Submission to: Environment and Communications References Committee Inquiry into ’s faunal extinction crisis

Joint submission by: Friends of the Earth Ban Uranium Mining Permanently (BUMP)

Contact: Jim Green B.Med.Sci.(Hons.) PhD

The purpose of this submission is to highlight the case of the Yeelirrie Stygofauna and Trogolofauna as an example of situation where multiple species are threatened with extinction but have inadequate protection under the EPBC Act.

The situation

Within the arid Goldfields region of there exists an extraordinary and, until recently, unknown array of subterranean aquatic (stygofauna) and terrestrial (troglofauna) associated with calcrete (carbonate) aquifers.

During the Yeelirrie Public Environment Review (September 2015), undertaken as part of assessment of the proposed uranium project being progressed by Cameco, 10 species of stygofauna and 5 species of trogolofauna (see list below) were identified as potentially unique endemic species.

The Environmental Protection Authority of Western Australia recommended the proposed uranium mine at Yeelirrie should not be implemented. EPA Chairman Dr Tom Hatton said the EPA had concluded the proposal would threaten the viability of some species of subterranean fauna, in particular stygofauna.

“Despite the proponent’s well considered management strategies, based on current scientific understanding, the EPA concluded that there was too great a chance of a loss of species that are restricted to the impact area.” Dr Hatton said.

The proponent (Cameco) appealed the WA EPA recommendation, but the WA Minister Environment decided to uphold the recommendation, accepting WA EPA’s conclusion that the project could cause the extinction of some subterranean fauna. Despite this, the WA Minister of the Environment gave conditional state approval. At the time of this submission, the former Minister’s decision to approve the Yeelirrie uranium project is subject to court proceeding within Western Australia. As a nuclear action, it also comes under assessment by the Federal Department of the Environment and Energy, which is required by the EPBC to assess impact of the project from a ‘whole of environment’ perspective. This is because the proposed mine was deemed to be a controlled action according to Commonwealth law, thereby requiring an accredited assessment by both state and federal Environmental Protection Authorities and an assessment from a ‘whole-of-environment’ perspective as stated in the EPBC act. (reference transcript: Environment and Communications Legislation Committee 22/05/2017 – Estimates – Environment and Energy Portfolio – Climate Change Authority Scott Ludlam et al)

The Federal Department of the Environment and Energy has stated that the above mentioned stygofauna and trogolofauna has not been considered for inclusion in the list of threatened species established under the EPBC Act. They have not been formally recognised as species and there is insufficient information to support quantitative assessment of their status. (Reference – Senate question No. 2912, Scott Ludlum to Minister representing the Minister of the Environment, 17/02/2016).

Inadequacies of the EPBC highlighted by this situation

This submission speaks to two parameters of the Inquiry d) the adequacy of Commonwealth environment laws, including but not limited to the Environment Protection and Conservation Act 1999, in providing sufficient protections for threatened fauna and against key threatening processes; j) the adequacy of existing assessment processes for identifying threatened fauna conservation status;

The EPBC Act is inadequate to identify threatened species, where they are newly discovered species and initial investigation indicates there is a threat of extinction, but there is insufficient information to support quantitative assessment of their status. We propose a conservation status of ‘data deficient’ be added, and protections be developed to ensure survival of species included in this category until such time as assessment is possible. These protections must require environmental impact assessments, as is triggered for species listed on the EPBC threatened species list. This is in line with the precautionary principle and world’s best practice standard developed by International Union for the Conservation of Nature.

Another area in which EPBC Act needs strengthening, is to ensure that where regulatory processes identifies newly discovered and potentially threatened by extinction species (in this case, an assessment at state and federal level) are required to refer such species to Threatened Species Scientific Committee. We suggest that where an environmental impact assessment or government agency identify the risk of extinction that this be a trigger for the Threatened Species Scientific Committee to undertake an assessment of the risk to that/those species.

Further information List of described fauna from Yeelirrie, with references. Grouping the species by genus and indicated using *

* 5 species of Kinnecaris: Kinnecaris esbe, K. linesae, K. lined, K. linel, K. uranusi Referenced in: ● Karanovic, T., and Cooper, S.J.B. (2011a) Molecular and morphological evidence for short range endemism in the Kinnecaris solitaria complex (Copepoda: Parastenocarididae), with descriptions of seven new species. Zootaxa 3026, 1-64. ● Karanovic, T., and Cooper, S.J.B. (2011b) Third genus of parastenocaridid copepods from Australia supported by molecular evidence (Copepoda, Harpacticoida). In: Defaye, D., E. Suárez-Morales J.C. Vaupel Klein (eds.). Crustacean Monographs, Studies on Freshwater Copepoda: a volume in honour of Bernard Dussart. Brill, 574 pp.

* 2 species of Nitokra: Nitokra esbe, N. yeelirrie Referenced in: ● Karanovic, T., Eberhard, S., Cooper, S.J.B., and Guzik, M.T. (2014) Morphological and molecular study of the genus Nitokra (Crustacea, Copepoda, Harpacticoida) in a small palaeochannel in Western Australia. Organisms, Diversity & Evolution 15, 1-35.

* 6 species and 1 sub species of Schizopera: Schizopera akation, S. akolos, S. analspinulosa, S. analspinulosa subsp. linel, S. emphysema, S. kronosi, S. leptafurca, S. uranusi Referenced in: ● Karanovic, T., and Cooper, S.J.B. (2012) Explosive radiation of the genus Schizopera on a small subterranean island in Western Australia (Copepoda : Harpacticoida): unravelling the cases of cryptic speciation, size differentiation and multiple invasions. Invertebrate Systematics 26, 115-192. ● Karanovic, T., and McRae, J. (2013) The genus Schizopera (Copepoda, Harpacticoida) in the Pilbara region of Western Australia, with description of a new species and its molecular and morphological affinities. Records of the Western Australian Museum 119, 28.

* 1 species of Prethopalpus (troglofauna): Prethopalpus callani Referenced in: ● Baehr, B.C., Harvey, M.S., Burger, M., and Thoma, M. (2012) The new Australasian goblin genus Prethopalpus (Araneae, ). Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 369, 1-113. * Limbodessus yeelirriensis, L. odysseus, and Paroster angustus