Another ecologist has added their name to the community campaign against development on environmentally sensitive land in Brunswick Heads.
Wildsite Ecological Services Principal Ecologist Dr Andrew G Baker is calling on the federal government to immediately seek a review of the proposed ‘Wallum’ housing estate in Brunswick Heads under federal environmental law.
Dr Baker says the proposal threatens to clear 10.7 hectares of Wallum Sedge Frog habitat.
The species is officially recorded as the vulnerable Olongburra Frog and a matter of national and environmental significance.
But federal regulations only require developers potentially risking matters of national significance to refer themselves to authorities, as opposed to third party reports.
Greens member calls for ‘black comedy’ to stop
The federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water is the authority in the case of the Wallum site, with Minister Tanya Plibersek in charge of overseeing the department.
Environmentalists have been calling for Ms Plibersek to use her powers of intervention under the federal Environment and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act for months but the environment minister has so far said it wouldn’t be appropriate, suggesting the NSW government is the relevant authority.
Greens Member for Ballina Tamara Smith last week said the two Labor governments were ‘passing the buck’ and the subsequent ‘black comedy’ needed to stop.
Ms Smith said she met with Premier Chris Minns last Tuesday, whereupon she raised concerns about the project.
The Greens member says she’ll be putting her concerns on official record in parliament this week.
Caught in the act: rare frog photographed mating in Bruns
Meanwhile, Dr Baker says assessment has understated the potential development impacts on the rare Olongburra Frog, which in turn affects the need for referral to authorities.
‘This approved development will clear most of the species’ habitat on the site, exacerbating the primary threatening processes for the species,’ Dr Baker said via media release.
Southern Cross University Associate Professor David Newell has been researching and advocating on the plight of frogs for nearly thirty years and says urbanisation is a key threat to this species’ ongoing survival.
‘Destruction of habitat in the name of a housing development called ‘wallum’ is a slap in the face to national conservation objectives,’ Professor Newell said via the same release.
Thirteen-year-old QLD conservationist Spencer Hitchen, who has previously featured on ABC television for his advocacy for the Glossy Black Cockatoo, visited the Wallum site this month and says he was able to take some rare photographs of the vulnerable frog species.
‘They are so quick to slip away, making them super hard to photograph,’ Spencer was quoted saying, ‘you can imagine how excited I was to manage to photograph a Wallum Froglet mating during the day’.
‘I’m pretty sure it’s the first ever!’ Spencer said.
‘Adult decision-makers and developers, you need to do better,’ Spencer said, ‘my generation and beyond will not thank you for all the extinctions you are knowingly causing’.
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