Appendix D Terrestrial and Aquatic Biodiversity - Environment ...

Coastal Port Facilities
The coastal port facilities is an area which is targeted for limited clearing (17 ha). The main purpose of
vegetation assessment for this zone has focused on refining existing mapping to NVIS level V at
approximately 1:30,000 scale using aerial imagery and ground-truthing. As the total potential disturbance
area is small (compared to the MLA areas), and is already particularly disturbed and weed infested, the level
of vegetation assessment has been confined to characterising the habitat only. Further assessment will be
required to determine the scope of weed management issues.
Table 2: Summary of vegetation mapping and surveys undertaken for this report
Proposed Zone of
Impact
MLA areas
Haul Road
Corridor
Coastal Port
Facilities
Purpose and Level of Vegetation Mapping and Survey Applied
Purpose: Fine scale description of the vegetation types and identification of notable plant
species (threatened, rare or restricted in range) and assemblages which require specific
management attention.
Level of mapping and survey: Vegetation mapping at ~1:25,000 scale NVIS level V.
Aerial photography: 25cm x 25cm cell size (12 th July 2008)
Extent: 36km 2
Number of survey sites: 107 (62 full reference, 45 check sites)
Timing of surveys: October 2010, May 2011 and February 2012
Purpose: Broad scale ground-truthing of the existing land system mapping at 1:250,000
scale; and
Habitat and identification, delineation and characterisation of high value habitat types,
namely: rainforest, monsoonal vine thicket, billabongs, rocky ridges or escapements and
riparian habits which may be sensitive to disturbance and require specific management
attention.
Level of mapping and survey: Data collection to ground-truth existing land system
mapping at 1:250,000 scale using helicopter survey points (i.e. rapid assessment) and
several detailed vegetation assessments at fauna survey locations (5 survey locations
totalling 21 survey sites) which aligned to NVIS Level V documenting the dominant species
(contributing >5% cover) within three strata.
Notable habitat was targeted along the haul road and surveyed at a level detailed enough to
determine respective habitat quality.
Aerial photography: Bing Maps (ESRI basemap layer) and Google Earth Pro were viewed
at a scale between 1:25,000 and 1:50,000.
Extent: Total length of 164km and width of 6km (984km 2 )
Number of survey sites: 41 outcrop, 112 waterbody, 7 river crossings
Timing of survey: Feb 2012
Purpose: Fine scale description of the vegetation types and identification of notable plant
species (threatened, rare or restricted in range) and assemblages which may require specific
management attention.
Level of mapping and survey: Preliminary vegetation mapping and habitat characterisation
at ~1:30,000 scale aligning with NVIS level V - documenting the dominant species
(contributing >5% cover) within three strata in all distinct vegetation communities.
Aerial photography: Bing Maps (ESRI basemap layer) and Google Earth Pro were viewed
at a scale of 1:25,000.
Extent: approx. 0.1km 2
Number of survey sites: 12
Timing of survey: February 2012
Client: Western Desert Resources Ltd Page 16 of 150
Doc No. DW120004-C0302-EIA-R-0036
Doc Title: Appendix D – Terrestrial Biodiversity Technical Report