Publications
NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service, July 2001
ISBN 0 731 36213 6
There is considerable international concern about declines and extinctions of many populations of amphibians at high altitudes (eg. McDonald 1990; Carey 1993; Fellers and Drost 1993). The Australian Alps has not been immune from such declines, where at least five species of frog are reported to be in serious decline (Gillespie et al. 1995; Hollis 1995; Hunter et al. 1997). These include several endemic species such as the Baw Baw Frog (Philoria frosti) (Hollis 1997) and the Southern Corroboree Frog (Pseudophryne corroboree). This Recovery Plan summarises our current knowledge of the Southern Corroboree Frog (P. corroboree), documents the research and management actions undertaken to date, and identifies the actions required and parties responsible to ensure the ongoing viability of the species in the wild.
The attainment of this Recovery Plan's objectives is subject to budgetary and other constraints affecting the parties involved. It may also be necessary to amend this Recovery Plan in the event of new information or following recommended changes to the Recovery Program by the Recovery Team. The information in this Recovery Plan is accurate to January 2001.
The Southern Corroboree Frog is now considered to be Critically Endangered using the criteria applied by IUCN (Tyler 1997) and has been officially listed as Endangered under both the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) 1999 and the NSW Government Threatened Species Conservation Act (TSC Act) 1995.
The TSC Act provides a legislative framework to protect and encourage the recovery of threatened species, endangered populations and endangered ecological communities in NSW. Under this legislation the Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife (NPW) has a responsibility to prepare Recovery Plans for all species, populations and ecological communities listed as endangered or vulnerable on the TSC Act schedules. Similarly, the EPBC Act requires the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment to ensure the preparation of a Recovery Plan for nationally listed species and communities or adopt plans prepared by others including those developed by State agencies. Both Acts include specific requirements for the matters to be addressed by Recovery Plans and the administrative process for preparing Recovery Plans.
This Recovery Plan has been prepared to satisfy both the requirements of the TSC Act and the EPBC Act and therefore will be the only Recovery Plan for the species. It is the intention of the Director-General of NPW to forward the final version of this draft Recovery Plan to the Commonwealth Minister of the Environment for adoption, once it has been approved by the NSW Minister for the Environment.
The TSC Act requires that a public authority must take any appropriate measures available to implement actions included in a Recovery Plan for which they have agreed to be responsible. Public authorities and councils identified as responsible for the implementation of Recovery Plan actions are required by the TSC Act to report on measures taken to implementation those actions. In addition, the Act specifies that public authorities must not make decisions that are inconsistent with the provisions of the Plan.
The NSW NPWS is the only public authority responsible for the implementation of this Recovery Plan.
The lands on which the Southern Corroboree Frog occurs include those that are owned or managed by the NPWS. Relevant legislation includes:
The interaction of these Acts with the TSC legislation is varied. The most significant implications are described below and in Section 2.5.
The Rural Fires Act 1997 requires that all parties involved in fire suppression and prevention must have regard to the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development (ESD) when exercising their functions and when preparing Operational Plans and Bush Fire Risk Management Plans. Consideration of the principles of ESD must include the conservation of biological diversity and ecological integrity. Within this, consideration must be given to the impact on threatened species and their habitats.
The New South Wales Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act) requires that consent and determining authorities, and the Director-General of National Parks and Wildlife, as a concurrence authority, consider relevant Recovery Plans when exercising a decision-making function under Parts 4 and 5 of the EP&A Act. Decision-makers must consider known and potential habitat, biological and ecological factors and the regional significance of individual populations.
The only public authority that has a decision making function in relation to the Southern Corroboree Frog is the NSW NPWS. Activities as defined under the EP&A Act require the approval of the Director-General. Any other action not requiring approval under the EP&A Act, and which is likely to have a significant impact on the Southern Corroboree Frog, requires a Section 91 licence from the NPWS under the provisions of the TSC Act. Such a licence can be issued with or without conditions, or can be refused.
The EPBC Act regulates actions that may result in a significant impact on nationally listed threatened species and ecological communities. It is an offence to undertake any such actions in areas under State or Territory jurisdiction, as well as on Commonwealth-owned areas, without obtaining prior approval from the Commonwealth Environment Minister. As the Southern Corroboree Frog is listed nationally under the EPBC Act, any person proposing to undertake actions likely to have a significant impact on this species should refer the action to the Commonwealth Minister for the Environment for consideration. The Minister will then decide whether the action requires EPBC Act approval.
Administrative guidelines are available, from Environment Australia, to assist proponents in determining whether their action is likely to have a significant impact. In cases where the action does not require EPBC Act approval, but will result in the death or injury of a Southern Corroboree Frog and that individual is in, or on a Commonwealth area, a permit issued by the Commonwealth Minister under the EPBC Act will be required.
The Environment Minister can also delegate the role of assessment and approval to other Commonwealth Ministers under a Ministerial Declaration, and to the States and Territories under bilateral agreements. At the time of writing of this plan the development of a bilateral agreement between NSW and the Commonwealth was not complete. When in place such an agreement will avoid the need for duplication of environmental assessment.
The TSC Act makes provision for the identification and declaration of Critical Habitat. Under the TSC Act, Critical Habitat may be identified for any endangered species, population or ecological community occurring on NSW lands. Once declared, it becomes an offence to damage Critical Habitat (unless the action is exempted under the provisions of the TSC Act) and a Species Impact Statement is mandatory for all developments and activities proposed within declared Critical Habitat.
Under the EPBC Act, Critical Habitat may be registered for any nationally listed threatened species or ecological community. When adopting a Recovery Plan the Federal Minister for the Environment must consider whether to list habitat identified in the Recovery Plan as being critical to the survival of the species or ecological community. It is an offence under the EPBC Act for a person to knowingly take an action that will significantly damage Critical Habitat (unless the EPBC Act specifically exempts the action). This offence only applies to Commonwealth areas. However an action which is likely to have a significant impact on a listed species is still subject to referral and approval under the EPBC Act.
To date, Critical Habitat has not been declared for the Southern Corroboree Frog. The declaration of critical habitat is not considered to be a priority for the species, as other mechanisms provide for its protection. Given that it only found on land managed by the NPWS, the type of developments or activities which are likely to occur are limited by the provisions of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (the NPW Act).
This Recovery Plan identifies those habitat features and the location of sites currently known to be critical to the survival of the Southern Corroboree Frog, as required by the EPBC Act.