PROPOSED WILDLIFE CONSERVANCY IN THE CLARENCE VALLEY

 Six months ago, I reported on a series of undescribed plant species that have been discovered in the Clarence Valley in recent years, including the discovery of two small populations of previously unknown trees of the Gmelina genus, closely related to the local White Beech. 

That tree has now been described by a team at the Royal Botanic Gardens’ Herbarium at Mt Annan, led by Dr Trevor Wilson, who will shortly publish his findings.

With less than 30 mature trees remaining since the Liberation Trail wildfire decimated its habitat in 2019, this find is comparable to the Wollemi Pine discovery three decades ago. But unlike the spectacular Pine, which was growing in a national park, the new Gmelina is growing on Clarence Valley Council’s Shannon Creek property, with no legal protection whatsoever. 

Naturally, it has been nominated for listing as an endangered population under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act, with a decision from the Scientific Committee imminent. This move is strongly supported by Dr. Wilson, who has described the discovery as extremely significant and recommends immediate conservation action be undertaken.

As a result Clarence Valley Council has been approached with a proposal for their entire property, together with the adjoining nature reserve, to be nominated as “An Area of Outstanding Biodiversity Value, as a conceptual Shannon Creek Wildlife Conservancy.

An Area of Outstanding Biodiversity Value is a conservation category under the state’s Biodiversity Conservation Act, applied to areas deemed to contain irreplaceable biodiversity values that are important to the whole of New South Wales, Australia or globally. 

With 1000 native plant species, and 290 species of fauna having been recorded, the proposed ‘Conservancy’ has merit. Include the fact that 4 of those plant species occur nowhere else in the world, and that an incredible 63 of those flora and fauna species are on the threatened species list, makes the case for an Outstanding Biodiversity Value listing even stronger. 

Add survey results that recorded 23 microbat species, a figure unsurpassed anywhere else in NSW, and possibly Australia, and the case appears clear-cut. 

 

-        John Edwards

 Published in the Voices for the Earth column in The Clarence Valley Independent   8th  May, 2026 under the title: "Proposed Wildlife Conservancy".

A CENTRE OF ENDEMISM ON CLARENCE VALLEY COUNCIL LAND

It’s no secret that the area around the Shannon Creek dam supports very high levels of biodiversity, thanks to a variety of geological forms and habitats that occur there. This was confirmed over 20 years ago by the numerous environmental impact surveys conducted before the dam’s construction.

More recently, a significant project to regenerate rainforest remnants in the area, funded by the Environmental Trust, has added significantly to that body of knowledge. Surveys conducted as part of that project found the Shannon Creek – Chambigne area supports more than 1000 native plant species, many of which are endemic to the Clarence Valley, leading to its being recognised as a centre of endemism, with new discoveries still occurring. 

These include a never-before recorded Donkey Orchid spotted by a keen-eyed visitor last month. As well, several trees that have defied botanists who have tried to identify them for the past two years, have finally flowered. This has further deepened the mystery as they appear to be an undescribed form of White Beech, and flowering specimens are currently being examined at the Mount Annan National Herbarium to determine if they are a new species.

High diversity of plant life generally correlates to a high diversity of fauna, and the Shannon Creek area is proving that point. For example, the current state-wide “bats in backyards” program, being conducted by the Environment Department’s Saving our Species team, proudly announced that the program had so far identified 20 microbat species including 8 listed as threatened across some 300 properties.

Microbats were also separately monitored at Shannon creek as part of the rainforest regeneration project, and in the three years that monitoring was carried out, no less than 17 species were recorded each year, with 23 different species identified over that period. Those records were recorded from just four sites across Council’s “Rockview” property.

The regeneration project has now ended, and follow-up work is crucial, but with only 2 bush regenerators on council’s staff, that appears unlikely and all that good work will be undone.

 -        John Edwards

 Originally published under the title "A centre of endemism on council land" in the Voices for the Earth column in The Clarence Valley Independent , 8 January, 2025.