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Ecological Environmental Baseline Report AUCKLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT LIMITED PROPOSED SECOND RUNWAY ECOLOGICAL BASELINE ASSESSMENT JULY 2016 Auckland International Airport Limited Proposed Second Runway Ecological Baseline Assessment July 2016 FOR: Auckland International Airport Limited BY: BIORESEARCHES GROUP LIMITED M Delaney, MSc (Hons) J Feickert, MSc (Hons) J Shanks, MSc (Hons) C Wedding, MSc (Hons) D van Winkel, MSc (Hons) Reviewed By: G L Don, MSc (Hons) 3 C O N T E N T S Page No. 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................7 2 MARINE ..................................................................................................................9 2.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 9 2.2 Methods ............................................................................................................. 9 2.3 Northern Area of Influence ................................................................................ 9 2.4 Southern Area of Influence .............................................................................. 12 2.5 Pukaki Creek ..................................................................................................... 13 2.6 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 14 3 AVIFAUNA ............................................................................................................ 14 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 14 3.2 Methods ........................................................................................................... 15 3.3 Northern Area of Influence .............................................................................. 17 3.3.1 Intertidal Area ...................................................................................... 17 3.3.2 Terrestrial Area ..................................................................................... 19 3.4 Southern Area of Influence .............................................................................. 20 3.4.1 Intertidal Area ...................................................................................... 20 3.4.2 Terrestrial Area ..................................................................................... 20 3.5 Pukaki Creek ..................................................................................................... 21 3.6 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 22 4 TERRESTRIAL VEGETATION AND FLORA ................................................................. 22 4.1 Raupo Wetland ................................................................................................. 23 4.2 Botanical Assessment ....................................................................................... 23 4.3 Wetland Values ................................................................................................ 24 5 HERPETOFAUNA ................................................................................................... 26 4 5.1 Local Lizard Populations ................................................................................... 26 5.2 Herpetofauna Habitat ...................................................................................... 27 5.2.1 Northern Area of Influence (NAI) ......................................................... 27 5.2.2 Southern Area of Influence (SAI) .......................................................... 28 5.3 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 28 6 LONG-TAILED BATS ............................................................................................... 29 6.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 29 6.1.1 Relevant Species Information .............................................................. 29 6.2 Methods ........................................................................................................... 30 6.3 Results and Discussion ..................................................................................... 30 6.3.1 Habitats within the Northern Area of Influence (NAI) ......................... 30 6.3.2 Habitats within the Southern Area of Influence (SAI) .......................... 31 6.4 Conclusions ....................................................................................................... 31 7 FRESHWATER........................................................................................................ 33 7.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................... 33 7.2 Methods ........................................................................................................... 33 7.3 Northern Area of Influence .............................................................................. 33 7.4 Southern Area of Influence .............................................................................. 35 8 REFERENCES ......................................................................................................... 37 9 APPENDICES ......................................................................................................... 40 Appendix I: SEA Marine Descriptions under the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (2013) ....................................................................................................... 41 Appendix II: Department of Conservation Wildlife Act Authority .............................. 43 Appendix III: Stream classification under the Proposed Auckland Unitary Plan (2013). ...................................................................................................... 45 10 PLATES ................................................................................................................. 46 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Auckland International Airport Limited (AIAL) is seeking to construct a second runway (Proposed Second Runway) to complement the Existing Runway at Auckland International Airport. Two ‘areas of influence’ have been proposed for the purpose of assessing the environmental effects of constructing and operating the Proposed Second Runway, which occur within the Tamaki Ecological District, and have been termed the northern area of influence (NAI) and the southern area of influence (SAI). This report consolidates information from unpublished reports, literature reviews and limited field assessments to provide a baseline ecological valuation of these two areas. The marine environments within the NAI and SAI are of high ecological value because they encompass a variety of quality habitats that support dense populations of marine invertebrates. Diverse populations of both nationally threatened and internationally significant birds also use these intertidal areas to feed and adjacent coastal sites as roosts. Two major roosts are encompassed within the areas of influence, namely the market lettuce garden in the NAI and Wiroa Island in the SAI. The vegetation of the NAI and SAI is dominated by farmed or managed land and as such has low ecological value. There is however, a significant area of wetland located within the NAI of higher ecological value. The NAI and SAI are considered to be of potential value to herpetofauna. There are a number of suitable habitats available within these two sites that have not been surveyed, especially in the SAI, and protected lizard species are known to occur within the Tamaki Ecological District. The NAI and SAI are of low ecological value to long-tailed bats. There is very little suitable habitat available and no long-tailed bats have been recorded within the immediate area. 6 The NAI includes only a small area of permanent water course which is surrounded by intensive agricultural land and is thus considered to be of low to moderate ecological value. Wiroa Island is included within the SAI and could include areas of wetland that would be relatively undisturbed and therefore of moderate to high ecological value. 7 1 INTRODUCTION Auckland International Airport Limited (AIAL) is seeking to construct the Proposed Second Runway to complement the Existing Runway. The purpose of this report is to provide a baseline ecological assessment of the NAI and SAI for the future construction and operation of a Proposed Second Runway. This report describes the current ecological values of the terrestrial, freshwater and marine environments within these two areas of influence (Figure 1). It does so to inform the ecological baseline and the future determination of the preferred design for the Proposed Second Runway. The assessment of ecological values included both desktop analysis and limited field investigations. Data and information have been gathered from a number of sources, including published literature, unpublished reports (particularly from the Department of Conservation) and previous ecological assessments carried out by ecologists for projects located within the two areas of influence. This document also consolidates information from ecological assessments undertaken by Boffa Miskell Ltd and Bioresearches from 1989 to 2016. 8 Figure 1. Plan map showing northern and southern areas of influence within the Manukau Harbour. 9 2 MARINE 2.1 Introduction
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