BIODIVERSITY SURVEYS IN PILLAR VALLEY

Two weeks of fauna surveys undertaken recently as part of the federally funded Upper Coldstream Project at Pillar Valley, has again confirmed the high concentrations of native species that occur there.

Already more than 900 native plants, including 43 rare or threatened species, have been found, and this latest survey has brought the total number of threatened fauna recorded by the project team to 27.

As Project partners with the Nature Conservation Council, Clarence Environment Centre volunteers have been assisting highly experienced ecologists undertaking the survey, which involved the use of a variety of traps for safely capturing the animals which turned up some exciting finds.

Along with the more common Antechinus, Bush Rats, and Melomys species, were the rare New Holland Mouse, and possibly a Pale Field Rat. The latter, whose range has diminished greatly over the past century would be a significant find, should hair samples confirm its identification.

Night time call play-back and spotlighting identified Powerful Owls, Yellow-bellied and Squirrel Gliders, Brush-tailed Phascogale and Rufous Bettongs, all listed as threatened.

Also a number of microbat species were caught and identified before release, including threatened Little Bentwing, and the Eastern Long-eared Bats.

Call play-back and spotlighting begins soon after 8pm and often continues until midnight. Then, to ensure the well-being of any captured animals, all traps are checked in the early morning, before the sun heats up, so the ecologists and some of the volunteers camped on-site rather than lose another hour's sleep driving home.

It was a great learning experience for the volunteers and landowners who chose to be involved. For example, play-back of recorded calls of nocturnal species over a loud-speaker, do not always achieve the expected response. At one site, playing Yellow-bellied Glider calls failed to get any response, but playing a Powerful Owl call minutes later resulted in multiple glider calls as the animals reacted with warning calls to the perceived danger. Then a few minutes later, an ecologist spotted a Powerful Owl silently flying in to check out what it believed was an unwelcome interloper.

Another survey is planned for next year.

- John Edwards


 NOTE: The Coldstream River flows into the Clarence River between Ulmarra and Maclean.  Pillar Valley is a rural area to the east of Grafton.

SOME VICTORIES - BUT GAS-MINING STILL A THREAT IN MANY AREAS

Community opposition to unconventional gas-mining has been rewarded by two victories in the last month.  However, there are still many areas of Australia which are under threat from this invasive and damaging industry.  Some areas - particularly in Queensland - are in full production with the impacts on the environment and landholders serving as a stark warning to places where full development has not yet taken place.

This post refers to two recent victories and to two areas where strong campaigns have been mounted to protect the land from fracking.


NSW Northern Rivers Now Gasfield Free

NSW Northern Rivers  campaigners against unconventional gas-mining are celebrating the departure of Metgasco, the mining company holding the remaining Petroleum Exploration Licences (PELs) in their region. The Metgasco Board had accepted a NSW Government offer to buy back the remaining PELs for $25 million but had to put the proposal to a shareholders' meeting.  On December 16 a majority of the shareholders accepted the deal.

This means that the Northern Rivers are now gasfield free, something community members have been working towards for years.  The campaign has seen confrontations at Glenugie (near Grafton), at Doubtful Creek (near Kyogle) and at Bentley near Casino and Lismore.  The strength of opposition grew steadily so that thousands were ready to oppose the arrival of the drilling rig at Bentley.  This, plus reduced majorities for local state government politicians in the election early in 2015- and the loss of the seat of Ballina - finally convinced the Coalition Government that the industry was not welcome.


Another Victory in the Northern Territory

The Northern Territory Government was recently assessing an  application by Palatine Energy to explore for shale oil and gas across more than 10000 square km of Watarrka National Park about 300 km south-west of Alice Springs.  Fracking was on the agenda if the company got approval.  Watarrka, contains Kings Canyon gorge, which is a very significant tourist attraction in Central Australia.

The Northern Territory Government initially ignored formal requests by the traditional owners for the park to be protected from an exploration bid.  Consequently a group of traditional owners visited Canberra  in late November to ask the Federal Environment Minister for an emergency heritage listing for the National Park.  Following the traditional owners' trip to Canberra, the NT Government decided to reject the mining applications.  So the traditional owners and other NT community members concerned about unconventional gas-mining are celebrating a victory after a three year campaign.

Image used in the Watarrka campaign

Queensland's Channel Country Under Threat 

The Channel Country  in south-western Queensland is a sparsely populated arid area  of  floodplains and rivers which flow into Lake Eyre in northern South Australia.  The landscapes in this region are home to dozens of rare flora and fauna as well as an organic beef industry. Almost all of the Channel Country is covered by shale gas exploration licences.  Until 2013 there were strong legal protections to prevent fracking on the floodplains - a procedure which would be inevitable to extract the shale gas. However, these measures were abolished by the former Newman State Government.  The current Queensland Government promised to restore protection to the floodplains but so far has not honoured this promise.

If the protection is not restored, there are concerns that the region could be covered by 10,000 shale gas wells.  Because of the threat that this industrialisation of the landscape would bring to water resources and to the natural environment as well as to the beef  industry, a strong campaign is  being developed to force the Government to do what it has promised.

Western Australia's Kimberley Region Also Under Threat

The Kimberley region of northern Western Australia is a wonderful natural area visited by thousands of tourists every year. The area is covered by gas licences and a range of companies have plans to frack for unconventional tight gas with experts estimating that more than 40,000 gas wells could be fracked if the industry is allowed to proceed to full production.

A local group, Frack Free Kimberley, has been campaigning to get a moratorium on fracking in the region. Yulleroo Camp is one of the centre points of the campaign. Yulleroo, on Yawuru country, 70 km east of Broome, where Baru Energy plans to frack two wells, is the site of a protest by Yawuru Traditional Owner Micklo Corpus and his supporters. 

The area is important ecologically.  The wells are located at the head of internationally significant wetlands which flow into Roebuck Bay, a Ramsar listed wetland. Yulleroo is also home to an important population of threatened Greater Bilbies.

ENOVA RAISES SUFFICIENT CAPITAL TO COMMENCE RETAIL OPERATIONS

On December 15, two days before the closing of their share offer, Enova Community Energy announced that it had secured more than the required minimum to commence retail operations in the NSW Northern Rivers area.  So Enova is set to become the first community owned electricity supplier in the country.  Its progress is certain to be watched with interest by people in other parts of Australia who are keen to see the expansion of renewable energy as well as communities taking power over their own energy futures.

Of the $3,238,000 raised by the time of the announcement, nearly 75% of the total of 857 share applicants came from the local community.  "This indicates the high level of local support from the local community, making us determined to take control of our renewable future, providing local jobs, enabling new technologies and community benefit projects across the Northern Rivers Region,"  said Alison Crook, the Enova Chair.

Some background on the establishment of Enova was given on September 19 in a CVCC post Enova: New Northern Rivers Energy Retailer.

For further information:  Enova website.

Founding Partners, L-R Steve Harris, Alison Crook, Melissa Mac Court, Patrick Halliday