Vale Striped Legless Lizard, Earless Dragon?

The Age

Saturday November 18, 2006

CLAY LUCAS

Life is tough on the fringes - especially for non-humans, reports Clay Lucas.

MCMANSIONS are winning out over wildflowers and bandicoots on Melbourne's fringes, according to a major study of urban growth.

The three-year study - funded by all levels of government, and the housing industry - slams state and federal governments for their efforts to protect our most endangered animal and plant species in Melbourne's last remaining grasslands and native habitats.

"People need to be aware that we are making the decision to sacrifice a bunch of species for development," said Dr Sarah Bekessy, lead author of Biodiversity Planning in the Urban Fringe.

"People care about driving things to the point of extinction," she said.

The joint study by the University of Melbourne and RMIT is funded by the Federal Government's Australian Research Council; the State Government's Department of Sustainability and Environment; councils across Melbourne and developer Stockland.

It is analysing the impacts of outer-urban housing developments on Melbourne's richest refuges for vulnerable species - such as the south-western corridor of Wyndham.

More rare animals live in that corridor than in Kakadu National Park, according to Dr Bekessy.

Species at risk of extinction on Melbourne's urban fringe include the striped legless lizard, the golden sun moth, the grasslands earless dragon, regent honeyeater bird and growling grass frog.

Plants include the spiny rice flower and matted flax lily - both listed under the Federal Government's Environment Protection Act as endangered. The same act was used to protect the orange bellied parrot from a proposed wind farm in the Bald Hills this year.

The group's research shows neither State Government planning blueprint Melbourne 2030, nor the Federal Government's environment policies have frameworks to protect biodiversity hotspots in Melbourne's growth corridors.

She said the State Government had not:

? Done enough mapping of key areas on Melbourne's fringes to find out which plants and species were there.

? Recognised that Melbourne's biodiversity hotspots overlapped with areas also identified as housing growth corridors.

? Identified key species likely to become extinct without stopping habitat loss caused by housing developments.

? Done enough strategic planning to manage biodiversity on Melbourne's fringes, leaving it all up to councils struggling to cope with a deluge of development applications from developers.

"The data that the State Government has on our threatened species is pathetic," Dr Bekessy said. "Of course, the state Liberals' policy is to completely get rid of Melbourne's urban growth boundary, so they don't have any solutions either."

Over 50 per cent of Victoria's threatened flora and fauna occur on Melbourne's fringes.

But highly significant areas remain under threat, according to Environment Victoria, including grasslands earmarked for development on the former Laverton air base, red gum woodlands on VicUrban's flagship Aurora development at Epping and the Barnbam Swamp wetlands near Cranbourne.

Planning Minister Rob Hulls said the Government's native vegetation framework tackled many of the issues covered by the research, although he would wait until the research was complete next year before commenting further.

However, Mr Hulls said the Government had moved to protect the land through its green-wedge legislation, and urban growth boundaries, which aim to restrict urban sprawl within existing city limits.

© 2006 The Age

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