PRIORITY THREAT MANAGEMENT FOR PILBARA SPECIEs Of CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANCE JOSIE CARWARDINE, SAM NICOL, STEPHEN VAN LEEUWEN, BELINDA WALTERS, JENNIFER FIRN, ANDREW REESON, TARA G MARTIN, IADINE CHADÈS PHOTO BELOW The Pilbara Leaf-nosed Bat (Rhinonicteris aurantia) is a cryptic and poorly known species found across the Pilbara and northern Gascoyne bioregions. The bat has very specific maternal roost environmental requirements which appear to be rare across the two bioregions although the species is known to inhabit suitable abandoned mine workings in the east Pilbara. PHOTO BY Mark Cowan, DPaW. PRIORITY THREAT MANAGEMENT FOR PILBARA SPECIES OF CONSERVATION SIGNIFICANCE JOSIE CARWARDINE1,2, SAM NICOL1,2, STEPHEN VAN LEEUWEN3, BELINDA WALTERS1, JENNIFER FIRN1,4, ANDREW REESON5, TARA G MARTIN1,2, IADINE CHADÈS1 1 CSIRO Ecosystem Sciences © 2014 CSIRO IMPorTANT discLAIMER GPO Box 2583, Brisbane Qld 4001 To the extent permitted by law, all rights CSIRO acknowledges the contributions to To the extent permitted by law, CSIRO 2 ARC Centre of Excellence for are reserved and no part of this publication this publication of workshop participants; (including its employees and consultants) Environmental Decisions, the NERP covered by copyright may be reproduced or however, the views in the publication do excludes all liability to any person for any Environmental Decisions Hub, Centre copied in any form or by any means except not necessarily reflect the views of the consequences, including but not limited to all for Biodiversity & Conservation Science, with the written permission of CSIRO. participating organisations. CSIRO advises losses, damages, costs, expenses and any other University of Queensland, Brisbane that the information contained in this compensation, arising directly or indirectly from Qld 4072 CITATion publication comprises general statements using this publication (in part or in whole) and 3 Science and Conservation based on scientific research. The reader is any information or material contained in it. Department of Parks and Wildlife Carwardine J, Nicol S, van Leeuwen S, Walters advised and needs to be aware that such Locked bag 104, Bentley DC WA 6983 B, Firn J, Reeson A, Martin TG, Chades I information may be incomplete or unable to (2014) Priority threat management for Pilbara 4 The School of Biological Sciences be used in any specific situation. species of conservation significance, CSIRO Queensland University of Technology, Ecosystems Sciences, Brisbane. No reliance or actions must therefore be made Brisbane Qld 4000 on that information without seeking prior expert 5 CSIRO Computational Informatics professional, scientific and technical advice. DESIGN BY GPO Box 664, Canberra ACT 2601 Oblong + Sons ISBN 978-1-4863-0278-9 07 3216 0719 | oblong.net.au 2 PHOTO BELOW Tall Mulla Mulla (Ptilotus nobilis) on stony spinifex gibber plains adjacent to the Fortescue Marsh. PHOTO BY Jeff Pinder, DPaW. 3 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This report would not have been possible KAREN WOjcIECHOWSKI SHAUN GREIN The following people provided valuable reviews without the invaluable input of experts and Roy Hill Fortescue Metals Group Ltd of the analysis and the report: Christopher Pavey stakeholders in ecology, conservation and (CSIRO), Stuart Whitten (CSIRO), Veronica Ritchie KELLY FREEMAN STEPHEN VAN LEEUWEN management of the Pilbara. (Department of the Environment) and Ayesha Environmental Protection Authority WA Department of Parks and Wildlife WA Tulloch (University of Queensland). Of the 49 participants involved, the following KEVIN WALLEY TAMARA MURDOCH people agreed to be acknowledged for Department of the Environment Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation The following people and organisations supplied volunteering their time to attend workshops and/ photographic images: or follow-up efforts to define the distributions KYLE ARMSTRONG VERONICA RITCHIE ASTRON ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES Specialised Zoological Department of the Environment of conservation significant species of the Pilbara, Vicki Long their likely responses to threats and conservation LACHLAN WILKINSON VICKI LONG strategies and features of the conservation DAFWA Department of the Environment Astron Environmental Services Linda Anderson management strategies themselves — their costs, LEANNE CORKER feasibility and broader benefits. DPAW Red Hill Station WA The authors would like to acknowledge Hamish Robertson, Jeff Pinder, Jon Pridham, BILL COTCHING Craig Salt (Sustainable Consulting) for LESLEY GIBSON Louisa Bell, Mark Cowan, Saul Cowan, Rangelands Natural Resource Management WA exceptional workshop facilitation, Andy Stephen van Leeuwen, Steve Dillon Department of Parks and Wildlife WA BLAIR PARSONS Sheppard, Stuart Whitten, Hugh Possingham GHD MIKE BAMFORD Outback Ecology and the Department the Environment's (formerly Glen Gaikhorst MJ & AR Bamford Consulting Ecologists Department of Sustainability, Environment, BOB BULLEN KANYANA WILDLIFE REHABILITATION MIKE CLARK Water, Populations and Communities) Pilbara Bat Call Pty Ltd CENTRE (INC) Greening Australia WA Taskforce for their support and Western BRUCE TURNER Australia’s Department of Aboriginal Affairs and RED HILL STATION MURRAY BAKER Darcie Corker, Leanne Corker Ecoscape Australia Pty Ltd Department of Parks and Wildlife for providing Department of Parks and Wildlife WA map layers. The WA Department of Parks and LOCHMAN TRANPARENCIES CATH RUMMERY NORM McKENZIE Wildlife hosted the workshop. Jiri Lochman Department of Parks and Wildlife WA Department of Parks and Wildlife WA Finally we are grateful for the financial support NICKOL BAY NATURALISTS’ CLUB GRAHAM THOMPSON Michael Tutt PATRICK CAVALLI Terrestrial Ecosystems of Atlas Iron, who through Condition 11 of Environmental Protection Authority WA EPBC Act approval 2011/5975 provided the ONSHORE ENVIRONMENTAL CONSULTING JEREMY NAAYKENS Darren Brearley PHILLIP DAVIDSON funding for this project. In kind support was Rio Tinto API Management Pty Ltd provided by CSIRO's Biodiversity Portfolio and OUTBACK EcOLOGY JOHN READ Climate Adaptation Flagship, and The University Arnold Slabber, Blair Parsons SAM LUccITTI Ecological Horizons Pty Ltd of Queensland's National Environmental RAPALLO Rio Tinto Research Program for Environmental Decisions. JULIE MAHONY Henry Cook ScOTT THOMPSON Atlas Iron Limited WRM WATER AND ENVIRONMENT Terrestrial Ecosystems Jess Delaney 4 PHOTO BELOW Aerial view across the saline bed of the Fortescue Marsh looking south from near Minga Well on Mulga Downs Station across to the Hamersley Range escarpment. PHOTO BY Louisa Bell, DPaW. 5 CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3 1 THE PILBARA: VALUES, 2 PROJECT AIms AND SCOPE 18 3 THE PRIORITY THREAT THREATS AND CONSERVATION 10 MANAGEMENT AppROACH 20 EXECUTIVE SUmmARY 7 1.1 Ecological Values 12 3.1 Parameter definition and information collation 21 1.2 Threats 13 3.2 Analysis 24 1.3 Current conservation management 17 4 PRIORITISATION OF THREAT 5 ImpLICATIONS FOR 6 CONCLUDING REMARKS 48 REFERENCES 51 MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES 26 DECISION MAKING 44 AppENDICES 55 4.1 Appraisal and ranked 5.1 Using the information : management strategies 27 in this report 45 Appendix 1 Methodological details 55 4.2 Strategies required to avoid 5.2 Caveats 47 : losses and secure biodiversity 34 Appendix 2 Sensitivity Analysis 68 4.3 Co-benefits of conservation management strategies 39 4.4 Other important enabling activities 42 6 PHOTO BELOW Spinifex shrublands on Red Hill Station, West Pilbara. PHOTO BY Leanne Corker, Red Hill Station. 7 PHOTO BELOW Pilbara trudgenii, an endemic long-lived daisy restricted to banded ironstone screes and cliffs of the higher elevation mountains throughout the Hamersley Range. PHOTO BY Stephen van Leeuwen, DpaW. EXECUTIVE SUmmARY This project provides a costed and appraised the Pilbara’s flora and fauna. Prior to our (0­ – 1, ‘biodiversity benefit’) of the species the expected costs. A sensitivity analysis set of management strategies for mitigating prioritisation study, there was no region-wide in the Pilbara over the next 20 year period. revealed that the cost-effectiveness ranks threats to species of conservation assessment of which management strategies Functional persistence was defined as the were relatively robust to changes in the significance in the Pilbara IBRA bioregion of provide the best investments for securing the presence of a species within its natural range benefit estimates of up to ±30%. Western Australia (hereafter ‘the Pilbara’). Pilbara’s threatened biodiversity. Further, this at high enough population levels to perform Conservation significant species are either study provides the first broad-scale estimate its ecological function. The economic cost listed under federal and state legislation, of which species are likely to be lost without of each strategy over 20 years was estimated international agreements or considered likely effective action. The outputs of this work during the workshop and refined during post- to be threatened in the next 20 years. are designed to help guide decision-making workshop discussions. Cost-effectiveness was and further planning and investment in then calculated for each strategy for the entire Here we report on the 17 technically and biodiversity conservation in the Pilbara. Pilbara region and the four IBRA subregions socially feasible management strategies, of the Pilbara by dividing the expected which were drawn from the collective Our approach involved gathering data improvements in species persistence by experience and knowledge of 49 experts and from existing