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PROTECTING A GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOT QUOKKA Setonix brachyurus December 4, 2015: Federal Environment Minister Greg Hunt signed off on the final—and arguably most significant —Threatened Ecological Community (TEC) to be listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) in 2015. The Eucalypt Woodlands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt became the 7th EPBC Act TEC listing or uplisting made in the year, with HSI playing a key role as the nominator of all but one. The woodlands’ Critically Endangered listing, proposed by HSI in 2011, saw our successful legislative habitat protection campaign become responsible for more than a third of the TECs listed under the EPBC Act—a figure set to increase with eight of the 13 communities currently under assessment by the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) triggered by HSI nominations. The Eucalypt Woodlands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt are one of the most severely battered habitats in Australia, a condition which, while concerning anywhere, is more so when considering they fall within one of just 35 global biodiversity hotspots identified by Conservation International (based on the pioneering work of Professor Norman Myers*). Largely fractured and largely gone Over 950,000 hectares of the woodlands exist in a largely fractured state across three key wheatbelt subregions totalling 13.5 million hectares of land in Australia’s southwest—an area where, pre-European settlement, they are thought to have covered an astonishing 6.35 million hectares. This estimated clearing rate of 85% has been primarily driven by agricultural industries and is so severe that the TSSC assessment of HSI’s nomination found that the woodlands met four of the six criteria for a threatened listing with two at the Critically Endangered level. Only 8% of the EucalyptWoodlands oftheWestern AustralianWheat - belt are protected to some extent within formal conservation tenures, while nearly another 150,000 hectares are under ownership of private conservation organisations such as the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and Bush Heritage Australia. Formerly unprotected now formally secure This demonstrates a clear and urgent need for greater legislative protection and means that HSI’s scientific submission, prepared with Dr Judy Lambert of Community Solutions, has resulted in around 725,000 hectares of formerly unprotected Eucalypt Woodlands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt significantly benefitting from this EPBC Act Critically Endangered listing. The heavy historical clearing of vegetation for agriculture, which occurred over several decades, directly contributed to the highly threatened status of many endemic plant species and additionally led to a rising saline water table, creating a huge salinity problem. Much of the region has been geologically undisturbed for tens of millions of years, over which time ocean salt accumulated in the soil of the landscape after being deposited by rain. When native vegetation was cleared and replaced by crops, the saline water table rose leading to salt scars in the landscape and threatening remaining vegetation. Located in a landscape with a stable climate, a rich biological diversity has thrived in Southwest Australia and the evolution of an astonishing range of highly unique species has been facilitated. This has led to the EucalyptWoodlands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt providing umbrella protection for at least 87 species already recognised as nationally threatened through EPBC Act listings. Benefitting all The woodlands’ gazettal will lead to a number of recovery actions that benefit all of these species being identified and implemented. Among the threatened species are iconic animals such as the greater bilby (Macrotis lagotis), numbat (Myrmecobius fasciatus), quokka (Setonix brachyurus), chuditch (Dasyurus geoffroii) and woylie (Bettongia penicillata ogilbyi), as well as birdlife including malleefowl (Leipoa ocellata) and forest red-tailed (Calyptorhynchus banksii naso), Baudin’s (Calyptorhynchus baudinii), and Carnaby's (Calyptorhynchus latirostris) black cockatoos. The Woodlands also provide habitat for the tiny nectar and pollenfeeding honey possum (Tarsipes rostratus), which is the only member of its Family. The astounding range of species that inhabit the EucalyptWood lands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt underlines the critical need for their protection and the importance of this EPBC Act listing. With the impacts of new threats such as urbanisation ongoing, focusing on protecting and restoring the woodlands’ remnants is essential and fortunately well-suited to a range of current Government initiatives. This latest HSI-prompted listing will help support the conservation intentions of farmers in the region and see funding for the community’s recovery prioritised—it is an essential, landmark step to fixing the damage of the past and securing the future of the region’s incredible fauna and flora. Page 11 features a table outlining current HSI nominations for species, habitats and Key Threatening Processes under the EPBC Act. *The Eucalypt Woodlands of the Western Australian Wheatbelt form a part of the global South Western Australia Biodiversity Hotspot. Professor Norman Myers first wrote about the Biodiversity Hotspot concept in The Environmentalist in 1988, with a revised analysis published in the journal Nature in 2000. 35 areas currently qualify under this definition with the Forests of East Australia recently designated as the 35th global biodiversity hotspot by Conservation International (in co-operation with CSIRO). In 2001, HSI gained a new biodiversity hotspots policy commitment from the Commonwealth Government that led to the identification of 15 national biodiversity hotspots (4 of the 15 within the SW-WA hotspot) and contributed to the purchase of 7 high conservation value properties covering some 1.3 million hectares. HSI SENIOR PROGRAM MANAGER • EVAN QUARTERMAIN 9