Appendix A - Flora and Fauna Survey - Grange Resources

� The ‘Priority 3’ ecological community – Swamp Yate (Eucalyptus occidentalis) woodlands in
seasonally inundated clay basins (South Coast).
3.2.2 Environmentally Sensitive Areas
The DEC’s online Native Vegetation Viewer was searched to determine the location of any
Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs) within the vicinity of the Study Area, as declared by a Notice
under Section 51B of the EP Act.
There are no ESAs within or adjacent to the Study Area.
3.2.3 South Coast coastal macro-coridor linkage
The South Coast Coastal Macro-Corridor Project was a culmination of local, state and international
developments in landscape and bioregional-scale nature conservation to help address the threats to
biodiversity through habitat fragmentation. The South Coast Macro-corridor is a network of native
vegetation that extends 700 km from Israelite Bay, east of Esperance and westwards through Albany
along Western Australia’s southern coastline, with inland linkages along major river systems to protected
areas and other uncleared bushland. High nature conservation values in the area arise from the
existence of a number of large, intact protected areas such as the Stirling Range and Fitzgerald River
National Parks. The area is within the South West botanical Province, a biodiversity hotspot of
international significance and includes centres of floristic endemism, areas of high floristic diversity and
important refuges for threatened fauna species. The Macro-corridor project aims to maintain landscapescale
biodiversity and meet the needs of the community.
The proposed desalination plant site and approximately 7.5kms of the pipeline alignment is located along
the edge of a recognised weak point in this regional corridor. The weak point is between the northern and
southern sections of Reserve 31240 at the western end of Cape Riche Road; at the narrowest point this
gap is approximately 2 km wide. Most of the land within this area has been cleared for agricultural
purposes. There are some sections of discontinuous vegetation that provide a vegetated linkage,
including a creek line and part of Reserve 14943. The proposed site for the Desalination plant is located
centrally within this gap on cleared land and the proposed alignment for the pipe line lies adjacent to
Cape Riche road (Wilkins et al., 2006).
3.2.4 Conservation Significant Species
Species of significant flora and fauna are protected under both State and Commonwealth Acts. Any
activities that are deemed to have a significant impact on species that are recognised by the EPBC Act
and the State Wildlife Conservation Act 1950 (WC Act) can trigger referral to DSEWPaC and/or the EPA.
The WC Act uses a set of Schedules but also classifies species using some of the IUCN categories. The
EPBC Act protects migratory species that are listed under International Agreements and also protects
marine species on Commonwealth lands and waters.
In Western Australia, the DEC also produces a supplementary list of Priority flora and fauna, these being
species that are not considered Threatened under the WC Act but for which the Department feels there
is a cause for concern. These species have no special legislatory protection, but their presence would
normally be considered. Such taxa need further survey and evaluation of conservation status before
consideration can be given to declaration as threatened fauna. Relevant Federal and State conservation
codes are provided in further detail in Appendix B.
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