Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service defends felling about 100 trees for infrastructure in national park
About 100 gum trees have been cleared to make way for new infrastructure in a Tasmanian national park, dismaying a long-time volunteer with years of experience in the area.
Tasmania
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The Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service has defended clearing about 100 gum trees to make way for a new wastewater treatment plant in a national park after concerns were raised that the development could result in the loss of vital habitat for the endangered swift parrot and forty-spotted pardalote.
The project is part of a suite of critical infrastructure upgrades under way on Maria Island and is described by the Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) as crucially important for the ongoing protection of environmental values in the area.
A reserve activity assessment produced for PWS by engineering firm GHD states that construction of the wastewater treatment plant at Darlington will involve the loss of up to 103 blue gum trees from “what is ostensibly a regrowth-structured forest”, as well as the felling of seven white gums.
Swift parrots and forty-spotted pardalotes have been spotted on the island, with blue gums and white gums serving as potential nesting and foraging habitat for the endangered birds.
Recent research estimated that there were fewer than 500 swift parrots remaining in the wild, while scientists say there are roughly 1000 forty-spotted pardalotes left.
A spokeswoman for the PWS said the wastewater treatment plant project was found not to require further assessment or approval under federal environmental legislation.
“PWS engaged a professional ecology consultancy to conduct a natural values assessment and significant impact assessment, which concluded these works are not likely to have a significant impact on any matters of national environmental significance,” she said.
“PWS has committed, through the assessment documentation, to provide three hectares of revegetation to support the establishment of replacement habitat to offset this action.”
The project is viewed as “highly unlikely” to result in a “long-term decline” of endangered species or reduce habitat “to the extent of species decline”, according to the reserve activity assessment.
In a Talking Point in today’s Mercury, Peter Booth, a member of a volunteer group which has been working on bush regeneration projects on Maria Island for more than 20 years, expresses dismay at the loss of the trees.
“In this action all established protocols were followed, including opportunities for public comment, so why was the outcome so environmentally damaging and, arguably, so unnecessary?” he writes.
According to Mr Booth, there were other treeless areas that could have served as the location for the wastewater treatment plant.
The clearance of the trees was undertaken in June and works on the structure are expected to begin in the first half of next year.
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Originally published as Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service defends felling about 100 trees for infrastructure in national park
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