❓ Mr. Morton questions the Minister for Environment about the government's actions to protect Carnaby's black-cockatoos, given a reported decline. The Minister outlines the recovery plan, investments, and strategic assessment underway, acknowledging the complexities of balancing conservation with other ecological factors.
AnsweredQoN 696Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CARNABY'S
BLACK-COCKATOO
696. MR N.W. MORTON to the
Minister for Environment:
I understand that Birdlife Australia recently released its
2014 Great Cocky Count report. Can the minister please advise what the
government is doing to protect this threatened species given that the report
indicates that the decline in the total number of Carnaby's
black-cockatoos in the Perth–Peel coastal plain is around 15 per cent
per year?
BLACK-COCKATOO
696. MR N.W. MORTON to the
Minister for Environment:
I understand that Birdlife Australia recently released its
2014 Great Cocky Count report. Can the minister please advise what the
government is doing to protect this threatened species given that the report
indicates that the decline in the total number of Carnaby's
black-cockatoos in the Perth–Peel coastal plain is around 15 per cent
per year?
AnswerView source ↗
The Great Cocky Count report—for those members who
are not aware—was released on 26 August this year and is a
community-based, citizen science project that began in 2006. It has been run
annually since 2010 and now involves over 1 000 volunteers. This Great Cocky
Count, which focuses on just one-third of the bird's distribution,
observed declines in the number of Carnaby's black-cockatoos within the
Perth metropolitan area. The reduction in sightings noted within the Perth
metropolitan area could be driven by a number of factors, including drought, an
increase in car-strike incidents, and clearing of the pine plantation generally
that has now become a supplementary food source for the cockatoo. It should be
noted that the Carnaby's black-cockatoo is a highly mobile species
occurring over a large area of the south west. Therefore, we do not know in the
first instance whether these birds are utilising other habitats and resources
that were not surveyed, but the key question is this: what are we doing to
ensure that a recovery plan for the Carnaby's black-cockatoo is well
established? We have a recovery plan, which brings together —
Mr
C.J. Tallentire interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Gosnells, I call you to order for the second time. I am interested in
hearing about the Great Cocky Count.
I want to hear it.
Mr A.P. JACOB : Our
recovery plan brings together organisations such as the Department of Parks and
Wildlife, Birdlife Australia, the Perth Zoo and Murdoch University. The plan is
focused on addressing key issues such as the feeding and breeding requirements
of these birds, the population viability, and the health and disease status of
the species. Since 2008–09, more than $20 million has been invested,
mainly by industry bodies through environmental offsets that have been linked
to development approvals, into offsets to protect Western Australia's
three species of black cockatoo. A key point is the Carnaby's habitat
and the impact of the removal of the Gnangara pine plantation, which is known
as an important food source. This is acknowledged and is being considered at
the highest level within government. Significant work is going into this
through the strategic assessment of the Perth and Peel regions under the
commonwealth's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act
1999. Given that they do fly, this is taking a strategic approach to planning
across the entire Perth–Peel region to quantify the impact of pine tree
removal and the impact of other proposed developments on the Carnaby's
black-cockatoo and also to identify a range of offset measures in a strategic
manner across that entire land division.
One comment that I will briefly make about finding the
balance and why the strategic assessment is so important as a vehicle through
which to assess is that the Carnaby's black-cockatoo is an incredibly
important species and we are putting a lot of work into this. However, we
cannot do species conservation by focusing on just one species in isolation.
When a pine plantation has become a supplementary food source—obviously,
it plays an important role in that space—it also causes other
ecological problems up and down the system by draining the shallow aquifer, and
then there are the wetland issues that arise out of that. It is an incredibly
delicate balance. It requires a large body of work, and this government is
doing that large body of work. This Liberal–National government is
committed to ongoing initiatives to protect this threatened species.
are not aware—was released on 26 August this year and is a
community-based, citizen science project that began in 2006. It has been run
annually since 2010 and now involves over 1 000 volunteers. This Great Cocky
Count, which focuses on just one-third of the bird's distribution,
observed declines in the number of Carnaby's black-cockatoos within the
Perth metropolitan area. The reduction in sightings noted within the Perth
metropolitan area could be driven by a number of factors, including drought, an
increase in car-strike incidents, and clearing of the pine plantation generally
that has now become a supplementary food source for the cockatoo. It should be
noted that the Carnaby's black-cockatoo is a highly mobile species
occurring over a large area of the south west. Therefore, we do not know in the
first instance whether these birds are utilising other habitats and resources
that were not surveyed, but the key question is this: what are we doing to
ensure that a recovery plan for the Carnaby's black-cockatoo is well
established? We have a recovery plan, which brings together —
Mr
C.J. Tallentire interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Gosnells, I call you to order for the second time. I am interested in
hearing about the Great Cocky Count.
I want to hear it.
Mr A.P. JACOB : Our
recovery plan brings together organisations such as the Department of Parks and
Wildlife, Birdlife Australia, the Perth Zoo and Murdoch University. The plan is
focused on addressing key issues such as the feeding and breeding requirements
of these birds, the population viability, and the health and disease status of
the species. Since 2008–09, more than $20 million has been invested,
mainly by industry bodies through environmental offsets that have been linked
to development approvals, into offsets to protect Western Australia's
three species of black cockatoo. A key point is the Carnaby's habitat
and the impact of the removal of the Gnangara pine plantation, which is known
as an important food source. This is acknowledged and is being considered at
the highest level within government. Significant work is going into this
through the strategic assessment of the Perth and Peel regions under the
commonwealth's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act
1999. Given that they do fly, this is taking a strategic approach to planning
across the entire Perth–Peel region to quantify the impact of pine tree
removal and the impact of other proposed developments on the Carnaby's
black-cockatoo and also to identify a range of offset measures in a strategic
manner across that entire land division.
One comment that I will briefly make about finding the
balance and why the strategic assessment is so important as a vehicle through
which to assess is that the Carnaby's black-cockatoo is an incredibly
important species and we are putting a lot of work into this. However, we
cannot do species conservation by focusing on just one species in isolation.
When a pine plantation has become a supplementary food source—obviously,
it plays an important role in that space—it also causes other
ecological problems up and down the system by draining the shallow aquifer, and
then there are the wetland issues that arise out of that. It is an incredibly
delicate balance. It requires a large body of work, and this government is
doing that large body of work. This Liberal–National government is
committed to ongoing initiatives to protect this threatened species.
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