australian terrestrial biodiversity assessment 2002 - Land and Water ...

those situations where direct seeding is not suitable
and effective. Thus the $4.5 billion figure represents
a very conservative estimate for vegetation repair.
This huge cost clearly demonstrates that protection
and management of existing habitat must be the
priority action rather than environmental
remediation of past mistakes.
Secondly, restoration in modified landscapes must be
targeted to achieve the greatest biodiversity return as
well as the protection and rehabilitation of
ecosystem services. Issues such as the recovery of
riparian zones, threatened ecosystems and other
special values as identified in this Biodiversity
Assessment, would be part of this regional analysis.
The analysis should also recognise that if
revegetation is not carefully targeted, such activity
could significantly draw upon scarce resources at the
expense of other conservation strategies. Preferably,
revegetation should be implemented only as part of a
mix of strategies that ensure existing remnants are
secure and management is funded.
The complexity of rebuilding a functioning native
ecosystem and additional logistical issues such as the
availability of labour, expertise and local provenance
seed in the quantities demanded by large scale
revegetation works require careful consideration.
Further research is needed into how large scale
rehabilitation might be approached across
bioregions.
The northern gastric brooding frog, Rheobatrachus
vitellinus, is endemic to the Central Mackay Coast
bioregion. It has not been sighted for a number of
years. It is one of only two gastric brooding frogs in
the world and is of medical interest due to its
peculiar gastric physiology (QEPA).
Threatened Species and Ecosystem
Recovery Opportunities
The opportunities for threatened species ecosystem
recovery across Australia in terms of constraints,
regional capacity and where limited measures will
result in significant biodiversity gains is shown in
Figure 9.7.
Key findings from this analysis include:
• Subregions with major biophysical constraints -
Throughout most of the Murray-Darling Basin
including the Mulga Lands of Queensland, parts
of Brigalow Belt North, the Victorian Volcanic
Plain and South Coastal Plain, the Tasmanian
Northern Slopes and Tasmanian Northern
Midlands, the Avon Wheatbelt and parts of the
Mallee bioregions in Western Australia, there are
major constraints to achieve effective threatened
species and ecosystems recovery (11% of
subregions).
• Subregions with significant resource constraints
and limited regional capacity - Across large parts
of all States and Territories there is significant
resource constraints and limited regional
community capacity (34% of subregions).
• Subregions where high levels of return are
possible for limited investment - Throughout
central and northern Australia, including Cape
York Peninsula and the Northern Kimberley,
limited conservation effort would result in
significant biodiversity gains (29% of all
subregions). This is a particularly significant
finding in terms of achieving greater efficiency
for investment in biodiversity conservation.
• Subregions where capacity exists and some
recovery measures in place - In 20% of
subregions, a range of recovery measures are
required though capacity exists and some
biodiversity outcomes have been achieved.
• Recovery measures significantly in place - In
parts of the Wet Tropics, Central Mackay Coast,
South East Queensland and the Eyre Yorke Block
bioregions, recovery measures are significantly in
place (5% of subregions).
138
Chapter 9