White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely's Red Gum Woodland
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National Recovery Plan White Box - Yellow Box - Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland A critically endangered ecological community May 2011 Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW. 2010. National Recovery Plan for White Box - Yellow Box - Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland. Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW, Sydney. © Copyright State of NSW and the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW With the exception of the cover photograph, the State of NSW and the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW are pleased to allow this material to be reproduced in whole or in part, provided the meaning is unchanged and its source, publisher and authorship are acknowledged. Disclaimer: This recovery plan sets out the actions necessary to stop the decline of, and support the recovery of, the listed critically endangered ecological community. The Australian Government is committed to action in accordance with the plan and to implementing the plan as it applies to Commonwealth areas. The plan has been developed with the involvement and cooperation of a broad range of stakeholders, including in partnership with the Department of Environment and Resource Management (Qld), the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (NSW), Department of Sustainability and Environment (Vic) and the Territory and Municipal Services (ACT). The making or adoption of this plan does not necessarily indicate the commitment of individual stakeholders to undertaking any specific actions. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds may be subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved. Proposed actions may be subject to modification over the life of the plan due to changes in knowledge and changes in conservation status. ISBN 978 1 74232 311 4 DECC 2009/407 Front cover photograph: White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland in Barayamal National Park (W. Hawes) Acknowledgments The initial draft of this recovery plan was prepared by The Envirofactor Pty Ltd from an original draft prepared by NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water. Many thanks to the then National Recovery Team who provided valuable input into the development of the original draft. In addition, this plan has benefited greatly from the generous contributions of Dr Suzanne Prober and Dr Kevin Thiele. Special thanks to them for their continued commitment to, and passion for, the conservation of White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland, for sharing their expertise with land managers, and for their vision in developing the Conservation Management Network model. The Australian Government provided funding to the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water to assist with the preparation of this recovery plan. The maps for the recovery plan were prepared by the Environmental Resources Information Network of the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities with assistance from the relevant State and Territory agencies. Abbreviations ARG Aboriginal Reference Group ANU Australian National University BGGW Box-Gum Grassy Woodland; White Box-Yellow Box-Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland CA Conservation Agreement CAP Catchment Action Plan CEN Community Environment Network CMA Catchment Management Authority CMN Conservation Management Network DECCW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water (NSW) DERM Department of Environment and Resource Management (Qld) DEWHA Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Cwlth, former) DSE Department of Sustainability and Environment (Vic) DSEWPaC Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities (Cwlth) EPA Environmental Protection Agency (Qld) EPBC Act Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) ESP Environmental Stewardship Program (Cwlth) EVC Ecological Vegetation Class (Vic) FFG Act Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (Vic) GA Greening Australia GBW Grassy Box Woodlands IBRA Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia IUCN International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources LHPA Livestock Health and Pest Authorities NC Act Nature Conservation Act 1980 (ACT) NC Act(Q) Nature Conservation Act 1992 (Qld) NCT Nature Conservation Trust NCT Act Nature Conservation Trust Act 2001 (NSW) NGO Non-government Organisation NPWS National Parks and Wildlife Service (NSW) NRM Natural Resource Management NV Act Native Vegetation Act 2003 (NSW) PVP Property Vegetation Plan (NSW) RLPB Rural Lands Protection Board (NSW) i RTA Roads and Traffic Authority (NSW) TFN (Vic) Trust for Nature (Vic) TSC Act Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 (NSW) TSR Travelling Stock Route/Reserve TSSC Threatened Species Scientific Committee (Cwlth) VM Act Vegetation Management Act 1999 (Qld) WWF World Wide Fund for Nature ii TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................... i Abbreviations ...................................................................................................................... i TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................... iii Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... 1 PART A: GENERAL INFORMATION .................................................................................. 3 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................... 3 2. Conservation Status .................................................................................................. 4 3. Description of the Listed Ecological Community ................................................... 5 3.1 Structure ............................................................................................................................ 6 3.2 Floristics ............................................................................................................................ 7 3.3 Fauna ................................................................................................................................ 8 4. Past and Present Distribution ................................................................................ 10 4.1 Habitat Critical to the Survival of the Ecological Community .......................................... 12 5. Interests Potentially Affected by the Recovery Plan ............................................. 12 6. Social and Economic Impacts ................................................................................ 13 6.1 Social Impacts ................................................................................................................. 13 6.2 Economic Impacts ........................................................................................................... 13 PART B: THREATS .......................................................................................................... 16 7. Historic and On-going Threats ............................................................................... 16 7.1 Land Use and Management Change .............................................................................. 16 7.2 Conflicting Management Practices ................................................................................. 18 7.3 Degrading Landscape Processes ................................................................................... 21 7.4 Other Potential Threats ................................................................................................... 25 8. Recovery Actions to Date ....................................................................................... 26 8.1 Baseline Information ....................................................................................................... 26 8.2 Protection of Box-Gum Grassy Woodland ...................................................................... 29 8.3 Community Engagement in Box-Gum Grassy Woodland Conservation ........................ 32 8.4 Ecosystem Function and Management Research .......................................................... 36 8.5 Compliance and Regulatory Activities ............................................................................ 43 PART C: RECOVERY PLAN - OBJECTIVES, PERFORMANCE CRITERIA AND ACTIONS .................................................................................................................. 44 iii 9. Recovery Plan Objectives ....................................................................................... 44 10. Recovery Plan Actions ............................................................................................ 44 11. Performance Criteria ............................................................................................... 45 12. Implementation Schedule ....................................................................................... 45 13. Monitoring, Reporting and Review ......................................................................... 45 PART D: MANAGEMENT PRACTICES ............................................................................ 51 14. Guide for Decision Makers ....................................................................................