The Scientific Committee
Dept of Environment and Conservation
PO Box 1967
HURSTVILLE NSW 2220 1 October 2004

Attention Suzanne Chate, Executive Officer

ENDANGERED ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES

Our Association supports the listing of the following communities as Endangered Ecological Communities. We are not familiar with the details in other bioregions but can comment on our part of the South East Corner Bioregion, the Eurobodalla Shire.

All of the NSW coast is under great pressure from development and there is no sign of this abating. The coastal floodplains were usually the first places to be settled and have the least remaining native vegetation. Even in those areas still zoned rural, landclearing, weed invasion and too frequent fires continue to devastate remnant vegetation on the floodplains.

In our shire some of these communities have been listed as vulnerable and mapped. While we are hopeful that this will offer them more protection it is difficult to be optimistic. For example, coastal Bangalay-Blackbutt-Banksia forest south of Broulee and north of the Moruya River was recognised as vulnerable but was cleared at one end of the airport runway and some areas are being considered for a major hospital or aged care complex.

These endangered ecological communities need all the help they can get and listing under the Threatened Species Conservation Act may be of assistance.

Freshwater wetlands on coastal floodplains
The current drought conditions have highlighted the importance of even small wetlands as refuges for water birds. The wetlands are important communities and deserve listing.

In our shire many of the wetlands are trampled by grazing stock in rural areas, polluted by urban run-off if they are near settlements, and/or drained by extraction of water from the wetland itself or from linked groundwater.

Montane peatlands and swamps
In our bioregion those montane peatlands and swamps not protected in National Parks are usually found on farms. If they are listed as endangered ecological communities farmers may be able to more easily obtain grants to fence them off from stock Authorities constructing roads, etc may give more consideration to protecting their catchments and ensuring water
inputs are not diverted or degraded by sediment. In addition, local and state government approval authorities may be more reluctant to approve unsuitable activities around the peatlands and swamps.

Swamp Oak floodplain forest
This type of community is certainly under great pressure in our area. Those that remain are often close to urban or rural residential settlement. The Swamp Oaks are viewed as"rubbish trees" by many people, and because they frequently obscure water views the trees are often illegally destroyed by thoughtless home owners.

Listing Swamp Oak forest an endangered ecological community may help educate people about the value of this vegetation type and lead to better implementation of tree preservation policies.

PROPOSED AMENDMENTS

List river-flat eucalypt forest on coastal floodplains (and remove Sydney coastal river-flat forest)

List swamp sclerophyll forest on coastal floodplains (and remove Sydney coastal estuary swamp forest complex)

We support both these proposed listings and amendments. Forests on all coastal floodplains of NSW are under threat due to the urbanisation of so much of the coast.