Projects:

Cardinia’s frog-friendly future - Cardinia Shire Council has begun work on a major plan designed to minimise the impact of development on frog habitat and population, particularly in the Casey-Cardinia growth corridor.

Green and Golden Bell Frog - Monitoring of the nationally threatened Green and Golden Bell Frog Litoria aurea at Sydney Olympic Park, Homebush Bay, New South Wales.

The Victorian Volcanic Plains (VVP) - A national biodiversity hotspot, the Victorian Volcanic Plains (VVP)

As part of the shift towards more sustainable energy resources, Origin Energy Power Ltd proposes to develop the Mortlake Power Station which will comprise a nominal 1,000 MW high-efficiency, gas-fired power station at Mortlake in southwest Victoria. Gas will be supplied to the power station via a 78-kilometre underground gas pipeline from the Otway Gas Plant near Port Campbell, which is presently under construction.

Ecology Partners has also been involved in the Panel hearing process, appearing as an expert witness.

Astron Ltd. is a major Australian mining company that proposes to develop a mineral sands deposit near Donald in north-western Victoria, describing it as one of the largest zircon projects in the world. The conceptual mine plan extends over 50 kilometres and is based on a 25-year mine-life with construction starting in the first half of 2007 and mining to begin in 2008.

Ecology Partners has been commissioned by Enesar Consulting Pty. Ltd. on behalf of the Donald Mineral Sands Project Ltd to undertake detailed flora, fauna and Net Gain investigations as part of the EES process. The majority of the vegetation within the study area, including roadsides and private property is in a very poor condition, comprising cleared areas with introduced flora species (primarily crop species). The site also supports small remnants of Savannah Woodland and Plains Woodland, and a variety of fauna habitats which are the primary focus of our investigations.

Gippsland Water Factory – Victoria

The Board of Gippsland Water has given in principle approval for a Stage 1 investment of approximately $90 million to be spent over the next three (3) years for the proposed Gippsland Water Factory. In the short term the project will be designed to eliminate odour issues associated with the Regional Outfall Sewer (ROS), while in the longer term, the project could lead to the closure of the ROS.

The original ROS pipeline, and its 43 kilomere open channel section, has been the subject of public concern since it was first announced in 1954. Today, an end is in sight. The Gippsland Water Factory marks the beginning of a new philosophy in managing and re-using wastewater. In the long term, wastewater will not be discharged to the ocean; instead it will be treated to a “fit for purpose” standard and reused by industry. In short, the Gippsland Water Factory will “make water” to the specification required by potential users.

Ecology Partners Pty. Ltd. has been working closely with the Gippsland Water Factory Alliance over the past year and initially completed a broad ecological assessment of the indicative project area. Subsequent to this detailed flora and fauna surveys were completed once the pipeline alignment and proposed development footprint become available. The project team have also completed detailed habitat hectare assessments along the entire length of the study area, and are continuing to work closely with the Alliance and the Department of Sustainability and Environment as part of the Net Gain offset investigations, to ensure that the project is undertaken in accordance with the State Government’s Native Vegetation Management Framework - A Framework for Action.

Grassland Training - Andrew Hill held sessions in "Grassland Training" for the Corangamite Catchment Management Authority(CMA) late last year.

The following Grassland Training article is from Edition 7 Summer 2007 of PlainsFacts - Corangamite Catchment Management Authority.

Ecology Partners Pty. Ltd is currently involved with the Moyne Shire Biodiversity and Land Capability study. The project is researching and collating new and existing data on land use, soils, land suitability, climate change impacts, sustainable development and biodiversity, relevant to the Moyne Shire which will then be used to develop recommendations and planning scheme amendments.

The primary aims of the project are to:

Some of the project expected outcomes and benefits with regard to biodiversity include:

Lead by Luke Hynes (botanist) the project team has recently undertaken the field assessment component of the Corangamite CMA IWC Inventory and Assessment, in which IWC assessments were conducted across the Corangamite catchment. This project enabled us to work closely with DSE in assessing wetland types and condition.

This project aims to achieve a representative benchmark of wetland asset condition for priority wetlands in the Corangamite region. This information will provide meaningful input into future development and to contribute to the Corangamite Wetlands Action Plans, in terms of risk assessment and priority setting frameworks. The project also aims to trial and implement the IWC on a regional scale and collect baseline data which will be used for future monitoring and evaluation of condition of regional wetland assets.

This project has allowed us to aid in the further development of the IWC methodology in Victoria and gain in depth experience in this field.

Lead by Aaron Organ we have been engaged by VicRoads to investigate the ecological values within the road reservation of the Palmers Road corridor in west Melbourne, Victoria. Our work is currently assisting VicRoads to ensure that planning is undertaken in a manner consistent with the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development and with relevant legislation, given that the area supports endangered grassland communities.

As part of the desktop assessment various databases maintained by The Department of Sustainability and Environment were searched, while the field surveys included detailed assessments of flora and fauna values, including targeted fauna surveys for the nationally threatened Striped Legless Lizard, Growling Grass Frog and Golden Sun Moth. A Net Gain assessment and an EPBC referral were also completed. Based on the survey results recommendations were made to ensure that the planning and proposed works proceed in a manner where ecological impacts are avoided and/or minimised.

Ecology Partners Pty. Ltd. has worked with URS Australia Pty. Ltd. and The Environment Protection Authority over several years on the field audits of logging coups within various Forestry Management Areas across Victoria. This is the fifth independent environmental audit of timber production on public land completed in Victoria, and Andrew Hill (Principal Botanist) has been involved in the audits since their conception and has assisted in the review and development of the forestry audit system.

Over the 2007 audits 45 coups (including 11 active coups) were inspected in teams which comprised an accredited auditor who inspected the site and assesses soils aspects, a forester who collected information in relation to forestry aspects, Andrew Hill who assessed any flora and fauna impacts associated with the logging operation. In addition, the audit team reviewed relevant documentation and interviewed DSE and VicForests officers as part of the audit.

Data collected identified positive observations, non compliances and areas for improvement which were then incorporated into a report for the EPA. In documenting the audit results, a scoring system is used to note compliance or non-compliance against all relevant guidelines within the code (in total around 170). In some cases part compliance may be noted, for example where a guideline has several steps to be undertaken to achieve full compliance and not all steps were completed. Ecology Partners Pty. Ltd. and the other members of the audit team have been instrumental in identifying areas of non-compliance and guiding new directions in Victorian Native Forestry.

The Melbourne Water Frog Census is a community-based program to monitor frog populations throughout the Greater Melbourne area. The Frog Census aims to increase community knowledge of local frogs, teach identification skills to participants, increase understanding about where frogs are found, and to raise community awareness about the health of local rivers, creeks and wetlands. The census is run twice per year, once in Autumn and once in Spring.

Ecology Partners Pty. Ltd. has been working closely with Melbourne Water over several years had has conducted pre-census training sessions and currently analyses all of the frog census participant’s data. Once participants have gone out and recorded the calls of their local frogs, these recordings are sent to Ecology Partners Pty. Ltd. (Aaron Organ) for analysis. All frog calls are identified and added to a database, with the results made available on Melbourne Water’s website

Currently over 100 participants have recorded ten different frog species throughout the Greater Melbourne area during recent censuses, including several records of the nationally significant Growling Grass Frog. The team of specialist zoologists are pleased to be able to continue working in partnership with Melbourne Water on this important community program.

As a result of rapid growth in the Pakenham region, increasing areas of land are being developed for residential purposes, requiring the construction of infrastructure such as pipelines. An Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act referral by South East Water to the Federal Government to allow them to install a pipeline and pump station was granted on the condition that a management plan was developed, including measures for the salvage and translocation of any fauna found in the construction zone, including the nationally significant Growling Grass Frog. This process was overseen by GHD Pty Ltd, who contracted Ecology Partners Pty. Ltd. to undertake salvage over the core breeding season of the Growling Grass Frog. A careful search of the pipeline trench and surrounding fauna-exclusion fence was made on a daily basis. Fortunately no Growling Grass Frog’s were detected during these searches, despite several important populations in close proximity to the construction site.

The Department of Environment and Water Resources recently conducted an audit of this project, which was found to comply with all requirements under the EPBC Act.

The Upper Kororoit Creek water pipeline, constructed by Azzona Drainage Contractors on behalf of City West Water, extends between Caroline Springs and Burnside in western Melbourne. A pre-approval flora and fauna assessment undertaken by Ecology Partners Pty. Ltd. identified potential habitat in the local area for the nationally threatened growling Grass Frog and Striped Legless Lizard.

On the basis of this work, our project team were engaged to carry out a habitat assessment and fauna sweep of the pipeline route, provide training to project managers and construction personnel in the identification and handling of fauna, and conduct salvage and translocation of any Growling Grass Frog or Striped Legless Lizard found during construction. During this process, one large female Growling Grass Frog was found and translocated a safe distance along the Kororoit Creek. Information regarding this frog was provided to the Department of Sustainability and Environment for inclusion in the Atlas of Victorian Wildlife.

Several of our botanists and zoologists completed a detailed flora and fauna assessment of the Sherwin Range – Ridge Road/Coombes Road BioSite 5027, near Yan Yean Reservoir, in Whittlesea, Victoria. The purpose of the study was to provide Melbourne Water with a detailed ecological analysis of the area to assist with management and future enhancement of the site and its values. A key aim was to assess the current flora and fauna values of the site in terms of current knowledge regarding the original vegetation and historic use of the land.

A range of techniques were undertaken to survey the flora and fauna of Sherwin Range, including quadrat and transect surveys, Elliot, cage and harp trapping, hair funnel analysis, nocturnal call playback, spotlighting and anabat call analysis. A total of 222 plants were recorded, including 183 indigenous, 3 native non-indigenous and 36 exotic species. Of these plants, 78 indigenous species and 21 introduced species had not previously been recorded within the study area. Over 100 terrestrial fauna species were also detected, comprising 22 mammals (15 native, seven introduced), 74 birds (68 native, six introduced), 13 native reptiles and five native frogs. The majority of these fauna species are common throughout the local area. A habitat hectare assessment was undertaken within 30 quadrats spread throughout the 338 hecatres² site. Over 200 habitat hectares were calculated at the site, which encompassed six Ecological Vegetation Classes.

Based on these results, the project team provided Melbourne Water with a range of management recommendations to protect and enhance areas supporting ecological values into the future.

The Matted Flax-lily is a tufted, mat–forming, perennial lily that is listed as Endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The species was previously considered ‘rare’ in Gippsland, however flora and fauna assessments as part of the Traralgon Bypass and Princes Highway duplication documented this locality as possibly having the largest known population of the Matted Flax-lily in Australia.

With a Commonwealth Government grant, the Department of Sustainability and Environment commissioned Ecology Partners Pty. Ltd. to undertake a targeted Matted Flax-lily survey to accurately determine the population size, distribution, current threatening processes and to prioritise future management actions to ensure the plants are protected.

The survey recorded a total number of 374 Matted Flax-lily plants within the Bairnsdale Rail Reserve and Princes Hwy Road Reserve between Traralgon and Rosedale, Victoria making it the largest known population in Australia and confirming the site’s National conservation significance.

Ecology Partners Pty. Ltd. was engaged by Beveridge Williams and Company Pty. Ltd. to undertake a targeted orchid survey (focusing on national and state significant orchid species) as part of a proposed residential subdivision at Grantville in Victoria.

During the survey, 39 individual state significant Cobra Greenhood Pterostylis grandiflora orchids and an additional six regionally significant orchid species (e.g. Dwarf Greenhood Pterostylis nana and Autumn Bird-orchid Chiloglottis reflexa) were recorded within the study area. Information on the location and abundance of significant orchid species recorded during the targeted survey has been used to prioritise where areas of remnant native vegetation is to be retained and managed in the future, and where development is likely to occur.

Our project team, which is currently led by Aaron Organ, has been working with Peet Limited over the past 2 years on a proposed 91 hectare ‘Cardinia Lakes’ residential subdivision which is located on the south eastern fringe of Melbourne.

During the creation of the 91 hectare ‘Cardinia Lakes’ residential development in Pakenham, Ecology Partners Pty. Ltd. was responsible for assessing areas of remnant native vegetation, and providing advise on regulatory compliance matters. There was also a requirement to develop a comprehensive Net Gain Offset Management Plan which addresses key management actions which were required to be implemented both on the subject site and also offsite, over several years to satisfy the State Government’s Net Gain policy.

Andrew Hill (Director) recently held a series of training days relating to the "Application of the Net Gain Policy  for several Melbourne Water personnel. The training course involved an overview of the Framework (Native Vegetation Management Framework – A Framework for Action) and field training covering the methodology behind habitat hectare assessments.

Ecology Partners Pty. Ltd. was engaged by Melbourne Water to undertake several ecological and cultural heritage assessments to provide advice on the proposed construction of two drainage schemes within the City of Casey.

Ecological, aboriginal and cultural heritage values within the study areas were identified, and the project team provided advice on opportunities to protect exisitng vegetaion remnants and fauna habitats as part of the proposed vegetated channels and Retarding Basin.