❓ A parliamentary question regarding the impact of a proposed cotton project on the bilby population in the West Kimberley. The government acknowledges the presence of bilbies and states environmental impacts will be assessed if a proposal is submitted.
AnsweredQoN 2961Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
(1) Has the Bilby
Macrotis largotis
been recorded from the 200,000 hectares of the West Kimberley available for conversion to cotton growing by Western Australian Industries?
(2) If yes, what records exist and what population size for the Bilby is likely to exist in this area?
(3) Is Pindan woodlands the preferred habitat for the Bilby and, if yes, how much of the 200,000 hectares comprised this vegetation type?
(4) What is the Government response to claims by Environs Kimberley and the Australian Conservation Foundation that the proposed cotton project should not go ahead because, in part, of the loss of Bilby habitat?
Macrotis largotis
been recorded from the 200,000 hectares of the West Kimberley available for conversion to cotton growing by Western Australian Industries?
(2) If yes, what records exist and what population size for the Bilby is likely to exist in this area?
(3) Is Pindan woodlands the preferred habitat for the Bilby and, if yes, how much of the 200,000 hectares comprised this vegetation type?
(4) What is the Government response to claims by Environs Kimberley and the Australian Conservation Foundation that the proposed cotton project should not go ahead because, in part, of the loss of Bilby habitat?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
17 August 2004
Responded by
Minister for the Environment
Response time
62 days
(1) The Bilby (Macrotis lagotis) has been recorded from the area of the West Kimberley, which Western Agricultural Industries has proposed as suitable for cotton growing.
(2) The Department of Conservation and Land Management’s (CALM) Broome office has maintained a register of local bilby sightings since 1997. In June 1999 CSIRO scientist Colin Tann recovered a dead adult bilby east of Shamrock at Latitude 18 degrees 37.83 minutes South, Longitude 122 degrees 04.41 minutes East. A weekend survey undertaken in November 2001 by CALM volunteer zoologist, Ms Zoe Proctor, at Shamrock Gardens, south from Broome, located three active bilby burrows, and two bilbies (one adult and one juvenile) were sighted at night, all in close proximity to the existing melon farm. No accurate population count has been made for bilbies over the area concerned. However, there is little doubt that bilbies continue to persist in low numbers from Broome and the Dampier Peninsula across the south-west Kimberley and northern Great Sandy Desert.
(3) Bilbies occur across a wide range of habitats, in arid and semi arid regions of Australia. Populations occur in desert ecosystems and pindan woodlands. Bilby colonies are known to shift location in response to fire and rainfall events, which affect local food availability and possibly for other reasons. The majority of the area proposed for cotton is understood to be pindan woodlands.
(4) The impact on environmental values, including bilbies, of any proposed cotton project will be considered through the statutory environmental assessment process, when and if the proponent submits a specific proposal.
(2) The Department of Conservation and Land Management’s (CALM) Broome office has maintained a register of local bilby sightings since 1997. In June 1999 CSIRO scientist Colin Tann recovered a dead adult bilby east of Shamrock at Latitude 18 degrees 37.83 minutes South, Longitude 122 degrees 04.41 minutes East. A weekend survey undertaken in November 2001 by CALM volunteer zoologist, Ms Zoe Proctor, at Shamrock Gardens, south from Broome, located three active bilby burrows, and two bilbies (one adult and one juvenile) were sighted at night, all in close proximity to the existing melon farm. No accurate population count has been made for bilbies over the area concerned. However, there is little doubt that bilbies continue to persist in low numbers from Broome and the Dampier Peninsula across the south-west Kimberley and northern Great Sandy Desert.
(3) Bilbies occur across a wide range of habitats, in arid and semi arid regions of Australia. Populations occur in desert ecosystems and pindan woodlands. Bilby colonies are known to shift location in response to fire and rainfall events, which affect local food availability and possibly for other reasons. The majority of the area proposed for cotton is understood to be pindan woodlands.
(4) The impact on environmental values, including bilbies, of any proposed cotton project will be considered through the statutory environmental assessment process, when and if the proponent submits a specific proposal.
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