Draft National Recovery Plan for the Australian Fairy Tern Sternula nereis nereis The Species Profile and Threats Database pages linked to this recovery plan is obtainable from: http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/sprat.pl Image credit: Adult Australian Fairy Tern (Sternula nereis nereis) over Rottnest Island, Western Australia © Georgina Steytler © Copyright Commonwealth of Australia, 2019. The National Recovery Plan for the Australian Fairy Tern (Sternula nereis nereis) is licensed by the Commonwealth of Australia for use under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence with the exception of the Coat of Arms of the Commonwealth of Australia, the logo of the agency responsible for publishing the report, content supplied by third parties, and any images depicting people. For licence conditions see: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/. This report should be attributed as ‘National Recovery Plan for the Australian Fairy Tern (Sternula nereis nereis), Commonwealth of Australia 2019’. The Commonwealth of Australia has made all reasonable efforts to identify content supplied by third parties using the following format ‘© Copyright, [name of third party] ’. Disclaimer 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. 2 CONTENTS Summary ................................................................................................................................................... 5 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Conservation Status ................................................................................................................... 7 2.2 Taxonomy ................................................................................................................................... 8 2.3 Species description .................................................................................................................... 8 2.4 Species distribution in Australia.................................................................................................. 8 2.5 Population trends ...................................................................................................................... 10 2.6 Ecology ..................................................................................................................................... 11 2.7 Habitat critical to the survival of the Australian Fairy Tern ....................................................... 13 Threats ..................................................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 Historical causes of decline ............................................................................................................ 14 3.2 Current threatening processes ....................................................................................................... 14 3.2.1 Habitat degradation and loss of breeding habitat .................................................................... 14 3.2.2 Disturbance ............................................................................................................................. 15 3.2.3 Invasive species ...................................................................................................................... 15 3.2.4 Native wildlife ........................................................................................................................... 16 3.2.5 Climate variability and change ................................................................................................ 16 3.2.6 Water management and increased salinity ............................................................................. 16 3.2.7 Pollution ................................................................................................................................... 17 3.2.8 Hybridisation ............................................................................................................................ 17 3.3 Threat prioritisation ......................................................................................................................... 17 Populations under particular pressure ................................................................................................ 19 4.1 Local conservation strategies ......................................................................................................... 19 Recovery Plan Vision, Objectives and Strategies ............................................................................... 21 Actions to achieve the specific objectives .......................................................................................... 21 Strategy 1 - Manage and protect known Australian Fairy Tern breeding populations at the landscape scale ................................................................................................................................ 22 Strategy 2 - Develop and apply techniques to measure changes in population trajectory in order to measure the success of recovery actions ........................................................................................ 24 Strategy 3 – Reduce, or eliminate threats at breeding, non-breeding and foraging sites ................ 26 Strategy 4 - Improve understanding of breeding, non-breeding and foraging attributes in order to better target management actions and habitat restoration ............................................................... 28 Strategy 5 - Engage community stakeholders in Australian Fairy Tern conservation ...................... 30 Strategy 6 – Coordinate, review and report on recovery process .................................................... 32 Duration and cost of the recovery process ......................................................................................... 33 Effects on other native species and biodiversity benefits ................................................................. 34 Social and economic considerations ................................................................................................... 34 Affected interests ................................................................................................................................... 34 Consultation ............................................................................................................................................ 36 3 Organisations/persons involved in evaluating the performance of the plan ................................... 37 References .............................................................................................................................................. 38 4 SUMMARY Australian Fairy Tern (Sternula nereis nereis) Family: Laridae Current status of taxon: Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth): Vulnerable Threatened Species Protection Act 1995 (Tas): Vulnerable Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988 (Vic): Threatened National Parks and Wildlife Act 1972 (SA): Endangered Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (WA): Vulnerable IUCN Red List of Threatened Species: Vulnerable Distribution and habitat: Australian Fairy Terns occur along the southern Australian coast from south of the Dampier archipelago Western Australia east to Botany Bay, New South Wales including Tasmania. The Great Australian Bight forms a gap in distribution between western and eastern subpopulations (Higgins and Davies 1996), and there are now substantial gaps between breeding colonies in eastern Australia, especially around the Victorian coastline (Garnett et al. 2011). Australian Fairy Terns utilise a variety of habitats including offshore, estuarine, lacustrine (lake) islands, wetlands, beaches and sand spits (TSSC 2011). Recovery Plan Vision, Objective, and Strategies: Long-term Vision The Australian Fairy Tern population has increased in size to such an extent that the species no longer qualifies for listing as threatened under any of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 listing criteria. Recovery Plan Objective By 2030, sustain a positive population trend in the number of mature individuals of the Australian Fairy Tern in both the eastern and western subpopulations compared to 2020. This will be achieved by implementing the actions set out in this Recovery Plan that minimise threats while protecting the species’ habitat throughout its range, generating new knowledge to guide recovery and increasing public awareness. Strategies to achieve objectives 1. Manage and protect known Australian Fairy Tern breeding populations at the landscape scale. 2. Develop and apply techniques to measure changes in population trajectory in order to measure the success of recovery actions. 3. Reduce, or eliminate threats at breeding, non-breeding and foraging sites. 4. Improve understanding of breeding, non-breeding and foraging ecology in order to better target management actions and habitat restoration. 5. Engage community stakeholders in Australian Fairy Tern conservation. 6. Coordinate, review and report on recovery process.