Pest and Weed Management Plan - QGC

Pest and Weed Management PlanRev 0May 2011impacts by competing for food or destroying crops, as well as environmental impacts, including reductionof biodiversity, impacts on the landscape and degradation of water quality.The DEEDI recommends control and reporting on non-declared pest animals. Management of thesepests requires coordination and they are subject to programs led by regional government, industry and/orlandowners.In Queensland, the Fisheries Act 1994 (Fisheries Act) is the relevant legislation regarding noxious fishpests. The Fisheries Act provides legislative measures to manage pest fish and address the impacts theyhave on the economy, the environment and society. The DEEDI administers the noxious pest provisionsof the Act and its regulation.In line with the federal government, under the Fisheries Act 1994 the state government can declare anyfish that is or may become a pest to native aquatic communities. For example, European, Mirror and KoiCarp, Cyprinus carpio, is a declared noxious fish and may not be kept, sold or brought into the state andmay not be released or used as bait in Queensland waters. Landowners (including QGC) are required tocontrol any possible release of noxious fish from their impoundments.4.2 General Pest and Waste Management and Monitoring Measures4.2.1 Preliminary Pest IdentificationPreliminary pest surveys may be undertaken, usually in conjunction with vegetation surveys, to identifythe abundance and distribution of pest species across QGC tenements and adjacent lands. Preclearancesurveys are also being undertaken across the QGC Gas Fields (mainly through ProjectEnvironmental Clearances) by Field Environment Officers (FEO) that identify and record the presence offeral animals. This information will then be included into QGC‟s Constraint Planning and FieldDevelopment Protocol (the Protocol).Incidental identification of pest distribution such as signs of feral pig activity may be discovered duringthese preliminary surveys. High abundance and distribution of pest species will be noted and may beused to generate special conditions of access or controls for gas field activities. A survey of QGC ownedtenements has been conducted and incidental identification of pest activities has been recorded.Information from these surveys has been accounted for in this document.4.2.2 Land Owner/Manager ConsultationsQGC representatives undertake consultations with landowners on a regular basis. Preliminaryconsultation forms such as the Property Evaluation Reports (PER) have been developed for land ownerconsultations and weed and pest distributions and management programs are covered in these reports.Information such as the presence of feral animals on the property or neighbouring properties and anyferal animal management programs in place will be recorded. Information on distribution of feral animals36 of 100