The detection of an increased number of critically endangered swift parrots near a coal mine in north-west New South Wales highlights flaws in Australia’s national environmental laws, advocates say.
Conservationists called on the federal government to protect remaining habitat for the swift parrot in the Leard state forest from further clearing.
It comes after winter surveys conducted by mining company Idemitsu observed 21 parrots in an area of the forest near its Boggabri coal mine site, according to meeting minutes. A similar number of parrots (20) were detected the previous year, up from 13 in 2012.
The Lock the Gate Alliance and BirdLife Australia said they were concerned further clearing for mining was planned in the Leard state forest, despite the known presence of swift parrots in the area.
They said this demonstrated a need for forthcoming reforms of Australia’s environmental laws to guarantee protection of habitat for species that were critically endangered.
The swift parrot is a migratory bird that spends winter in Victoria and NSW and summer in forests in Tasmania.
Idemitsu conducts annual swift parrot surveys in the forest surrounding its mine. The company has approval to clear more areas of the Leard state forest over the next three years.
An Idemitsu spokesperson said recent extensive surveys had confirmed the presence of up to 16 parrots in habitat outside the areas covered by the Boggabri mining leases.
George Woods, the Lock the Gate Alliance’s head of research and investigations, said the significance of the species’ mainland habitat was that it was used for foraging, meaning any remaining mature flowering trees in the area of the mine could be important.
She said sites that attracted repeat visits from the species were considered especially valuable habitat.
“This extraordinary situation has exposed the urgent need to overhaul Australia’s environment laws,” Woods said.
“Idemitsu has cleared vast swathes of an irreplaceable forest. It’s required to search for swift parrots, but is under no obligation to stop clearing their habitat if it finds them.
“The discovery of critically endangered birds should bring clearing activity at the mine to an immediate halt.”
Woods said under Australia’s existing laws the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, could vary a development’s conditions if she considered impacts on a protected species were substantially greater than when a project was originally assessed.
She urged the minister to consider whether that might be the case here and whether conditions should be altered to prohibit further clearing of potential habitat for the species.
Woods said the government’s promised reform package for the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act “must ensure we identify and protect all remaining habitat for critically endangered species like the swift parrot”.
Draft legislation is expected to be released for public consultation before the end of the year.
Mick Roderick, BirdLife Australia’s representative on the swift parrot recovery team, said swift parrots were on “a fast track to extinction within the next 10 years if we continue with business as usual”.
“Protecting the places where they are known to feed and congregate, such as the area in and around Leard State Forest, is not only important for individual birds, it is critical to the survival of the whole species,” he said.
A spokesperson for Plibersek said the government’s “strong new environment laws will require developments to avoid unacceptable impacts, as well as deliver a nature positive outcome for critically endangered species”.
“The Albanese government has so far preserved an extra 40m hectares of Australian ocean and bush,” they said.
“And we are better protecting our threatened species as part of a $500m investment.”
Idemitsu’s spokesperson said the company was committed to the protection and preservation of the environment and believed it had a responsibility to leave “a positive legacy for future generations”.
They said the company worked closely with governments and consultants to manage the mine’s impact on the environment. This included monitoring programs and progressively rehabilitating “the mined area to re-establish pre-mining biodiversity values”.
