Comments on this listing assessment closed 21 August 2019. The text and documents below remain available for reference only.
The River-flat eucalypt forest on coastal floodplains of southern New South Wales and eastern Victoria ecological community was listed as critically endangered in December 2020. Details of the listing and Approved Conservation Advice are available from SPRAT: River-flat eucalypt forest on coastal floodplains of southern New South Wales and eastern Victoria
The name and extent of the ecological community were amended following this public consultation.
About the nomination and assessment
Each year on behalf of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee, the Department of the Environment and Energy invites public nominations for items that merit listing as nationally threatened under national environment law. The “River-flat eucalypt forest on coastal floodplains of New South Wales” was nominated for listing as a threatened ecological community in 2016 and was prioritised for assessment that year. During the assessment process, it was recognised that the ecological community extended beyond New South Wales and a new name for the ecological community - Coastal floodplain eucalypt forest of eastern Australia - has now been recommended.
Proposed Conservation Status: Endangered
Distribution: Temperate and subtropical east coast of Australia, from Gladstone in Queensland to east of Sale in Victoria.
Invitation to comment
The EPBC Act requires the Threatened Species Scientific Committee to undertake public consultation on nominations accepted for a full scientific assessment. The Committee particularly seeks comments on whether the Coastal floodplain eucalypt forest of eastern Australia is eligible for listing under the proposed conservation status, but also invites other relevant comments and information.
How can I get involved?
Read the consultation documents
The draft scientific assessment, included within a draft Conservation Advice, recommends that the ecological community may be eligible for listing as endangered, based on evidence that it has declined in extent by 75-80%; it has a very restricted geographic distribution, based on small patch sizes, coupled with many demonstrable threats throughout the range; and the extent and integrity of the remaining forests are further impacted by weed invasion, changes to hydrology and coastal development.
Draft Conservation Advice (incorporating listing advice) for Coastal floodplain eucalypt forest of eastern Australia (PDF - 1.46 MB)
Draft Conservation Advice (incorporating listing advice) for Coastal floodplain eucalypt forest of eastern Australia (DOCX - 901.21 KB)
Draft map of Coastal floodplain eucalypt forest of eastern Australia - south (PDF - 962.81 KB)
Draft map of Coastal floodplain eucalypt forest of eastern Australia - central (PDF - 1.23 MB)
Draft map of Coastal floodplain eucalypt forest of eastern Australia - north (PDF - 1.35 MB)
Guidelines for Nominating and Assessing Threatened Ecological Communities
The Guidelines for Nominating and Assessing Ecological Communities are also available to explain the criteria and concepts by which an ecological community can be determined as threatened in a particular conservation category.
Guidelines for Nominating and Assessing Threatened Ecological Communities
Send your comments
The Committee welcomes the views of experts, land managers, Traditional Owners, other stakeholders and the general public on the draft Conservation Advice for the ecological community.
The public consultation period closes on 21 August 2019.
A set of Questions to guide your comments is also provided, below.
You are welcome to forward this request to advise other relevant key people or groups in your networks about this opportunity for comment. We would greatly appreciate your help to get input from other agencies and groups involved with biodiversity conservation, land management, primary industries and planning
Questions to guide comments
- Does the description in the draft conservation advice clearly and accurately describe the proposed ecological community, including its distribution? If not, how should it be amended to help with on-ground identification and management?
- Are the lists of characteristic species accurate? If not, what should be added or removed?
- The draft conservation advice outlines several mapping systems (for example, Queensland Regional Ecosystems, NSW Plant Community Types and Victorian Ecological Vegetation Communities) that correspond to the ecological community (these are outlined in the draft advice). Do you agree with these corresponding units - should any be added to, or deleted, from the description, or do you have any relevant extra information on these?
- Is the description (particularly the key diagnostic characteristics) sufficient to differentiate the ecological community from other ecological communities on the east coast of Australia? If not, how should it be modified?
- The draft documentation includes condition thresholds that help to determine when the patches of the community may be too degraded to be considered as nationally significant and also thresholds for higher quality condition that can be used as a guide for recovery efforts. Are the condition thresholds suitable for these purposes? If not, how should they be modified?
- Information on the key threats to the ecological community are provided in the draft conservation advice. Are the key threats currently affecting the ecological community, or threats likely to affect the community in the future, adequately identified? If not, please provide further information, along with sources for your information.
- Are you aware of additional data or other clear evidence of these threats and their likely impacts on the ecological community in the immediate, medium or long-term future?
- The draft conservation advice outlines the priority research and conservation actions needed to help protect and recover this ecological community. In your opinion, are these the most appropriate actions? If not, please provide details.
- The draft conservation advice concludes that the ecological community merits listing as Endangered. What do you propose is the appropriate conservation category for the ecological community, and the reasons supporting this? If you propose an alternative conservation status please provide supporting evidence for why it applies to this ecological community.
- Do you have any further comments or information about the ecological community that should be considered for the Conservation Advice?
Please support your comments with information and data, preferably supported by published studies or observations. If some of that information is not published, would you be willing to be quoted as an expert or source (“personal communication”)?
Please use the contact details, below, if you want more advice or help about this assessment. If you wish to comment, please send your comments quoting the ecological community name to:
Email: epbc.nominations@environment.gov.au
Mail: The Director
Ecological Communities Section
Department of the Environment and Energy
GPO Box 787
Canberra ACT 2601
Privacy and confidentiality in regard to comments received
Submissions received will be forwarded to the Threatened Species Scientific Committee and, subsequently, to the Minister for the Environment.
Information contained in any comments will be stored and used by the department in compliance with its obligations under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).
If you wish your comments to remain confidential, you should clearly mark the relevant part(s) of your comments as ‘confidential’. Notwithstanding any obligations of confidentiality, the department may be required by law or parliamentary process to disclose, or allow disclosure of, any information contained in or relating to any comments (including personal and/or confidential information), including in response to a request by a House or a Committee of the Parliament of the Commonwealth or under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth).