Koalas are under threat of extinction. Powerlink’s highly controversial power-line project through Noosa Biosphere will destroy the last remaining healthy koala habitat and unique nature corridor in Noosa’a hinterland. Destruction of our biodiversity means extinction of our significant and iconic species. There are alternatives. Please watch the video.

Scientists refute claims made by Powerlink and Parsons Brinckerhoff. Inadequate surveys and no koala mapping carried out in the affected area. Also at risk is the most northern colony of the Richmond Birdwing Butterfly and its habitat. PAGE’s proposed solution is to use a common infrastructure corridor, avoiding further destruction of our diminishing wildlife habitat. The Qld government ignores its own SEQ Regional Plan and common sense to impose high voltage EMF’s on local residents.

Population growth in SE Queensland is not sustainable and is driven by developers.  Think globally, but act locally. We need to protect our wildlife heritage for our children and our children’s children before it is taken away forever.

What You Can Do To Help

It’s time people power put a stop to this  proposed Powerlink project and adopt lesser impact solutions.

Write to Queensland’s Premier, Anna Bligh, and ask her to protect this valuable koala habitat – habitat that will be destroyed if Powerlink continues with their project.

Write and speak with your local MP.

Contact all local media outlets and let them know what is planned for this koala habitat.

Send this video link to all your friends and family.

The following Nature Notes, Quolls by Helen Hepburn, was published in the Eumundi Green on 16th Sept 2010:

An amazing thing happened on the outskirts of Eumundi/Cooroy recently with the body of a
Tiger Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) being reported to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre by a truck
driver. Col Brownhill confirmed that the body was indeed a quoll. The interesting thing, however, is that
these creatures have become very rare in these parts over the years.

Before settlement, quolls lived solitary lives in a broad range of habitats from rainforest to wet and
dry sclerophyll forests and down to the coastal dunes. With the arrival of settlers, these animals were
hunted down as they found chooks quite an easy and tasty morsel. Clearing and fragmentation of their
habitat, the introduction of animals such as foxes and feral cats, and the distribution of 1080 poison,
spelt disaster for them. The final straw came with the release of cane toads.

Scott Burnett from the Quoll Seekers Network has kindly sent me these photos to use. I am
appealing to our readers to alert me as to whether they have seen such an animal either at their
homes, farms or even crossing roads. Here is what to look for:

• About the size of a domestic cat– but with longer body and shorter legs.

• Coarse fur of a russet colour, darker along the back

• Spots. It’s really the spots that are the giveaway. They could be large or small spots and there could be a few or lots.

• Quolls are now our largest marsupial carnivore on the mainland and they desperately need help. They were once a part of the biodiversity of our region.

• They are nocturnal and can climb trees in their search for food.

• There is a more northerly variety – The Northern Quoll that is much smaller and lacks the spotting onthe tail, but just might find its way this far south.

• They sleep in a den and this could be a tree hollow, rock crevice or hollow log.

• Each quoll needs a huge territory covering some 500ha (depending on food supply), so vast tractsof bush are needed to support a healthy population. They only live for approximately three years.

If you think you have seen a quoll recently, please contact Eumundi Green by email or phone and Joyce
will send details along the line.
Even a road kill is important.
Even dead animals have a story to tell and much can be learnt from them.

Read more in the attached Noosa News article that appeared on 29 December 2009.

Koala Habitat is Threatened - Glen Elmes

Deborah Tabart from the The Australian Koala Foundation says there are only 4000 koalas left in Queensland and she has some concerns about whether the policy has any real meaning.

Click here to hear what Deborah told Annie Gaffney.

Recordings on this page also include:

• Simon Baltais – the State President for the Wildlife Preservation Society of Queensland – has a lot to say about how koalas are faring in south east Queensland, and
• Kate Jones – the Queensland Minister for the Environment. She was asked how she plans to bring the SE Queensland koala back from the brink of extinction.

And read other concerned people’s comments.

This is essential listening.

Source:  ABC Sunshine Coast radio

You can see on the following Google Map how close these koalas are to the proposed transmission line. (click on the map to enlarge)

Surely the State Government want to protect prime koala habitat rather than destroy it with high powered voltage lines.

More Information at the Australian Koala Foundation

To read more about the Federal Governments recent actions with the Australian Koala Foundation please click through to their website here – www.savethekoala.com.

And if you too want the Koala saved – have a look at the most recent campaign of Koala Campaigners and what you can do now.

Related Articles:

Queensland Government ‘Slap-dash’ Mapping Set to Fail Koala

Anger over koala ‘hypocrisy’

More information and background can be found on their website (www.scec.org.com).

Details specifically in relation to PAGE and the Powerlink proposal are highlighted in blue below.

LOG OF CLAIMS

1. ACT TO ACHIEVE A SAFE CLIMATE
Build a clean energy future in Queensland

1. Mandate a Queensland Renewable Energy Target that introduces minimum renewable energy targets for the uptake of wind (15%), solar (15%) and geothermal (10%) energy by 2020.

2. Introduce an Energy Efficiency Plan aimed at 30% saving in energy consumption from households and industry by 2020 including new minimum building standards for residential (7 star) and commercial (5 star) AGBC ratings.

3. Urgently reduce the State’s Contribution to global and national ghg emissions.

4. Provide ongoing incentives, including rebates, to support renewable energy uptake for new and existing residential & commercial premises.

5. Provide incentives to encourage transition to a green economy.

6. Immediately introduce a gross Feed-in Tariff for solar PV and other small scale renewable generation; and until a National scheme is adopted accelerate the uptake of solar and heat pump hot water systems, solar PV systems, energy efficient lighting and insulation in commercial, industrial and residential buildings through regulatory requirements and State rebate schemes.

7. Divert government subsidies from the coal industry to the renewable energy sector for research, development, implementation and employment creation.

8. Introduce a legislated ban on uranium mining in Queensland.

IN ADDITION…

9. The Powerlines Action Group Eumundi (PAGE) as a member organisation of, and with the support of SCEC, opposes the construction of Powerlink’s proposed Woolooga to Eerwah Vale transmission line and substation project and demands an immediate halt to the project for the following reasons:

a) There are viable alternatives to this project including local renewable energy, bankabledemand management and embedded generation options proposed.

b) The alternative proposals will provide local jobs on a sustainable and ongoing basis.

c) The Powerlink proposal does not fit with the communities, SCEC’s or the Sunshine Coast Regional Council vision of sustainable development.

d) Powerlink’s proposal will add significantly to the carbon footprint of the Sunshine Coast.

e) Powerlink proposal cuts through the Noosa Biosphere, prime agricultural and tourism areas with significant flora and fauna habitat.

f) The project represents unacceptable social impacts.

g) Urgently reconsider plans for new power lines on new easements on the Sunshine Coast as indicated in the SEQIPP.

2. BIODIVERSITY – Flora and Fauna

10. No net loss of vegetation.

11. Strengthen the Vegetation Management Act 1999 by:

a) Removing the exemptions to prevent clearing and logging of remnant and regrowth of high value for soil, water and biodiversity conservation, across all land tenures and introduce bio-carbon incentives for protecting other vegetation.

12. Legislative protection of vegetation for all koala habitats.

13. Adopt the koala mapping conducted for the Caloundra area and endorsed by the Sunshine Coast Regional Council in July 2008 to be reflected in the Draft South-East Queensland Regional Plan 2009-2031.

14. Release funding to the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and key stakeholders to complete vital, local level koala habitat mapping projects.

15. Mandate best practice and installation of fauna crossings on road and rail infrastructure funded by the proponent.

PROTECTED AREAS

16. Expand National Park and Reserve Systems, incorporating critical biodiversity links, throughout the region accompanied by a 10% annual increment in all budgets for monitoring and management of protected areas on state, private and Indigenous lands to keep pace with rising costs and an expanding estate.

17. Increase grants to Local Government for conservation land acquisition.

18. Increase landowner partnership grants and subsidies for conservation initiatives and pursue public/private ownership arrangements with dedicated funding for conservation areas.

19. Increase the broader conservation estate and maintain the ecological values of existing conservation estates by excluding incompatible recreational and tourism activities.

20. Support urban Land for Wildlife partnerships.

21. Support the Sunshine Coast Regional Council to prepare a Sunshine Coast Regional Biodiversity Strategy which has regulatory status Sunshine Coast Region.

FORESTRY

22. Amend the Integrated Planning Act 1997 and the Vegetation Management Act 1999 to restrict ‘native forest harvesting’ in ‘of concern’, ‘endangered’ and high conservation value ecosystems and dramatically improve the Code of Practice and compliance across all regional ecosystems.

23. Maintain the existing South East Queensland Regional Forest Agreement in its entirety.

WEEDS AND INVASIVE SPECIES

24. Increase funding for Pest Management to community groups and local governments for coastal and hinterland areas.

25. Ban the importation of potentially feral fauna and flora with regulations to ensure protection of endemic species.

MARINE

26. Declare Marine Park status from the Pumicestone Passage to the Great Sandy Strait.

27. Actively protect the RAMSAR areas and adjacent sites of the Pumicestone Passage with legislative protection status and increase enforcement of compliance.

28. No rollback of protection zones for the Great Sandy Strait and Moreton Bay Marine Parks and commit to increasing ‘green’ and ‘no take’ zones.

29. Amend the State and Regional Coastal Management Plans to include climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies.

30. Amend the Integrated Planning Act to require Councils and State decision makers to adhere to State and Regional Coastal Management Plans, rather than merely “have regard to” them.

RIVERS AND WATERWAYS

31. Amend the Integrated Planning Act 1997 to ensure watercourses are given appropriate protection in local planning schemes or state regional plans.

32. Introduce and enforce laws to regulate run-off from urban, agricultural and industrial development including improved best practice compliance by State agencies.

33. Support River Plans for the Maroochy and the Mooloolah Rivers.

34. Support the listing of the Noosa River as a ‘Wild River’.

WETLANDS

35. Regulate to protect wetland vegetation communities and ecosystems on a local level from development and impose extensive buffer zones for damaging activities.

3. WATER

36. Cancel all major proposed dams and weirs, such as Traveston Crossing and the Northern Interconnector Pipeline Stage 2.

37. Reintroduce a HomeWaterwise (equivalent or better) program, including ongoing domestic and commercial rainwater tank rebates.

38. Establish a sustainable water supply strategy based upon the identified carrying capacity of the Sunshine Coast region.

39. Apply a State Planning Policy mandate for new developments to achieve an 80% reduction in demand for potable water and incorporate decentralised, integrated water cycle management systems, including water recycling.

40. No extraction of groundwater from Fraser Island.

41. Reduce the amount of water taken from Teewah Creek, a major tributary of the Noosa River, to ensure the ecological impacts on the Noosa River and adjoining ecosystems are negligible.

42. Invoke a moratorium on existing and proposed ground water extraction operations to fully assess the environmental impacts.

4. PLAN FOR A LIVEABLE COMMUNITY FUTURE FOR:
SUSTAINABILITY, CLIMATE CHANGE AND A LOW CARBON ECONOMY

43. Commit to developing a Sustainable Population Strategy for Queensland, which stabilises Queensland’s population in the short term to an ecologically sustainable level and maintains our quality of life.

44. Immediate investigation required into carrying capacity and population projections to fully inform the Draft SEQRP 2009-2031 – bottom up assessment.

45. Amend the Integrated Planning Act 1997 and ensure that it, and all regional development plans require assessment of carrying capacity, resource and population limits based upon agreed sustainability indicators and consideration of social, economic, environmental and transport issues.

46. No development on biophysically constrained lands such as floodplains.

47. Retention of agricultural lands for food security and re-localistion.

48. Infrastructure demonstrating sustainability principles in place prior to development i.e. not just ‘more roads’.

49. Adoption of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council Growth Management Position Paper July 2008 and the vision to be “Australia’s most sustainable region – vibrant, green and diverse” recognised.

50. Set a transition strategy in place to move away from polluting industry to clean and modern industries and introduce a green jobs program to provide regional and local employment opportunities.

51. Develop and fund a Climate Safe Communities Program that identifies inappropriate development (canal estates, flood prone coastal plains and zones), advises state and local government on climate impacted vulnerable lands, provides funding for community-based adaptation measures and additional support for emergency services.

52. A statutory regional and coastal planning framework which also includes constraint mapping, climate adaptation prohibitions and accountable sustainability performance indicators should be immediately introduced.

53. Publicly disclose accurate costing and externalities of all new required infrastructure and services and detail which sector bears the costs associated.

54. Revise the Sustainable Housing Code to set a minimum 7 star rating for new dwellings, substantially increase financial support for energy and water efficiency in low income households and set minimum standards for all rented accommodation.

55. Ensure necessary local government development assessment, due process and relevant town planning schemes and intents are not undermined by ‘fast track’ development pressures.

5. PUBLIC TRANSPORT and ACTIVE TRANSPORT

56. Bring forward light rail from Caloundra to Maroochydore and utilise fast train technology for the Sunshine Coast to Brisbane line.

57. Ensure public transport is upgraded in line with community expectations; and . . . .

58. Assist with the transition from private motor vehicle to more sustainable transport modes.

59. Provide infrastructure funding to encourage and facilitate active transport modes i.e. pedestrianism and cycling.

60. Major town centres and developments must offer integrated transport options prior to staged development.

6. WASTE MANAGEMENT

61. Support the Sunshine Coast Regional Council and community to facilitate the development of a new and sustainable Sunshine Coast Regional Waste Strategy in line with the principals of the Environmental Protection (Waste) Policy 2000 and the Council and community vision of being Australia’s most sustainable region.

7. OPERATIONAL

62. No cuts to the already limited funding of external environment organisations, frontline Environmental Protection Agency staff and conservation programs through the proposed LNP 3% Productivity Dividend.

Look out for the Northern Quoll and the Spotted Tail Quoll and let us know of any sightings or evidence of these endangered species.
Note: the Northern Quoll does not have a spotted tail and is smaller than the Spotted Tail Quoll.

Spotted Tail quoll

The following information is from the Queensland Govt. Environmental Protection Agency website – reproduced with thanks (http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/nature_conservation/wildlife/threatened_plants_and_animals/endangered/queenslands_quolls/)

Northern Quoll

Scientific name: Dasyurus hallucatus (Dasy = hairy; urus = tail; hallucatus = refers to the presence of a hallux or big toe on the hind foot)
Animal group: Marsupial carnivores
Description:
Head–body length: 123–310mm (males); 125–300mm (females)
Tail length: 127–308 mm (males); 200–300 mm (females)
Weight: 400–900 g (males); 300–500 g (females)

Habitat and distribution

Their distribution ranges over northern Australia including the northern and eastern half of Queensland. The present distribution of the northern quoll has contracted throughout its former range and in Queensland it is now fragmented into a number of populations with the highest densities found in Cape York, the Atherton Tablelands and the Mackay–Whitsunday area.

Northern quoll

Occasionally there are records of northern quolls as far south as Maleny on the Sunshine Coast hinterland.

Behaviour and reproduction

Females lack a pouch but the area develops around the six or eight teats, creating a flap of skin that helps to contain the young. The young are born in July after a short gestation period of just less than a month and are carried by the mother for another eight to ten weeks. After this time the young detach from the teats and are suckled in a nest until they are five months old. Up to one-third of a litter may die during this period. The surviving young have been observed still suckling from the mother on a stretched teat while clinging to her back.

Threatening processes

Habitat destruction for agriculture and urban development is the main threat facing the northern quoll. The fragmentation of its habitat then exposes it to a range of other threats ranging from vehicle mortality and predation by feral animals to poisoning by cane toads.

Recovery actions

There is a need to raise community awareness about northern quolls to ensure that they receive greater protection outside protected areas. In particular, landholders need to be encouraged to protect these animals on private land through habitat protection and responsible pet management. Building quoll-proof poultry yards will ensure that quolls are no longer a problem to poultry.

AKF CEO Deborah Tabart OAM said the Queensland Government recently employed engineering consultants to undertake ‘extensive’ mapping of koala habitat in South East Queensland; mapping intended to assist in the species’ protection. The project, worth nearly one million dollars did not go to tender, even though other consultants could have competed for the work.

“Sadly, the methodology is significantly flawed and will leave surviving koalas and habitat without any protection in this fast-growing region,” Ms Tabart said.

The method involves the creation of a koala sightings dataset from which maps will be generated.

However according to AKF scientist Dr Douglas Kerlin, because koalas are tree-dwelling and occur over low densities, they are extremely difficult to observe.

“A survey method focusing on more permanent ‘signs’ of koala activity, for example droppings, would be much more thorough,” Dr Kerlin said.
Ms Tabart is concerned about the implications of assuming areas of habitat are devoid of koalas using the koala sightings methodology.

“When you declare koala habitat to be empty, you open the door for land clearing for development.

“For instance in the Redlands, good koala habitat that is now empty has no chance of protection under this mapping methodology. It is ridiculous,” Ms Tabart said.

“We have to ask – why is the Queensland Government creating a new methodology when a sophisticated, well-tested and far more accurate methodology is already on hand?”

Ms Tabart is referring to the AKF’s largest and longest-running project; the Koala Habitat Atlas which is recommended as a basis for the accurate identification and mapping of koala habitat within both the New South Wales and Victorian State Governments.

“The Koala Habitat Atlas maps all biodiversity irrespective of land tenure,” she said. “I think this scares the Queensland Government and explains why they manipulate and create new methodologies intended to confuse and sanitise the land.”

“The ironic thing is that AKF could give them these maps tomorrow,” Ms Tabart said.

The South East’s koalas are just the beginning of Tabart’s concerns. If the new Queensland mapping methodology goes on to be adopted as the national mapping standard for the National Koala Conservation Strategy, she fears koala protection will be impossible. “Habitats falsely deemed ‘empty’ and areas capable of recovery will be ignored.”

The AKF is now calling on the Federal Government to assign the South East Queensland koala population ‘Critically Endangered’ status.
To find out ways to help the Australian Koala Foundation save our koalas, visit the website at www.savethekoala.com.

Source: savethekoala.com media release date 10 March 2009

Dear Stuart

As you are aware, the residents in the Eerwah Vale and Ridgewood community take the preservation of the environment very seriously and are deeply concerned with the impact that the proposed transmission lines will have on the local flora and fauna. This is clearly identified by the number of Land For Wildlife signs in the area, the catchment programs currently run by Land For Wildlife, the number of trees planted by residents and local council, as well as the recent documented sighting of the Richmond Birdwing butterfly to name a few.

More residents have asked me to request that you provide a schedule in the draft EIS of environmental studies undertaken by Powerlink/Parsons Brinkerhoff that include detail on the following information:

• date, time and length of each visit by PL/PB survey party (we will be checking with local residents and verifying this)
• area surveyed (specifically which properties)
• specific findings relating to each property
• methods of fauna surveys, and different types of trapping methods used for fauna in each ecosystem and habitat type
• what season and frequency, and whether the fauna is diurnal or nocturnal
• flora surveys assessing all vegetation in the regional ecosystems, and all microhabitats that have been searched and the floristic
• assessment including seasonal variation, including aquatic plants

As we understand, your studies have been undertaken over a short period, so please outline what assumptions have you made in relation for migratory or seasonal patterns of the fauna temporarily resident in the area for any part of the year not covered by your survey period.

We will be asking independent environment consultants to review this schedule and determine if this is satisfactory. We also seek to ensure that the  environmental studies have been completed thoroughly regardless of the statutory requirements – it would be environmentally irresponsible to know a study has been inadequately completed as a result of minimal statutory guidelines being adhered to.

We also see a clear conflict of interest between Powerlink and Parsons Brinkerhoff (where PL are paying for PB’s services) and this information would go some way to allaying residents concerns that the studies and surveys have not been undertaken thoroughly.

If the detail outlined above is not provided in the draft EIS, we make this request of you now in preparation of the release. Also, if there is a delay in getting this information to us, we expect an extension to our, and other party’s submissions, as this information is key to any submission to the draft EIS.

Regards
PAGE

Congratulations to the Eumundi Community Gardners’ Group for thier support of the Richmond Birdwing butterfly, which needs community assistance if it is to survive locally.

The Richmond Birdwing Recovery Network is holding a free workshop on  the butterfly and local strategies for survival on 28 February in Gympie, and Eumundi residents are welcome to attend. Details are available at www.richmondbirdwing.org.au or by emailing eerwah@westnet.com.au.

Steve Hooper, Information Officer, Richmond Birdwing Recovery Network