Rev Fauna Flora Assessment

                                                                                 Native Foresters



5.0 SUMMARY
▪    The vegetation within the Carramar site is mapped as non-remnant under the Vegetation
     Management Act 1999.
▪    The vegetation is not designated Essential habitat for Endangered, Vulnerable or Near
     threatened fauna species.
▪    The subject site lies within a Protected Plants high risk area and within a Noosa Council
     mapped Biodiversity Overlay area.
▪    The vegetation on site was found to consist partly of
     i)      A Melaleuca wetland, with native sedge and fern understorey (approx 4,530m2);
     ii)     A Melaleuca woodland with Lomandra and heath understorey and some rainforest /
             wet sclerophyll elements (approx. 1,822 m2);
     iii)    A grassy parkland with landscape trees and introduced species (approx. 2,780m2);
             and
     iv)     Wet Eucalypt forest (approx. 340m2).
▪    The vegetation in the Melaleuca wetland area exhibits the characteristic structure and
     composition of Regional Ecosystem 12.3.5 – Palustrine wetland, with tall Eucalypt emergents
     (Eucalyptus robusta and Corymbia intermedia) of significant height (20 metres) and girth (500
     millimetres dbh) growing over a sub-canopy of Paperbark tea tree (Melaleuca quinquenervia),
     Black she oak (Allocasuarina littoralis) and dense thickets of Tall saw sedge (Gahnia clarkei),
     Bungwall (Blechnum indicum) and Harsh ground fern (Hypolepsis muelleri).
▪    Species composition is approximately 50% native, 50% introduced on the western edge, and
     90% native, 10% introduced on the eastern edge with a moderate diversity of species
     recorded.
▪    No EVNT flora species were detected within the survey area or 100 metre buffer.
▪    The proposed development will result in loss of approximately 75 % of the native vegetation
     on site, with 25% retained as a corridor to the adjacent Lomandra Park. This involves the
     clearing of approximately 0.75 hectares of vegetation that lies in a designated Environmental
     Protection Area on the Noosa Council Biodiversity overlay. The site is not mapped as
     Riparian Buffer Area on the Overlay map.
▪    Two NCA-listed fauna species, Grey headed flying fox (Pteropus poliocephalus - Vulnerable)
     and Swamp crayfish (Tenuibranchiurus glypticus - Endangered) were identified in the survey
     area, in addition to a number of Least concern mammals, reptiles, birds and amphibians.
▪    Breeding habitat for Endangered Swamp crayfish (Tenuibranchiurus glypticus) occurs in the
     ephemeral ponds near the stormwater outlets and Melaleuca wetland / Gahnia sedgeland
     east of the carpark. The actual / occupied habitat for Swamp Crayfish covers an area of
     approximately 300m2, of which 20 m2 will be cleared as part of the development proposal.
     The modeled potential distribution of Swamp crayfish based on hydrology, vegetation and
     presence of ephemeral ponding on Lot 2 RP177554 is approximately 2,300m2, of which 50m2
     will be cleared for the development and 480m2 will be selectively cleared for the bushfire
     buffer.
▪    The proposed rehabilitation plan will involve weed removal in the retained vegetation and
     0.75 ha of Lomandra Park to improve the values of this vegetation.
▪    The Melaleuca wetland with sedge understorey may at times be opportunistically used by
     EVNT-listed Wallum frogs (e.g. Crinia tinnula and Litoria freycineti), and the ponded water
     around the culverts may provide suitable breeding habitat for Tusked frog (Adelotus brevis),
     however none of these species were found despite targeted survey effort in optimum
     conditions.
▪    The survey area does not lie within a Koala Assessable Development Area and as such is
     not subject to the provisions of the Planning Act 2016 and Regulation 2017 (Schedule 10).


Carramar Extension – Fauna and Flora Assessment – Revision 2                                        36