21 August Victorian Environmental Assessment Council Level 15 8 Nicholson St East Melbourne Vic 3002

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1 21 August 2017 Victorian Environmental Assessment Council Level 15 8 Nicholson St East Melbourne Vic 3002 Dear Councillors, Thank you for the opportunity to lodge a submission to the Central Victoria Investigation on behalf of BirdLife Australia. BirdLife Australia is Australia s leading environmental organisation dedicated to the protection and survival of Australia s native birds. BirdLife Australia has been advocating for Australia s birds since During this time we have built up an extensive knowledge base which is underpinned by our research activities. We run a large database of bird sightings which feeds to Atlas of Living Australia and provides most of the information used in this submission. Yours sincerely Euan Moore BirdLife Victoria Group Key Biodiversity Area Victoria Coordinator Phone: Mobile: Address: 6 Andrew St Castlemaine Vic 3450

2 Submission on behalf of BirdLife Victoria Group to the VEAC Central West Investigation. August 2017 The areas under consideration by VEAC form extensive areas of remnant forest, mainly along the higher areas between Heathcote and Ararat. All these forest areas have suffered from extensive exploitation of natural resources over the past 150 years. Many of the forested areas are regrowth on land which due to steepness, infertility or water limitations were unsuited to farming. Today these forests provide important habitat for birds, other fauna and an extensive and varied flora. These forests provide important links between other forests in the area and the bulk habitat that is required to ensure viable populations of forest and woodland species. These forests are situated close to major population centres in the state. All are within about two hours drive of Melbourne and are close to the major population centres of Ballarat and Bendigo. This proximity to population centres means that there are high recreational demands for these forests. Part of this demand will be through wildlife and birding tourism which will flourish if there are target species that are readily accessible. Birding tourism tends to be at the high end of the market however all tourism that is associated with these areas will have economic benefits for nearby towns. This is exemplified by the Daylesford area which is already a popular tourist destination that benefits from the local environmental. This submission will concentrate on the importance of these forests to native birds and will deal separately with each area covered by the investigation. We have used data from the Atlas of Living Australia (ALA) 1 for the preparation of this submission. This data includes our own data from the BirdLife database (Birdata) as well as data from other sources such as the Museum of Victoria and the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas. Full details of the sources of this data are shown in the attribution for ALA in appendix I. Records which we feel are suspect based on the source or extreme rarity of the species in Victoria have been excluded. We have also excluded some historic records where the species concerned is locally extinct e.g. Greycrowned Babbler from the Macedon area. Across all areas the data shows that many bird species are declining in range. For those species that are listed as threatened a number have not been recorded in recent years. For some species this may reflect a lack of observers, particularly where there are large numbers of records. For rarer species, a lack of records for 20 years or more indicates that these are either vagrants or that they are regionally extinct. 1 Atlas of Living Australia occurrence download at accessed on Fri Aug 18 06:51:18 UTC 2017.

3 There are common threats to all the forests in the investigation region. All are potentially subject to logging for timber which will remove many of the structural elements from the forest. Too frequent logging also keeps the forests at a perpetually young stage preventing the development of tree hollows which are so important as nest sites for owls, parrots and a number of other birds. Hollows are also essential for the survival of small mammals that are food for the owls. Firewood harvesting is also a threat to these forests. Firewood harvesting extends beyond those areas which are used for timber to woodlands where tree sizes are smaller and unsuited to timber production. Firewood harvesting also removes timber from the ground which provides important structural elements for many woodland birds. The areas under consideration have all been subject to gold mining in the past. There is still pressure for many of these forests to be made available for gold fossicking. This activity has a major impact on the ground surface and on waterways in these forests. By turning over and removing much of the surface layer habitat for birds and other plants and wildlife is destroyed. Where fossicking extends into creek lines it also has an impact on the water quality in those creeks. Many of the creeks from these forests ultimately feed into reservoirs that provide water for domestic and agricultural use. Fossicking and associated disturbance of soils and vegetation has a major impact on those birds that feed and live on or close to the ground. Climate change is an issue that must be addressed as part of the management of these forests. It is predicted that the Victorian climate will get warmer and drier in coming decades. This will reduce the area of habitat that is available to those species that are adapted to a cooler and wetter climate. Having continuous areas of forest that stretch from the drier lowlands to higher ranges will enable some of those species to move to higher altitudes where the climate is more suited to their needs. These refuges will get smaller over time but they will help the survival of these species in the medium term. It is also likely that these altitudinal refuges will also help the survival of species that are not currently found in these forests but will be forced from woodlands to the north and west of the investigation area. We are also seeing east coast migratory species such as Pacific Koel and Scarlet Honeyeater turn up in these forests. At this stage they are vagrants however changes to bird movement patterns further east suggest that this may be part of a change in range associated with climate change. If the current decline in woodland birds is to be stopped it is essential that destruction of their habitat is stopped and that their remaining habitat is secured. There is also a need for habitat links that will connect the larger areas of existing habitat so that species can more easily recolonise previously used habitat or colonise new habitat in the face of changes brought about by climate change.

4 Wellsford area The Wellsford Forest is very close to the city of Bendigo. The forests are similar to those in the Greater Bendigo National Park and in the various regional parks that surround much of the city. The Wellsford Forest makes a major contribution to the value of these protected areas by increasing the effective size of these reserves. Approximately 165 bird species have been recorded in the Wellsford Forest and its immediate surrounds. Many of these species are listed under EPBC, FFG or on the DELWP Advisory List of Threatened Species or in the Action Plan for Australian Birds. Table 1. Species EPBC FFG Advisory List Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010 No of Records Most Recent Year Hardhead V Grey Y V Goshawk Squaretailed Y V Kite Malleefowl Vu Y En V A2bce 1 historic Brolga Y V Swift Parrot CE Y En En - C2a(ii) Whitethroated Needletail Speckled Warbler Chestnutrumped Heathwren Diamond Firetail Regent Honeyeater Blackchinned Honeyeater Purplegaped Honeyeater Crested Bellbird V Y V Y V Y NT CE Y Cr CE - A2b NT NT A2bc+3C+4bc V Y NT

5 Hooded Y NT NT robin A2bc+3C+4bc Greycrowned Babbler Y En Table I. Threatened birds of the Wellsford Forest The Wellsford Forest provides habitat for a number of woodland birds that are known to be declining in numbers even if they are not yet listed as threatened on one of the schedules discussed above. In addition to species listed above this guild includes Spotted Quailthrush, Gilbert s Whistler and Crested Shriketit. This area is also at the easternmost edge of the range of the Purple-gaped honeyeater. The addition of the Wellsford Forest to the protected areas around Bendigo would further enhance the protection of this important area of box-ironbark woodlands. Cobaw Forest The Cobaw Forest is a large remnant forest in a largely cleared landscape north of Mt Macedon. It is relatively close to the major population centres of Kyneton and Woodend. This forest is sufficiently large to provide effective habitat for sustainable populations of woodland birds to be maintained. Approximately 130 bird species have been recorded from the Cobaw forest and surrounds in ALA. A number of these species have been recognised as threatened on one or more of the schedules of threatened species. These species are listed in Table 2. The water and wetland birds in the table below will be found in small wetlands and lakes which are mainly outside the Cobaw Forest. Most of these wetlands will be on private land which is outside the scope of the investigation however the quality and sustainability of water in these wetlands will be affected by the management of catchments within the forest. Species EPBC FFG Advisory List Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010 No of Records Most Recent Year Australasian V Shoveler Hardhead V Musk Duck V Pied Cormorant NT Eastern Great L V Egret Square-tailed Kite Y V

6 Powerful Owl Y V Swift Parrot CE Y En En - C2a(ii) White-throated V Needletail Brown Treecreeper NT NT A2bc+3c+4bc Table II. Threatened birds of the Cobaw Forest Pyrenees forests The Pyrenees section of the study area contains a variety of forest types ranging from box-ironbark woodlands on the northern slopes to taller stringybark forest on the mountains to the south. The southern forests are generally wetter with taller trees. Snow gums are found on the highest areas of the ranges. Like the previous areas there are a number of listed threatened species that are found within these forests. These are listed in table III. The wetland species found in this area will mainly be limited to farm dams and small reservoirs which are mainly outside the scope of the study however these wetlands are affected by what happens in their catchments which are within the study area. These forests are important for the guild of woodland birds which is under threat across much of their range. Species such as Brown Treecreeper, Hooded Robin, Speckled Warbler, Black Chinned Honeyeater and many more are still reasonably secure in these forests but will decline if there is ongoing habitat destruction. This area is a hotspot for the Square-tailed Kite with regular sightings in the Mt Cole area. It is also an important area for large owls such as Barking and Powerful Owl. Bush Stone-curlew are still found in this area in very low numbers. There are community revegetation programs that are seeking to restore habitat for these birds with the aim of bringing them back from their current very low population levels. Species EPBC FFG Advisory List Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010 No of Records Most Recent Year Australasian V Shoveler Hardhead V Musk Duck V Blue-billed Duck Y En NT C Freckled Duck Y En Pied Cormorant NT Barking Owl Y EN NT D Powerful Owl Y V

7 White-throated V Needletail Bush Stonecurlew Y En Eastern Great L V Egret Intermediate Y En Egret Little Egret Y En Grey Goshawk Y V Square-tailed Y V Kite Swift Parrot CE Y En En - C2a(ii) Little Buttonquail NT Baillon s Crake Y Vu Speckled Y V Warbler Brown NT NT Treecreeper A2bc+3c+4bc Diamond Firetail Y NT Regent CE Y Cr CE - A2b Honeyeater Painted Y V Honeyeater Black-chinned NT NT Honeyeater A2bc+3C+4bc Crested Bellbird Y NT Hooded Robin Y NT NT A2bc+3C+4bc Spotted Quailthrush NT Table III. Threatened birds of the Pyrenees forests Wombat and surrounding forests The Atlas of Living Australia lists over 300 species for this area. This region had the greatest number of records for any part of the investigation area reflecting its proximity to Melbourne and the greater number of visitors to these forests. The forests in the Daylesford to Bachus Marsh area range from dry woodlands in the lower areas to wet forests in the higher parts of the range. These forests and surrounding wetlands are of importance to a number of listed threatened birds.

8 This area is a key area for Powerful Owl which the records of observations show are present in good numbers. There are also records of Masked Owls which are rarer than the Powerful Owl. These birds require large old trees to provide breeding hollows and to provide habitat for the mammals that they prey on. Large owls are under threat from logging in the east of the state which makes other refuges essential for their survival. As with the other parts of the study area most of the smaller wetlands are on private property hence outside the scope of the investigation however these wetlands are affected by the management decisions within the forest to the extent that they affect water flows within the catchment. Species EPBC FFG Advisory List Action Plan for Australian Birds 2010 No of Records Most Recent Year Australasian V Shoveler Hardhead V Musk Duck V Blue-billed Y En NT C Duck Freckled Duck Y En Pied Cormorant NT Eastern Great L V Egret Intermediate Y En Egret Little Egret Y En Australasian En Y En En C Bittern Nankeen Nightheron NT Royal Spoonbill NT Glossy Ibis NT Grey Goshawk Y V Square-tailed Y V Kite Lewin s Rail Y V Baillon s crake Y Vu King Quail Y En Swift Parrot CE Y En En - C2a(ii) Barking Owl Y En NT D Powerful Owl Y V

9 Masked Owl Y En White-throated V Needletail Speckled Y V Warbler Chestnutrumped Heathwren Y Vu Brown Treecreeper NT NT A2bc+3c+4bc Diamond Y NT Firetail Regent CE Y Cr CE - A2b Honeyeater Painted Y V Honeyeater Black-chinned NT NT Honeyeater A2bc+3C+4bc Crested Bellbird Y NT Hooded robin Y NT NT - A2bc+3C+4bc Table IV. Threatened birds of the Lerderderg and Wombat Forests Key Biodiversity Areas. The Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) program is an initiative of BirdLife International along with a number of other multi-national environmental organisations including IUCN, Amphibian Survival Alliance, Conservation International, Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund, Global Environment Facility, Global Wildlife Conservation, NatureServe, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, World Wildlife Fund and Wildlife Conservation Society. This program has grown out of the Important Bird Area program. There are about 13,000 IBAs/KBAs globally. In Australia the program is administered locally by BirdLife Australia with the aim of achieving better protection for our native birds and other flora and fauna. In addition to the usual researchers and managers involved in such programs there is a big input from citizen scientists who monitor these areas and report back to BirdLife Australia. Currently there are 36 KBAs within Victoria, two of which overlap with the VEAC investigation area.

10 The Bendigo Box-ironbark Region KBA 2 includes all of the Wellsford Forest. This KBA has been recognized because of its importance for Swift Parrot, Flame Robin and Diamond Firetail as it makes a major contribution to their core habitat. The southern section of the St Arnaud Box-ironbark KBA 3 also falls within the investigation area. This section of the KBA includes the forests of the Pyrenees Range. This area has also been recognized for its importance for Swift Parrot, Flame Robin and Diamond Firetail as it makes a major contribution to their core habitat. For both these KBAs the key threats that have been identified are forestry activities and climate change. The forestry activities which impact on birds are logging for timber and firewood collection. Firewood collection removes many of the habitat elements that woodland birds depend on such as dead trees and fallen timber. Timber harvesting removes trees before they reach full maturity and maximum flowering and before critical habitat elements such as tree hollows have developed. Both activities disrupt the forest structure which has an impact on mainly ground feeding birds such as the Diamond Firetail and Flame Robin. The impacts of climate change relate to reduced rainfall which is resulting in a slow drying of these forests and subsequent slow change in floristic character. 2 BirdLife International 2007 BirdLife's online World Bird Database: the site for bird conservation. Version 2.1. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. Available: 3 BirdLife International 2007 BirdLife's online World Bird Database: the site for bird conservation. Version 2.1. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. Available:

11 Appendix I Data held in the Atlas of living Australia is contributed by the following providers: Museums Victoria, (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY)). For more information: Records provided by Museums Victoria Herpetology Collection, accessed Records provided by Tasmanian Herbarium, accessed through ALA website. (). For more information: Records provided by Western Australian Herbarium, accessed through ALA Records provided by Australian Tropical Herbarium, accessed through ALA Records provided by National Herbarium of Victoria, accessed through ALA Records provided by Australian National Herbarium, accessed through ALA Data from this data set should be attributed to Australiaâ s Virtual Herbarium (AVH). You may do so in any reasonable way. Recommended citation: AVH (<>). Australiaâ s Virtual Herbarium, Council of Heads of Australasian Herbaria, < >, accessed <>. (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY) AVH data is given out under a Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence. AVH data is updated very frequently, so it is recommended to use current data, rather than rely on previously downloaded material.). For more information: Records provided by Barcode of Life, accessed through ALA website. (). For more information: Birds Australia - Historical Bird Atlas ( (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Australia 2.5 Australia (CC BY-NC)). For more information: Records provided by Centre for Australian National Biodiversity Research, accessed Records provided by NatureShare, accessed through ALA website. (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 2.5 Australia (CC BY) Images are CC-BY 2.5,

12 Data is CC-BY-NC 3.0.). For more information: Western Australian Museum, (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY)). For more information: Australian National Wildlife Collection, CSIRO, (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY) Data is available under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia license. Sound files associated with specimen records are not available for download and re-use. Please contact the Australian National Wildlife Collection for more information.). For more information: Records provided by Museums Victoria Entomology Collection, accessed Australian National Insect Collection (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY) Source of data should be cited where possible.). For more information: Records provided by Australia's Virtual Herbarium, accessed through ALA Records provided by Museums Victoria DNA Laboratory, accessed through ALA Citation is at record level:,, (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY-NC- SA)). For more information: Records provided by Western Australian Museum, accessed through ALA Records provided by Australian Tropical Herbarium, accessed through ALA Records provided by Australian Museum Arachnology Collection, accessed Records provided by The Royal Botanic Gardens & Domain Trust, accessed Records provided by South Australian Museum Ornithology Collection, accessed Citation is at record level (Rights is at record level). For more information:

13 Records provided by Australian Museum Ichthyology Collection, accessed Data accessed from ClimateWatch can be cited in the following format: ClimateWatch - Data set accessed (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY-NC)). For more information: Records provided by Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory, accessed Australian Museum, (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY)). For more information: Records provided by Western Australia, Department of Parks and Wildlife, accessed Records provided by Museums Victoria Ornithology Collection, accessed Records provided by Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, accessed through ALA Record from Questagame ( (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY-NC)). For more information: Records provided by Queensland Museum Arachnids, accessed through ALA ebird Basic Dataset. Version: ebd_au_relnov Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, New York. November See for other citations (Creative Commons null Australia (CC0) Public Domain (CC0 1.0)). For more information: Records provided by Australian National Insect Collection, accessed through ALA Records provided by Individual Sightings, accessed through ALA website. (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY)). For more information: inaturalist.org: inaturalist Research-grade Observations. doi: /ab3s5x Accessed via 22c7-4a22-a47d-8c48425ef4a7 on (Creative Commons

14 Attribution-NonCommercial International 4.0 Australia (CC BY-NC-Int)). For more information: Records provided by Australian National Insect Collection, CSIRO, accessed Records provided by Australian National Wildlife Collection, accessed through ALA Records provided by State Herbarium of South Australia, accessed through ALA Records provided by Museums Victoria Marine Invertebrates Collection, accessed Page R D M (2016). International Barcode of Life project (ibol). Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine, College of Medical, Veterinary and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow. Occurrence Dataset accessed via GBIF.org on (Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 Australia (CC BY-Int)). For more information: Records provided by The University of Melbourne Herbarium, accessed Records provided by Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources, accessed Records provided by The University of Melbourne, accessed through ALA Records provided by South Australian Museum Terrestrial Invertebrate Collection, accessed Reiner Richter (Odonata), 2 August 2015 (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY) Â 2015 Reiner Richter This database of sightings is provided under the following license: "Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Australia (CC BY)" It may be cited as: Reiner Richter (Odonata), 2 August 2015). For more information: Records provided by Australian Museum, accessed through ALA website. (). For more information: Records provided by Australian Museum Malacology Collection, accessed

15 PaDIL website at (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY)). For more information: Records provided by BowerBird, accessed through ALA website. (The rights of material uploaded by users to the BowerBird website are owned by those users. Each user will nominate the type of license that can apply to their content - BowerBird encourages the Creative Commons License but users have the right to deny use of their content. Please respect the license wishes of the user's content. For all other material, including the content, design and source code of BowerBird other than user-contributed material, is under the Open Source and Creative Commons licenses. You may use this material.). For more information: Records provided by Australian Museum Mammalogy Collection, accessed Murray-Darling Basin Authority (Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 Australia (CC BY-Int)). For more information: Records provided by Queensland Museum Other Invertebrates, accessed Records provided by Museums Victoria, accessed through ALA website. (). For more information: Records provided by Global Biodiversity Information Facility, accessed BirdLife Australia - Birdata Project ( (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Australia 2.5 Australia (CC BY-NC)). For more information: Records provided by Office of Environment and Heritage, Department of Premier and Cabinet representing the State of New South Wales, accessed Records provided by Museum and Art Gallery of the Northern Territory Mammal Collection, accessed Queensland Museum, (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY)). For more information: Records provided by Queensland Museum, accessed through ALA website. (). For more information: BioNet Species Sightings occurrence data held by the NSW Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH). The BioNet repository holds data from a number of sources and custodians. (Accessed through ALA Data Portal,).

16 (Creative Commons Attribution International 4.0 Australia (CC BY-Int)). For more information: Data Source: 'Victorian Biodiversity Atlas', (c) The State of Victoria, Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning (published [month, year]). (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY) Copyright in the data and materials resides with the copyright owners as indicated next to the detailed records. In any reproduction, distribution or publication of the data, or in any use or adaptation of the data to create derivative works, the user must include a citation which attributes the source of the data and the date the data was published, as follows: Data Source: 'Victorian Biodiversity Atlas', Â The State of Victoria, Department of Environment and Primary Industries (published [month, year]).). For more information: Records provided by Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, accessed Records provided by Western Australian Museum Herpetology Collection, accessed Records provided by South Australian Museum, accessed through ALA Records provided by OZCAM (Online Zoological Collections of Australian Museums) Provider, accessed Records provided by Citizen Science - ALA Website, accessed through ALA Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery, (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY)). For more information: Records provided by National Herbarium of New South Wales, accessed Records provided by Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria, accessed through ALA Records provided by BirdLife Australia, accessed through ALA website. (). For more information: Records provided by Museums Victoria Mammalogy Collection, accessed

17 Records provided by Museums Victoria Ichthyology Collection, accessed Birds Australia - First Bird Atlas ( (Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial Australia 2.5 Australia (CC BY-NC)). For more information: Records provided by Questagame, accessed through ALA website. (). For more information: Records provided by Western Australian Museum Arachnology Collection, accessed South Australian Museum, (Creative Commons Attribution Australia 3.0 Australia (CC BY)). For more information: More information can be found at citing the ALA.

18 References Atlas of Living Australia website at Accessed 19 August 2017 BirdLife International, BirdLife's online World Bird Database: the site for bird conservation. Version 2.1. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. Available: Garnett, S.T., Szabo, J.K., Dutson, G. 2011, The Action Plan for Australian Birds CSIRO Publishing