No trust in HWC experts
Rare frog found at Tillegra site: confidence in EAR further undermined
University experts have confirmed that a tadpole found in the locality of the proposed Tillegra Dam is the rare and endangered Stuttering Barred Frog (Mixophyes balbus).
The existence of this species was not confirmed in the Environmental Assessment Report, adding yet further evidence that a six day survey of fauna was not adequate to find and report on the presence of all threatened species that would lose habitat and could potentially be wiped out.
The Greens and NTDG are calling on the Department of Planning to reject the report in recognition of the risk that other endangered species have not been identified and the threat to the Stuttering Frog.
The Stuttering Barred Frog is listed under both the NSW and Commonwealth Government legislation as threatened. Under NSW legislation the frog is listed as endangered, whilst under the EPBC Act it is listed as vulnerable. Both categories are high on the threatened species lists.
According to definitions under the Commonwealth EPBC Act, endangered refers to a very high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future and vulnerable to a high risk of extinction in the wild in the medium-term future.
The Stuttering Barred Frog was found as a tadpole in January, 2009, by a local Dungog family. It was considered of interest because of its creamy colouring. The frog has since grown into an adult frog and been formally identified by Newcastle University frog expert, Associate Professor Michael Mahoney.
Amongst the threats known to the Stuttering Barred Frog are modification and loss of habitat and changes to natural water flows and water quality. The construction of the proposed Tillegra Dam would destroy any chance of any of these frog’s survival in the area.
The discovery of this rare frog calls into question the Hunter Water funded Terrestrial and Ecology Report carried out by Ecotone Ecological Consultants. The Ecotone report failed to locate this frog and a number of other threatened flora and fauna which are suspected to be in the Tillegra Dam inundation area.
It is highly likely that other species were also missed, many of which could also be endangered.
The data collection for the report commissioned by Hunter Water was carried out over an extremely short time frame:
· flora field work 3 days (28 November 2007, 9 and 11 January 2009), and
· fauna filed work 6 days (2 November 2007 and 26-30 November 2007).
For an inundation area of 21 square kms, there is a high degree of risk that a number of species were missed.
Even the EAR consultants admitted in their own report to the restrictions imposed on them by Hunter Water :
“Given its large size [Tillegra site area], it was not possible to traverse every part of the study area within the time available.”
The Stuttering Barred Frog is relatively large and muscular, growing to about 8 cm in length. It has large, black eyes and vertical pupils, webbed feet, barred hind legs and a black line from the snout, through the eye and above the ‘ear’. The body colour is brown to olive-green and may be broken into irregular blotches. The underside is creamy-white.
Media Comments
Greens NSW MP John Kaye said: “The discovery of the Stuttering Frog is yet another blow to the credibility of the Tillegra Dam Environmental Assessment Report.
“The Minister for Planning is being asked to assess the impacts on one of NSW’s last free flowing rivers without a reliable ecology survey.
“By pure chance a member of the public found this species that was listed as ‘unlikely to occur’ in the EAR. There are likely to be many more threatened or endangered species that would lose their habitat and be driven even closer to extinction.
“If the Minister for Planning approves Tillegra based on this report, then she may well be signing the death warrant for many other species in NSW.
“The report should be sent back to the drawing board.
“Approving the dam on the basis of this survey would be playing Russian roulette with the future of any number of endangered species. They would lose habitat and some could be driven over the edge into extinction by Tillegra,” Dr Kaye said.
For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455
Sally Corbett, No Tillegra Dam Group said:
Ms Corbett said: “The discovery of this rare and vulnerable frog calls into question the Hunter Water funded Ecology and Terrestrial Report.
“It is unacceptable to environmental groups and the public that a report of this nature can be conducted over such a short time. Our advice is that the collection of potential threatened flora and fauna around the Tillegra site should have been conducted across all four seasons.
“The NTDG Group calls on the NSW Government to halt any further planning work on the proposed Tillegra Dam and conduct an independent scientific analysis of the endangered flora and fauna at the Tillegra site,” Ms Corbett said.
For more information: Sally Corbett 0403 892 093