Victoria’s bushfire emergency: Victoria'sbiodiversity bushfire response emergency: and recovery Version 2 Biodiversity response and recovery August 2020 Preliminary report - Version 2 March 2020 © The State of Victoria Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning 2020 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence. You are free to re-use the work under that licence, on the condition that you credit the State of Victoria as author. The licence does not apply to any images, photographs or branding, including the Victorian Coat of Arms, the Victorian Government logo and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) logo. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ ISBN 978-1-76077-954-2 (Print) ISBN 978-1-76077-955-9 (pdf/online/MS word) Disclaimer This publication may be of assistance to you, but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from you relying on any information in this publication. Image: Yellow-bellied Water Skink. Credit: Mark Antos Contact email: [email protected] Accessibility If you would like to receive this publication in an alternative format, please telephone the DELWP Customer Service Centre on 136186, email [email protected], or via the National Relay Service on 133 677 www.relayservice.com.au. This document is also available on the internet at www.delwp.vic.gov.au. Contents Preamble ............................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 2 Summary of key changes since previous report ........................................................... 3 Report development and methodology .......................................................................... 5 Data used in this report................................................................................................................................... 5 Decision-support tools and metrics .............................................................................................................. 6 Data availability ................................................................................................................................................ 7 Analyses methods ........................................................................................................................................... 7 Impacts on biodiversity as of 20th April 2020 ............................................................... 10 Current fire extent and severity ................................................................................................................... 10 Impacts on areas within the CAR Reserve System .................................................................................... 12 Impacts on Heritage listed areas ................................................................................................................. 13 Impacts on Indigenous Protected Areas ..................................................................................................... 13 Overall impacts on biodiversity values ....................................................................................................... 13 Changes in biodiversity value ...................................................................................................................... 14 General species impacts................................................................ ............................................................... 17 Fauna species (excluding invertebrates) of most concern ....................................................................... 18 Invertebrate species potentially impacted .................................................................................................. 24 Flora species of most concern ..................................................................................................................... 32 Algal and bryophyte species potentially impacted .................................................................................... 42 Impacted vegetation communities ............................................................................................................... 42 Response and recovery plan ......................................................................................... 53 Strategic planning approach ........................................................................................................................ 53 Prioritisation ................................................................................................................................................... 53 Timeframes for response .............................................................................................................................. 56 Emergency actions implemented while fires were still active .................................................................. 61 Priority response actions for immediate and short-term implementation .............................................. 62 Appendix One – General species impact in current fire extent .................................. 74 Appendix Two – General species impacted by high severity fire .............................. 75 Appendix Three – Seeking expert advice ..................................................................... 76 Appendix Four – Fauna of concern currently held in captivity .................................. 80 Appendix Five – Proportion of habitat impacted using records for species of concern ............................................................................................................................ 83 i Appendix Six: Detailed methods for analysis of species impacts by fire .................. 90 Appendix Seven: Algal species potentially impacted ................................................. 91 Appendix Eight: Bryophyte species potentially impacted .......................................... 96 ii Preamble This report covers the 2019/2020 fires across the whole of Victoria, with a particular emphasis on Eastern Victoria due to the size and impact of these fires. Eastern Victoria, in the south-east corner of mainland Australia, is renowned for its wildlife and plant diversity being of global conservation significance. It is recognised as an example of a megadiverse region of Australia possessing four key ecological attributes that make Eastern Victoria’s biodiversity so critical, particularly in a time of climate change. Three major bioregions in one: The area is situated at the convergence of southern ancient cool temperate forests that are a living record of the former super-continent known as Gondwana, warm temperate rainforests and coastal heathlands extending along the eastern seaboard, and up into Australia’s unique alpine ecosystems and species. Unique habitat continuity from summit to sea: Almost 85% of the land area remains in public ownership and extends from iconic alpine ecosystems through to marine national parks. Virtually all the area remains clothed in native vegetation. Limited land clearing, low human population densities and complex topography result in landscapes and water catchments that are continuous. It is the only place on mainland Australia where such continuity of natural ecosystems remains and provides for unparalleled habitat connectivity for wildlife and capacity for climate change resilience through animal migrations and adaptations. With climate change, south is best: A major feature of climate change is the poleward migration of plants and animals, migrating away from increasing heat and drought. For Australia’s native plants and animals, southerly animal emigrations have the best chance of survival at the cooler/wetter end of historical distributions. As such, protected nature areas at the southern end of species ranges are the highest priority candidates for climate change refuges and adaptation. Diversity counts: Approximately 3,000 plant species grow here, and there are nearly 500 species of terrestrial vertebrate animals, several hundred species of fish in the rivers, lakes and estuaries, and vast invertebrate fauna (as yet uncounted) populations. Many of the species found in the area are suffering extreme conservation impacts elsewhere, such as koalas, platypus, bandicoots, large owls, carnivorous marsupials (like quolls), flying foxes and gliding possums. For some threatened species, this region encompasses much of the world-wide distribution, such as for the Long-footed Potoroo, many native fish species, unique burrowing crayfishes and extremely localised flowering plants. The region also represents critical strongholds for wider-ranging species such as Glossy Black-Cockatoos, Eastern Bristlebirds and the Ground Parrot. 1 Introduction The 2019/2020 bushfires in Victoria were exceptional in size and impact. Existing Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) fire recovery processes are well underway, and biodiversity is an important part of this work. However, it is recognised that under climate change we are entering a new world in terms of the scale and complexity