Threatened Species Translocation

Narla Environmental’s team of Ecologists, in association with Toolijooa Environmental Restoration, collected Cuttings and Soil Halos from a population of Epacris purpurascens var. purpurascens. These individuals were successfully propagated in a nursery and planted in a dedicated conservation area in the Hornsby Shire local government area.

Epacris purpurascens var. purpurascens is listed as Vulnerable under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016. Large areas of habitat for this species have been extensively cleared and modified to accommodate urban development. Urban run-off, altered fire regimes, and weed invasions have also contributed to its vulnerability.

The purpose of this activity was to bolster and ensure the ongoing survival of this threatened species in the area. This species has a high attrition rate (for cuttings), and our experienced Ecologists recently conducted monitoring that observed the newly planted cuttings flowering in their first year.

Koala Assessment Report

Narla Environmental was engaged to conduct a Koala Assessment Report to accompany a Development Application for a proposed dwelling in the Hawkesbury Local Government Area (LGA). The entirety of the Subject Site was dominated by bushland and was located on the edge of the Blue Mountains National Park. The Koala Habitat Protection SEPP (2019) applied to this development as there was no approved Koala Plan of Management for the land, the site had been identified on the Koala Development Application Map, and the site had an area greater than 1 hectare.

The Koala Assessment Report was carried out by one of Narla’s suitably qualified ecologists and followed the guidelines set out in the Koala Habitat Protection Guideline. It detailed the following:

• The Koala Habitat Values of the site;

• How the development was avoiding impacts to Koalas and Koala habitat;

• Potential impacts from the proposed development; and

• Management plans to protect Koalas and their habitat.

This report will be submitted along with the Development Application, satisfying the requirements of the new State Environmental Planning Policy (Koala Habitat Protection) 2019.

Learn more about the Koala Habitat Protection SEPP (2019) and find out if it applies to your development by clicking here.

Narla Celebrates World Environment Day 2020 - Biodiversity

Narla is proud to celebrate World Environment Day 2020. The theme this year is Biodiversity, an integral factor of Australia’s unique ecosystems, and a resource that Narla is actively working to protect and enhance.

During our Dam De-watering works, we safely capture and relocate native turtles, eels, fish, and bird species from dams and waterways. Hollow Bearing Trees are cleared under the supervision of our spotter-catcher team. The hollows vary in size and depth, accommodating a lot of biodiversity including birds, bats, mammals, and reptiles. These animals are safely captured and translocated. Another way our ecologists have worked to support Australia’s biodiversity is by installing nest boxes to offset the clearing of native vegetation involved in development. A lot of Australian wildlife relies on tree hollows for shelter. Nest Boxes of varying sizes are hung in trees and act as artificial shelters to accommodate species that are translocated during clearing works. Our ecologists then monitor the installed nest boxes to ensure they are effective at providing habitat for these species.

Narla has encountered and safely translocated a variety of native flora and fauna species during our Project Ecologist works. Have a look at some of our biodiversity highlights from this year.

Ecological Constraints Assessment on the Northern Beaches

Narla Ecologists have recently conducted an Ecological Constraints Assessment (ECA), also known as a Pre-construction Constraints Assessment, within the Northern Beaches Area in New South Wales. An ECA provides land owners with a detailed report outlining all the potential ecological and environmental constraints associated with their property. This report is then used in the planning process when purchasing a property or submitting a development application for property subdivision, dwelling alterations, demolition or construction. By conducting an ECA early in the planning process, our clients are able to save extensive amounts of time and money by helping them navigate around Environmental Legislation they might not have been previously aware of.

Mapping Bushfire Affected Stewardship Sites

Narla Ecologists recently used UAV hardware, and state of the art mapping software, to investigate the extent of damage caused by the 2019/2020 bushfires at a 400 ha Biodiversity Stewardship Site in the Garland Valley, NSW. This innovative technique enabled Narla’s Ecologists to rapidly assess impacts to biodiversity on a very large scale, which reduced the time on site to a matter of hours rather than days.

Using UAV technology to acquire real-time, high-resolution aerial imagery is proving to be an invaluable tool for the future management of this site.

The site is known to house the EPBC and BC listed endangered Persoonia hirsuta.

Spiked Rice-Flower

Narla Environmental’s ecologists recently led large-scale, targeted surveys for threatened flora species throughout Western Sydney. Narla’s Ecologists were fortunate enough to encounter multiple populations of Pimelea spicata (Spiked Rice-Flower).

Spiked Rice-Flower is listed as Endangered under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (BC Act) and the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

Spiked Rice-Flower is a cryptic herb, which is difficult to detect whilst not in flower and may not be apparent aboveground during drought conditions. Pimelea spicata flowers sporadically throughout the year, with flowering likely to depend upon climatic conditions, particularly rainfall (DEC 2006).

Fortunately, with recent rainfall across Western Sydney, flowering populations were easily detected by Narla Environmental’s ecologists.

Rarest Flora Award

Narla Ecologist, Chris Moore, has received our annual 'Rarest Flora Award' for his find of Persoonia hirsuta subsp. evoluta (Hairy Geebung).

“Was lucky enough to come across a population of the state and federally listed Endangered Persoonia hirsuta subsp. evoluta (Hairy Geebung) whilst establishing a Biodiversity Stewardship Site for a client on their property in the Hunter Region.”

— Chris Moore