Norfolk Island Region Threatened Species Recovery Plan
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NORFOLK ISLAND Norfolk Island Region CouncilThreatened of Heads of Australian Species Botanic GardensRecovery Plan November 2008 Prepared by: Director of National Parks Made under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 ISBN: 978-0-646-53763-4 © Commonwealth of Australia 2010 This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests and inquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Commonwealth Copyright Administration, Attorney General’s Department, Robert Garran Offices, National Circuit, Barton ACT 2600 or posted at: ag.gov.au/cca Note: This recovery plan sets out the actions necessary to stop the decline of, and support the recovery of, listed threatened species. The Australian Government is committed to acting 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, but individual stakeholders have not necessarily committed to undertaking specific actions. The attainment of objectives and the provision of funds is 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. 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. This plan should be cited as: Director of National Parks 2010. Norfolk Island Region Threatened Species Recovery Plan. Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, Canberra. Separate information on the threatened species which are the subject of this recovery plan is available at: environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/recovery CONTENTS 1. Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Background ......................................................................................................................................................1 1.2 Scope of this Plan ...........................................................................................................................................1 1.3 Legislative and Administrative Context .................................................................................................6 1.4 Consultation .....................................................................................................................................................6 2. Description of the Norfolk Island Group .............................................................................. 9 2.1 Regional Overview .........................................................................................................................................9 2.2 Geology and Geomorphology ...................................................................................................................9 2.3 Climate ............................................................................................................................................................ 10 2.4 History ............................................................................................................................................................. 10 2.5 Vegetation ..................................................................................................................................................... 11 2.6 Fauna ............................................................................................................................................................... 11 3. Threats .................................................................................................................................. 13 3.1 Key Threatening Processes ...................................................................................................................... 13 3.2 Current and Past Threats .......................................................................................................................... 13 3.3 Future Threats .............................................................................................................................................. 18 4. Current Management .......................................................................................................... 20 4.1 National Park and Botanic Garden ........................................................................................................ 20 4.2 Public Reserves ............................................................................................................................................. 20 4.3 Other Biodiversity Conservation ............................................................................................................ 21 5. Recovery Actions .................................................................................................................. 22 5.1 Goal and Objectives ................................................................................................................................... 22 5.2 Priority Areas for Management .............................................................................................................. 22 5.3 Priority Threatening Processes ............................................................................................................... 23 5.4 Habitat Critical for Survival ...................................................................................................................... 23 5.5 Recommended Management Actions ................................................................................................. 24 5.6 Performance Criteria and Timeframes ................................................................................................. 34 5.7 Management Practices .............................................................................................................................. 37 5.8 Biodiversity Benefits ................................................................................................................................... 37 6. Social and Economic Consequences ................................................................................... 38 6.1 Responsibilities and Affected Interests ............................................................................................... 38 6.2 Implementation and Costs ...................................................................................................................... 38 6.3 Plan Review ................................................................................................................................................... 39 7. References ............................................................................................................................ 40 i NORFOLK ISLAND REGION Appendices A Species Distribution Information .................................................................................................................... 43 B Estimated Costs of Implementing Actions ................................................................................................... 46 C Review of implementation of approved recovery plans for some Norfolk Island bird species .............................................................................................................. 49 D Norfolk Island Flora and Fauna – Background and Species Profiles ................................................... 51 Tables 1 Listed threatened species covered by the recovery plan ............................................................................2 2 Key threatening processes listed under the EPBC Act relevant to Norfolk Island Group ....................................................................................................................... 13 3 Summary of recovery actions and threatened species addressed ........................................................ 31 4 Recovery plan performance criteria and timeframes ................................................................................. 34 5 Summary of costing ............................................................................................................................................... 39 Maps 1 Norfolk Island Group showing location of major reserves ..........................................................................8 2 Distribution of threatened plant species ........................................................................................................ 43 3 Distribution of threatened bird species .......................................................................................................... 44 4 Distribution of threatened reptile species ..................................................................................................... 45 THREATENED SPECIES RECOVERY PLAN ii 1. Introduction 1.1 Background The islands of the Norfolk Island Group provide