock remediation, including benching of the Crater Rim Bluffs and extensive scaling elsewhere (Aurecon 2013). The proposed construction activities will have severe adverse effects (significant mortality and permanent habitat loss) on the Canterbury gecko (Woodworthia cf. brunnea), one of four lizard species known from the area. This nocturnal species occupies rock outcrops and bluffs, and has a conservation status of ‘Declining’ (Hitchmough et al. 2013). This Draft Lizard Management Plan provides recommendations for undertaking limited salvage and transfer of a minimum of 200 Canterbury geckos from affected and accessible parts of the consent area to a predator-free location. The long-term aim of this undertaking is the establishment of a viable population of Canterbury geckos at a secure site, thereby in part making up for losses incurred during construction. Salvage is a difficult and expensive undertaking that will at best recover only a small portion (most likely <5%) of the affected populations and should only be implemented once other options (e.g. reducing the amount of rock removed and compensation) have been exhausted. Details of the process and an indicative time line are provided. This report may be cited as: Lettink, M. 2014. Draft Lizard Management Plan for the Sumner Road Reopening Project. Unpublished Report prepared for the Christchurch City Council, Christchurch. 7 pp. Front cover photograph: Crater Rim Bluffs and Sumner Road near Evans Pass (photo: Aurecon) Insert: Canterbury gecko (Woodworthia cf. brunnea) 2 1. Introduction 1.1. Context and scope This is a living document that should be read in conjunction with other relevant documents relating to the Sumner Road Road Reopening Project, particularly the Sumner Road Stage 3 A&B Concept Design Report (Aurecon 2013), the Assessment of Environmental Effects (AEE; Davis et al. 2014) and the Ecology Management Plan (EMP; Davis et al. in prep.). This draft Lizard Management Plan (LMP) provides specific recommendations for undertaking limited salvage and transfer of Canterbury gecko (Woodworthia cf. brunnea) from affected and accessible parts of the consent area to a secure, predator-free location. The long-term aim of this undertaking is the establishment of a viable gecko population at a secure site, thereby in part making up for losses incurred during construction. The Canterbury gecko inhabits rock outcrops and bluffs, and has a conservation status of ‘Declining’ (Hitchmough et al. 2013). Rock remediation (benching and scaling) and the construction of haul roads required for the reopening of the 2.6-km section of Sumner Road between Evans Pass and Lyttleton will have severe adverse effects on this species, with significant mortality (likely loss of hundreds or several thousand individuals) and permanent habitat loss expected during construction (see AEE for further details). The most effective mitigation method available for Canterbury gecko is reducing habitat loss (i.e. the amount of rock removed). Compensation is recommended if this cannot be achieved for safety or other reasons. Salvage and transfer of lizards is considered a last resort that should that only be implemented once other options (in this case, mitigation or compensation) have been exhausted (Draft key principles for lizard salvage and transfer in New Zealand; Department of Conservation Lizard Technical Advisory Group Report, in prep.1). 1.2 Lizard values of the consent area Four species of lizard (Table 1) were found during a 3-day survey of accessible parts of the consent area and similar habitats in its immediate vicinity, conducted in November 2013 (Davis et al. 2014). Three of the lizard species found are of conservation concern (as indicated by a conservation status of ‘Declining’ under the New Zealand Threat Classification System; Hitchmough et al. 2013). A total of 65 individual lizards were found during the survey, consisting of 60 Canterbury geckos, one jewelled gecko, one common skink clade 5, one McCann’s skink and two unidentified skinks (glimpsed too briefly to permit identification but would have been McCann’s and/or common skink). Table 1. Lizard species found in the consent area and their conservation status (from Davis et al. 2014). Common name Scientific name Conservation status Common skink clade 5 Oligosoma aff. polychroma Clade 5 Declining Canterbury gecko Woodworthia cf. brunnea Declining Jewelled gecko1 Naultinus gemmeus Declining McCann's skink Oligosoma maccanni Not Threatened 1This species was recorded in an adjacent catchment several hundred meters from the consent area. It is also likely to be present in the consent area (based on the presence of similar shrubland and forest habitat). The lizard assemblage found in the consent area represents four of the five lizard species known from Banks Peninsula (Lettink & Whitaker 2004). The fifth species, Central Canterbury spotted skink (O. aff. lineoocellatum ‘Central Canterbury’), has not been recorded from the Port Hills since the 1950s and is now very rare on Banks Peninsula (DOC Herpetofauna Database; Lettink et al. 2008). 1 This report is not yet available for public release. It was available to the author because she is a member of the Department of Conservation (DOC) Lizard Technical Advisory Group (TAG). The DOC Lizard TAG provides nationwide advice on issues relating to lizards, including RMA matters. 3 2. Methods 2.1 Definition of lizard salvage and transfer Lizard salvage and transfer has been defined as an entire process that includes “… exploration of alternatives (e.g. avoidance of lizard habitat), the capture of lizards at the impact site, temporary captive care, data collection, transport to a receiving site, release at a receiving site, post-release monitoring, contingency implementation as appropriate, and reporting back to the Department of Conservation and/or consent authorities to close the loop” (Draft key principles for lizard salvage and transfer in New Zealand; DOC Lizard TAG Report, in prep.). It is a last resort mitigation activity that should only be considered if other options have been fully exhausted. This is because salvage and transfer is typically difficult and expensive to impliment, can delay development projects by weeks or months, and does not in itself achieve no-net-loss of local lizard values. 2.2 General requirements for lizard salvage and transfer Lizard salvage and transfer requires: Wildlife Act Authority and/or a translocation permit from DOC. Wildlife Act Authority is required for any development that will destroy native lizard species and cause deliberate disturbance to their habitats. A translocation permit is a specialised Wildlife Act permit required for threatened species and for any transfer where lizards are moved over distances exceeding 500 m. All translocation permit applications require consultation with iwi. Several months may be required for the preparation and processing of Wildlife Act permits. A Lizard Management Plan prepared by a suitably-qualified ecologist or herpetologist. This Plan should outline salvage methods to be used, identify suitable release site(s) and provide specific recommendations for post-release monitoring, habitat enhancement and/or predator control. A suitable release site(s). Salvaged lizards should ideally be released in an area that contains suitable habitat for the affected species, does not already have a resident population (or very few individuals), and is subject to effective predator control (Draft key principles for lizard salvage and transfer in New Zealand; DOC Lizard TAG Report, in prep.). Suitable weather conditions. Lizard salvage and transfer can only be undertaken when lizards are active (from c. October to April, excluding any period of very cold, wet or hot weather). 2.3 Salvage of Canterbury geckos from the consent area Salvage of Canterbury geckos from the consent area is considered a difficult undertaking that will at best recover only a small portion (most likely <5%) of the affected populations (Davis et al. 2014). This is because most of the site cannot be accessed due to the steep and unstable terrain. In addition, it can be difficult to trap or extract the noctural geckos from the typically deep and narrow crevices they occupy by day. However, in accessible areas, animals and/or their sign (faecal pellets outside crevices and sloughed skinks) are easily detected by crevice inspections and the careful lifting of surface rocks (Figure 1). Reasonable efforts should be made to salvage geckos from affected and accessible areas of the consent area. The peripheral margins (top, sides and bottom) of the Crater Rim Bluffs are a priority due to the extensive benching proposed for this area. Advice received to date suggests it would be relatively straight-forward to access the top of the Crater Rim Bluffs by rope access, using rock anchors installed during previous roped geotechnical inspections (Leon Gerrard, Engineering Geologist, Aurecon, pers. comm.; Gareth Hallan, Abseil Access, Christchurch, pers.
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