Australia’s ‘most important parcel’ leaves farmers in limbo

Tension is brewing in a small Aussie town as farmers desperate to offload their land are foiled by an unexpected source.

important grassland habitat is being bulldozed. Picture: Google Earth

Tension is brewing in an unexpected Australian town between farmers, desperate to offload their land, and the protection of a critically endangered earless lizard.

Dubbed the country’s “most important parcel”, the area west of Melbourne has become a centre of hot debate between the government and land owners.

According to the Department of Sustainability and Environment, the lizard can also be found in the basalt plains north of Melbourne, Geelong and in central Victoria.

It might seem like a broad area, however this one parcel sits right in the middle of a landscape that was earmarked for development 20 years ago – and is the habitat of some of the few remaining lizards in the country.

Reptile ecologist Peter Robertson and a member of the Victorian Grassland Earless Dragon Recovery Team, said the property where the dragons live is not yet in public hands.

“It’s only three paddocks that the whole world population is now known from, and there’s every chance that it will never be found anywhere else,” he told Yahoo News.

“It may persist in little populations elsewhere, but we don’t know.”

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Victorian Grassland Earless Dragon (tympanocryptis pinguicolla) Picture: Rory Keenan/Zoos Victoria

According to Yahoo News, the farm where the dragon was recovered is potentially worth tens of millions of dollars.

Scientists are concerned the government has not made an offer to buy the property, putting its owners and the future of the dragons in limbo.

Mr Robertson told the publication that conserving the site needed to be the “number one” priority of the government if it wanted to stop its extinction.

“When we can see what’s clearly required, and nothing’s happening, and nothing’s happened for more than two years since the rediscovery. It is really frustrating,” he said.

“This might be the one chance we have to save this species. If we don’t secure that habitat it may go back to apparent extinction, just like we assumed for decades.”

Back in 2010, the Victorian government committed to purchasing 15,000ha of private land over a decade to create the Western Grassland Reserve.

The agreement was made as part of a deal called the Melbourne Strategic Assessment (MSA) that allowed the state to take charge of the development in sensitive areas.

For about 15 years, the MSA has not been updated to include the rediscovery site.

The Biodiversity Council, an independent biodiversity expert group founded by 11 Australian universities, said it’s “disappointed” that potentially valuable dragon habitat has been neglected and allowed to degrade over the past 15 years due to the Victorian government’s lack to acquire it.

A map showing the habitat distribution model for the Victorian Grassland Earless Dragon.

important grassland habitat is being bulldozed. Picture: Google Earth

Biodiversity Council spokesperson Ms Janna Dielenberg told Yahoo News that was in “great healthy condition” is now overrun with weeds, used for dumping soil, or transformed from sheep grazing to crops, making it no longer suitable for dragons.

“Sheep farming has become less profitable over that time. And when they plough it all up for crops it rips up their burrows, and destroys the grasslands forever,” she said.

Victoria’s department of environment (DEECA) said in a statement to Yahoo News it is “protecting” native grassland habitats by continuing to acquire and rehabilitate land.

“This is funded by the MSA levy which is paid by developers and therefore proceeds in line with the rate of development in the area,” it said.

“We are working with the private landholder and other stakeholders on ways to protect the dragon rediscovery site, as well as delivering a successful conservation breeding program for the Victorian grassland earless dragon with the Commonwealth Government.”

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Originally published as Australia’s ‘most important parcel’ leaves farmers in limbo