Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 Notice of Final Determination (1998-582) [GG No 143 of 2.10.1998, p 7938] (NSW)

Case

1998 No 582

New South Wales

THREATENED SPECIES CONSERVATION ACT 1995 No 101

Notice of Final Determination and Amendment of Schedule 1 to Act

The Scientific Committee established under the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 has, in pursuance of Division 3 of Part 2 of that Act, made a final determination to insert the following community in Part 3 of Schedule 1 to that Act (Endangered ecological communities) and, accordingly, that Schedule is amended as set out in Annexure “A” to this Notice:

Part 3 Endangered ecological communities

The Shorebird community occurring on the relict tidal delta sands at Taren Point (as described in the final determination of the Scientific Committee to list the ecological community)

The final determination to insert this community in Schedule 1 has been made because the Scientific Committee is of the opinion that this community is likely to become extinct in nature in New South Wales unless the circumstances and factors threatening its survival or evolutionary development cease to operate.

Copies of the final determination may be inspected at:

The Information Centre (Level 1)
National Parks & Wildlife Service
43 Bridge Street

HURSTVILLE NSW 2220

and at all District Offices of the National Parks and Wildlife Service during

business hours.

Signed at Sydney, this 9th day of July 1998.

Associate Professor Paul Adam

Deputy Chairperson Scientific Committee

1998 No 582

Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 No 901—Final
Determination

Annexure “A”

inserting in Part 3 in alphabetical order the matter:
The Shorebird community occurring on the relict tidal delta sands at Taren

Schedule 1 to the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 is amended by list the ecological community)

NSW SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE

Final Determination

The Scientific Committee, established by the Threatened Species Conservation Act, has made a final determination to list the Shorebird Community occurring on the relict tidal delta sands at Taren Point as an ENDANGERED ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY on Part 3 of Schedule 1 of the Act. Listing of Endangered Ecological Communities is provided for by Part 2 of the Act.
The Ecological Community proposed for listing is:

  1. The Taren Point Shorebird Community is the community of shorebirds (also known as waders) that uniquely occurs on the relict marginal shoal of the Georges River that occurs between Taren Point and Shell Point in Botany Bay.

  2. The bird community is part of the highly diverse shorebird assemblages characteristic of rich coastal mudflats of eastern Australia that are dominated by species from the Order Charadriiformes.

  3. The characteristic assemblage of shorebird species in the community is:

Latham’s Snipe Gallinago hardwickii (Gray. 1831 )
Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica (Linnaeus, 1758)
Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Eastern Curlew Numentus (Linnaeus. 1766)

madagascariensis

Marsh Sandpiper Tringa stagnatilis (Bechstein, 1803)
Common Greenshank Tringa nebularia (Gunnerus, 1767)

1998 No 582

Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 No 101—Final

Determination

Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus (Guldenstädt, 1775)
Common Sandpiper Actitis hypoleucos (Linnaeus, 1758)
Grey-tailed Tattler Heteroscelus brevipes (Viellot 1816)
Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres (Linnaeus, 1758)
Great Knot Calidris tenuirostris (Hors field, 182 I )
Red Knot Calidris canutus (Linnaeus, 1758)
Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis (Pallas, 1776)
Sharp-tailed Sandpiper Calidris acuminata (Horsfield 1821)
Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea (Pontoppidan, 1763)
Pied Oystercatcher Haematopus Vieillot, 1817
longirostris
Sooty Oystercatcher Haematopus fuliginosus Gould, 1845
Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva (Gmelin, 1789)
Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola (Linnaeus, 1758)
Masked Lapwing Vanellus miles (Boddaert, 1783)

4.       The features that distinguish the Taren Point Shorebird Community from other assemblages in Botany Bay is the unique occurrence of the vulnerable species Terek Sandpiper Xenus cinereus; a greater abundance of the small mudflat feeding shorebirds such as Red-necked Stint Calidris ruficollis, Ruddy Turnstone Arenaria interpres. Red Knot Calidris canutus, Curlew Sandpiper Calidris ferruginea Pacific Golden Plover Pluvialis fulva and Grey-tailed Tattler Heteroscelus brevipes; and the general absence of sand plovers which occur elsewhere in Botany Bay.

5.        The Taren Point Shorebird Community occupies an area that is defined by the distinct geological feature which is a relict muddy sand marginal shoal of the Georges River that was formed during the Holocene. The shoal's northern boundary is a small spit on the eastern side of the Captain Cook Bridge and the southern boundary is the terminal lobe of Shell Point. This geological feature is described in Roy. P.S. and Crawford, E.A. 1979, Holocene geological evolution of the southen Botany Bay—Kurnell Region, Central New South Wales Coast, Records of the New South Wales Geological Survey 20:159-250.

1998 No 582

Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995 No 101—Final
Determination

The Scientific Committee has found that:

6 .        The Community, as defined by the proposal, satisfies the definition of an ecological community under the Act; i.e., an assemblage of species occupying a particular area.

7.        Threats to the survival of the community include intensification or alteration of uses of the area utilised by the community, and changes to the extent and distribution of the fringing mangrove community.

8.        Although Towra Point Reserve is adjacent to the area occupied by this shorebird community it is of different geomorphological origin and does not provide alternative habitat for the Taren Point Shorebird Community. In view of the ongoing alteration to the natural marine and geomorphological processes within Botany Bay, the Scientific Committee is of the opinion that the Taren Point Shorebird Community is likely to become extinct in nature in New South Wales unless the factors threatening its survival cease to operate.

9.        In view of 6, 7 and 8, the Scientific Committee is of the opinion that the community is likely to become extinct in nature in New South Wales unless the circumstances and factors threatening its survival cease to operate. Accordingly the Committee has made a Final Determination to list the Taren Point Shorebird Community on Part 3 of Schedule 1 of the Act.

Associate Professor Paul Adam

Deputy Chairperson
Scientific Committee

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