Comments on this listing assessment closed 25 August 2017. The documents below remain available for reference only. Please see the Species Profile and Threats Database for the Approved Conservation Advice.
Comment on listing assessment
Proposed Conservation Status: Endangered
Distribution: From Curtis Island (Gureng Gureng country) in Queensland to near Bermagui (Yuin Nation), in southern New South Wales.
Downloads
Preliminary draft conservation advice (incorporating listing advice) of the Coastal Swamp Oak (Casuarina glauca) Forest of New South Wales and South East Queensland ecological community (PDF - 664.94 KB)
Preliminary draft conservation advice (incorporating listing advice) of the Coastal Swamp Oak (Casuarina glauca) Forest of New South Wales and South East Queensland ecological community (DOCX - 225.55 KB)
Consultation Guide for Coastal Swamp Oak (Casuarina glauca) Forest of South-east Queensland and New South Wales (PDF - 1.98 MB)
Consultation Guide for Coastal Swamp Oak (Casuarina glauca) Forest of South-east Queensland and New South Wales (DOCX - 6.04 MB)
Guidelines for nominating and assessing threatened ecological communities (PDF - 992.04 KB)
Guidelines for nominating and assessing threatened ecological communities (DOCX - 4.2 MB)
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 “Swamp Oak (Casuarina glauca) Floodplain Forest of South-east Queensland and New South Wales” was nominated for listing as a threatened ecological community in 2014 and was prioritised for assessment that year. During the assessment process, a new name for the ecological community - Coastal Swamp Oak (Casuarina glauca) Forest of South-east Queensland and New South Wales - has now been recommended.
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 Swamp Oak Forest ecological community is eligible for listing under the proposed conservation status, but also invites other relevant comments and information.”
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 by at least 74%. The extent and integrity of the remaining forests are further impacted by weed invasion, changes to natural drainage and increased coastal development.
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.
A Guide for Consultation is available to help you understand the listing assessment for this ecological community and the potential implications of listing under the EPBC Act.
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.
A set of Questions to guide your comments is also provided, below.
Please 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 draft description in the draft conservation advice clearly and accurately describe the proposed ecological community? 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 and NSW Plant Community Types) 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 in south-east Queensland and New South Wales? If not, how should it be modified?
- The assessment 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?
- A summary of information on the key threats to the ecological community are provided in the draft conservation advice. In your opinion, 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 details.
- 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?
- Are you aware of any particular weed species that act as ‘transformer’ weeds in this ecological community? If so, please provide us with relevant details.
- 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”)?
The public consultation period closes on Friday, 25 August 2017.
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 and Energy
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).