Final Report on Northern Territory Islands: improving Australia's ability to protect its island habitats from feral animals

2005
Northern Territory Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts

Report prepared by Brooke Rankmore on behalf of the Biodiversity Conservation Unit
Department of Natural Resources, Environment and the Arts. Northern Territory, Australia, November 2005

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About the report

Islands play a significant role in the conservation of Australia's flora and fauna. The isolation of islands protects their inhabitants from threatening processes occurring on the mainland.

Within the Northern Territory much of the information on island biota has been collected ad hoc, and is not based on intensive systematic surveys. However, intensive fauna and flora surveys have been conducted on the Tiwi Islands (Woinarski et al. 2003), the Wessel and English Company Islands (Woinarski 1998), the Sir Edward Pellew Islands (Johnson and Kerle 1991; Taylor et al. 2004a) (although only the major islands in the group were studied during both surveys), Groote Eylandt (Webb 1992) (although this study only surveyed a small area on the western side of the island) and Indian Island (Wilkins et al. 1999).

Many other major islands (Maria, Bickerton and islands off Groote Eylandt) and island groups (Vernon, Goulburn, Peron, Sir George Hope, Cunningham and Crocodile Islands) remain unsurveyed.