Comment on Listing Assessment
Comments on this listing assessment closed 13 December 2017. The documents below remain available for reference only.
Download
Draft conservation advice including draft listing advice (PDF - 2.91 MB)
Draft conservation advice including draft listing advice (DOCX - 7.19 MB)
Proposal to list as a nationally threatened ecological community (PDF - 521.06 KB)
Proposal to list as a nationally threatened ecological community (DOCX - 11.79 MB)
About the nomination and assessment
In 2016, the ‘Tuart (Eucalyptus gomphocephala) woodlands and forests of the Swan Coastal Plain’ ecological community of Western Australia was nominated to the Australian Government to be considered for listing as threatened. The assessment is being made by the independent Threatened Species Scientific Committee (the Committee). This independent group of scientists gives expert advice on threatened species and ecological communities to the Australian Government Minister for the Environment and Energy. They will provide their advice on Tuart woodlands and forests in a document called the ‘Conservation Advice for Tuart (Eucalyptus gomphocephala) woodlands and forests of the Swan Coastal Plain’ ecological community. This includes advice on whether the ecological community is eligible for listing under the EPBC Act and in which conservation category (vulnerable, endangered or critically endangered). The Committee’s advice is due to the Minister by 31 July 2018.
The Minister will then decide whether the ecological community should be listed for national protection, and in which conservation category. Under the EPBC Act, this decision will depend on whether the ecological community meets the listing criteria and whether the listing will benefit its survival. The Minister’s decision is due in the second half of 2018.
Invitation to comment
Public consultation on the draft Conservation Advice is an important part of Committee’s assessment. The Department of the Environment and Energy is running this consultation process for the Committee.
The Committee is seeking comments on the proposal, described in the draft Conservation Advice, to list the ecological community as ‘Critically Endangered’, meeting the conditions of the EPBC Act. They would also appreciate other information that helps to clearly define the ecological community or to improve other parts of the draft Conservation Advice. Some questions to guide comments are provided below.
Questions to guide comments
- Does the ecological community merit listing as critically endangered? Please support your comments with any specific information you have. For information on the listing criteria, refer to the Guidelines for nominating and assessing threatened ecological community
- Does the description (in particular, the key diagnostic characteristics) clearly and accurately describe the ecological community and enable it to be identified on the ground? If not, how should it be amended?
- Are the descriptions of how patches of the ecological community are defined, and how condition classes should be applied to patches clear and feasible for application on the ground?
- Is the landscape context and the relationship with other ecological communities adequately described?
- Are the key threats currently affecting the ecological community, or threats likely to affect the community in the future, adequately identified or is there additional information on these threats?
- Are thepriority research and conservation actions described suitable to assist recovery of the ecological community?
- Are the lists of plants and animals likely to be associated with the ecological community accurate and sufficient? If not, what should be added or removed?
- Appendix B acknowledges that the ecological community also has cultural importance, particularly to Nyoongar people. Is the information included in the draft appropriate and accurate? Do you have additional information that you would like included in this section?
Please note that the final Conservation Advice will be publicly available, so any information you provide should be suitable for this purpose. If the information you provide does not come from published sources, are you willing to be quoted as an expert (“personal communication”)?
A Consultation Guide is also provided to assist with understanding the assessment of Tuart woodlands and forests ecological community and listing of ecological communities under the EPBC Act.
See also
Privacy and confidentiality in regard to comments received on the listing assessment
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).