Threatened & Priority Flora and Vegetation Report: EP 447 R1 Prepared for: Bombora Natural Energy 3 February 2017 360 Environmental Pty Ltd Submitted to Client Document Reviewed Admin Revision Prepared by Reference by Review Copies Date 1845 AB A INTERNAL AB FJ SH 22/12/16 DRAFT 1845 AB B CLIENT DRAFT 360 BNE 1 electronic 22/12/16 1845 AB C FINAL AB FJ 1 electronic 10/02/17 Disclaimer This report is issued in accordance with, and is subject to, the terms of the contract between the Client and 360 Environmental Pty Ltd, including, without limitation, the agreed scope of the report. To the extent permitted by law, 360 Environmental Pty Ltd shall not be liable in contract, tort (including, without limitation, negligence) or otherwise for any use of, or reliance on, parts of this report without taking into account the report in its entirety and all previous and subsequent reports. 360 Environmental Pty Ltd considers the contents of this report to be current as at the date it was produced. This report, including each opinion, conclusion and recommendation it contains, should be considered in the context of the report as a whole. The opinions, conclusions and recommendations in this report are limited by its agreed scope. More extensive, or different, investigation, sampling and testing may have produced different results and therefore different opinions, conclusions and recommendations. Subject to the terms of the contract between the Client and 360 Environmental Pty Ltd, copying, reproducing, disclosing or disseminating parts of this report is prohibited (except to the extent required by law) unless the report is produced in its entirety including this cover page, without the prior written consent of 360 Environmental Pty Ltd. © Copyright 2017 360 Environmental Pty Ltd ACN 109 499 041 360 Environmental Pty Ltd 1845AB Threatened & Priority Flora and Vegetation Report Bombora Natural Energy Executive Summary 360 Environmental Pty Ltd (360 Environmental) was commissioned by Bombora Natural Energy in August 2016 to undertake a Threatened/ Declared Rare Flora (T/DRF) and Priority flora and vegetation survey across part of EP 447 R1, north of Cataby (Botanical Survey Area). This report forms part of the required documentation needed by Bombora Natural Energy and relevant Government Departments to assess the proposed onshore petroleum exploration program. The seismic survey will use vibroseis trucks to drive along source lines within the Botanical Survey Area; receiver lines will run perpendicular to source lines. The threatened and priority flora survey was conducted along source lines and one receiver line within the Botanical Survey Area. Note that the full seismic survey extends beyond the Botanical Survey Area discussed in this report. The Botanical Survey Area was selected by Bombora for survey as it contains the majority of the remnant vegetation in the proposed seismic survey area. Most of the seismic survey area has been previously cleared for agricultural and grazing purposes. Mineral exploration and mining, and previous oil and gas activities have also occurred across parts of the seismic survey area. 360 Environmental understands that areas of remnant vegetation outside of the Botanical Survey Area (e.g. damplands and creeklines) can be avoided by the seismic survey and therefore were not surveyed in 2016. The field assessment was undertaken on 22- 24, 29 & 30 November 2016. The Botanical Survey Area consisted of remnant native vegetation, rehabilitated vegetation and historically cleared areas. A total of 56 taxa (including species, subspecies, varieties and forms) from 34 genera and 14 families were recorded in the Botanical Survey Area. The commonly occurring families were; Myrtaceae (19 taxa), Restionaceae (11 taxa) and Proteaceae (6 taxa) No Threatened species pursuant to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and/or gazetted as Declared Rare Flora (DRF) pursuant to the Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (WC Act) were recorded during the survey. A total of 5 Priority flora species were recorded in the Botanical Survey Area. The species names and the number of individuals recorded, in brackets, are as follows; Lyginia excelsa P1 (195), Babingtonia delicata P1 (12), Beaufortia eriocephala P3 (18), Conostephium magnum P4 (107) and Eucalyptus macrocarpa subsp. elachantha P4 (30). In total 362 Priority Flora specimens were located. Several geomorphic wetlands (wetlands), as defined by DPaW, were recorded across the Botanical Survey Area. The wetland vegetation conditions ranged from Very Good to Degraded. This was due to a varying degree of disturbance from weeds, kangaroos and historical clearing. Introduced species were observed during the survey; however no Declared Plants, as listed under the Biosecurity and Agriculture Management Act 2007 (BAM Act) or Weeds of National Significance (WONS) were recorded. 360 Environmental Pty Ltd i 1845AB Threatened & Priority Flora and Vegetation Report Bombora Natural Energy There were no Conservation Category Wetlands (CCW), as defined by The Department of Parks and Wildlife (DPaW) Geomorphic Wetlands Dataset, identified in the Botanical Survey Area. Nor were any Bush Forever sites or Regional Ecological Linkages identified. There are several small pockets of ESA’s located within the Botanical Survey Area. These pockets represent the historical locations of T/ DRF and their buffer zones. However no T/DRF were recorded during this survey The vegetation complexes within the survey area that may be considered regionally significant are; The Lesueur_7 vegetation complex and the Bassendean_1031 vegetation complex. The Lesueur_7 complex has 14.21% of its extent remaining within the state and is represented in the survey area by the vegetation association Cc - Corymbia calophylla, Eucalyptus spp. Open Woodland over a mixed Tall Shrubland. The Bassendean _1031 vegetation complex has 19.3% of its extent remaining within the Swan Coastal Plain Bioregion and is represented in the survey area by the vegetation association Prt - Proteaceous Open Low Heath. Six natural vegetation associations were described for the Botanical Survey Area. In addition to the associations, four vegetation units were mapped, these included areas that have been altered by disturbance. The vegetation associations are as follows; BW30% - Banksia menziesii and B. attenuata Woodland with scattered E. todtiana and Nuytsia floribunda over Restionaceae and Proteaceae dominated Open Heath BW10% - Banksia menziesii and B. attenuata Open Woodland with scattered E. todtiana and Nuytsia floribunda over Restionaceae and Proteaceae dominated Open Heath Xp - Xanthorrhoea preissii and Regelia sp. Closed Heath Prt - Proteaceous Open Low Heath Cc - Corymbia calophylla, Eucalyptus spp. Open Woodland over a mixed Tall Shrubland. Creek - Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E. spp over weedy Grassland The vegetation units are as follows; Ecam - Eucalyptus camaldulensis and E. spp over riparian spp. EM - Scattered Eucalyptus rudis and Melaleuca rhaphiophylla over weedy grassland Rehab - Areas of rehabilitation/revegetation Paddock - Cleared paddock of weedy grasses Although the database search did not identify “Banksia dominated woodlands of the Swan Coastal Plain” in the results, they are now all listed as a Threatened Ecological 360 Environmental Pty Ltd ii 1845AB Threatened & Priority Flora and Vegetation Report Bombora Natural Energy Community (TEC) under the EPBC Act. The main feature of these Banksia woodlands is the presence of Banksia attenuata and/or B. menziesii occurring on deep sands. With this taken into consideration vegetation associations in the Botanical Survey Area with codes BW30% and BW10% may be considered a TEC. Further assessment, involving high intensity quadrat sampling would be required to disprove their status as a TEC/ PEC. High intensity quadrat sampling was outside the scope of this survey; therefore BW30% and BW10% are treated conservatively as the TEC/ PEC in this report. 360 Environmental Pty Ltd iii 1845AB Threatened & Priority Flora and Vegetation Report Bombora Natural Energy Table of Contents 1 Introduction .................................................................................................. 3 1.1 The Project ............................................................................................................. 3 1.2 Background to the Legislative Requirements and Framework of Flora and Vegetation Surveys ........................................................................................................... 5 2 Biophysical Environment ............................................................................... 8 2.1 Climate ................................................................................................................... 8 2.2 Geology and Soils .................................................................................................. 9 2.3 Hydrology ............................................................................................................... 9 2.4 Bush Forever ........................................................................................................ 10 2.5 Ecological Linkages .............................................................................................. 10 2.6 Environmentally Sensitive Areas .......................................................................... 10 2.7 IBRA ....................................................................................................................