Clawing back land as rare find creates doubts

Council to consider aged care expansion in light of fauna find

The extremely rare swamp crayfish. Picture: Contributed

A POSSIBLE new species of swamp-burrowing crayfish found at Tewantin looks set to prevent the extension of an aged care facility on to its habitat.

Noosa Council planning staff in the coming round of meetings recommend approval for a 48 dementia bed expansion at the Carramar centre on Cooroy Noosa Rd, provided the highly endangered swamp crayfish's wetland is protected.

If approved, the wetland section would have to remain in perpetuity under an environmental covenant with Noosa Council as the guardian. Council planning staff want no vegetation removed "within the Q100 flood line and east of the existing car park footprint”.

"Expansion of the development footprint to the east will result in the loss of suitable habitat for threatened species and cause localised extinctions,” a council planning report said.

Councillors will discuss the Noosacare Inc application for eight new buildings which has 68 letters of support.

The report said a formal pre-lodgement meeting was held with the applicant's key consultants and representatives of the property owner last September about the proposed removal of about 7500 square metres of vegetation.

The council has identified biodiversity as a critical issue given the proximity to national park areas and the impact on the habitat of threatened species such as the wallum and tusked frogs plus the crayfish.

Although a fauna survey found none of these frogs on site, two of the "extremely” rare crayfish were detected and scientists rate the likelihood of others living in the area as high.

"It is usually found among sedges rather than in open water,” the council report said.

"A large period of the year is spent below ground in elaborate community burrows that may extend over 1.5 m below the surface. Furthermore, recent discussions with (swamp crayfish expert) Dr Kat Dawkins has indicated the Tewantin clade (defined as a group of organisms believed to comprise all the evolutionary descendants of a common ancestor) represent a new species.”

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature urges protection of these crayfish which faces "an extremely high risk of extinction”.

"Unless more populations are identified and analysed, this could potentially be the only remaining population for this species,” the council report said.

Dr Dawkins has advised construction activities "almost inevitably results in extirpation (extinction) of the local population”.

The report is critical of present land management practices on the site, including dumping of garden waste in the wetland area and unlined stormwater channels.