Appendix D Terrestrial and Aquatic Biodiversity - Environment ...

D-7. Conclusion
7.1 Fauna
Existing data suggests that a total of 192 notable fauna species (as defined in Section 2.7) potentially occur
within the combined search areas. This broad list of species are presented in three separate tables –
threatened species, near threatened species, marine and migratory species – in Appendix D-6 and Appendix
D-7. This list has undergone a screening process to produce a shortlist of those species which are both
plausibly present and potentially vulnerable to disturbance from developments associated with the project.
The first level of screening involved the 138 species listed under the EPBC Act as marine and/or migratory,
but not threatened (Appendix D-7). Firstly, the consideration of marine species does not fall within the ambit
of this report (e.g. sea snakes), and so these have been excluded. Secondly, most of the listed migratory
species are common and widespread across tropical Australia (e.g. Rainbow Bee-eater, Whistling Kite etc.).
Because of this, none of these species present as a management concern for the Roper Bar Iron Ore
Project, and they have therefore been excluded from the shortlist of priority species. Note, however, that
migratory shorebirds are considered collectively in Section 7.1.2.
The second level of screening involved the remaining 54 notable fauna species – threatened, near
threatened and restricted range species. The vast majority have broad distributions with no critical habitats
(such as breeding areas) known to exist within the project areas or their near vicinity. Therefore these
species have been excluded from further consideration as a management concern to the Roper Bar Project.
The outcome of the screening process is a shortened list of 22 priority fauna which may occur within or near
the proposed project areas, and which are potentially vulnerable to disturbance from developments
developments associated with the project, and therefore warrant further consideration for impacts from the
Roper Bar Project. This shortlist is discussed below.
7.1.1 Priority Fauna Species
The shortlist of 22 priority fauna species which may occur within or near the proposed project areas is
presented in (Figure 46 & Table 25). These are species requiring consideration in the EIS because they are
either listed as threatened or else have restricted ranges. All existing records for the project area and
surrounds are presented in Figure 46.
[Note: The NT Atlas contains a record (dated 1977) in the search area for Alexandria Toadlet (Uperoleia
orientalis) – a very restricted range species listed under the TPWC Act as Data Deficient. This record is
likely to be erroneous – field guides, including a recently revised edition (Tyler and Knight 2011), state that
this species has been seen only once in the past 175 years and that historic records are from the Barkly
Tablelands (~500kms to the south). There is insufficient information to determine whether the Alexandria
Toadlet is justifiably a species.]
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Doc Title: Appendix D – Terrestrial Biodiversity Technical Report