Source: NSW CRA/RFA Steering Commitee

Surprise Findings In Forest Survey

30 June 1997

A flora and fauna survey in the north east forests has unearthed some unexpected findings, including one plant, the Lismore muttonwood, which was thought to be extinct.

The scientific survey was a major collaborative effort, with teams of volunteers, scientists and technical staff from National Parks and Wildlife Service and State Forests of NSW joining forces on a round-the-clock forest watch. No previous survey of the region has been so comprehensive in scope and detail.

The survey is critical to the joint State-Commonwealth comprehensive regional assessments (CRAs) which will determine which areas will form part of a national reserve system of forests and which will be available for economically sustainable timber production and other forest uses.

The upper north east survey has looked at all terrestrial vertebrates (animals with backbones that live on land) which include not only large ground and tree marsupials but also bats, frogs, snakes, lizards, skinks and birds. Rare plants have also been the focus of intensive searches by botanists.

"With this comprehensive survey we are learning in greater detail what’s out there, where it lives, and in what numbers," Rex Bowen, Director of the NSW Resource and Conservation Assessment Council (RACAC), said. RACAC is the NSW Government body overseeing in cooperation with the Commonwealth’s Forests Taskforce the comprehensive regional assessments.

"This is vital information for the successful future management of these areas."

Doug Binns, Ecologist with State Forests of NSW, said that the surveys were valuable in covering some previously unsurveyed areas.

Geoff Moore, NPWS Manager of the CRAs in Coffs Harbour, said that five teams of five people had spent three months in the forests from Bulahdelah to the Queensland border.

"They occasionally had a hard time of it camping out in wet weather and boggy ground, but the data collection and scientific rewards were well worth it," Dr Moore said.

"The Green-thighed frog, for example, is usually only recorded after heavy summer rains, so by having five teams in the bush during last summer’s wet conditions, significant new locations were discovered for a species about which very little is known.

The field coordinator of the surveys, Mick Andren, said that apart from the Green-thighed frog the teams had recorded a rare grass owl, quolls, yellow-bellied gliders and, unexpectedly, Stephens Banded Snake and a Pale-headed snake.

"We spotlighted at night, we set baited tubes to snare the hairs of prying animals, we played recorded owl calls on megaphones and then recorded the response, used sonar detectors to record bat signals and turned over a lot of logs and stones," Mr Andren said.

"Some finds were unexpected. A couple of locations of the threatened New England Tree frog were discovered only after the frogs responded to a recorded owl call. Just as well it was us and not the real owl."

The survey’s Flora Coordinator, Carmel Flint, said the flora surveys had been a revelation.

"We found an unidentifiable stringybark eucalypt - about 25 metres tall - which may be a new species; the experts are checking. We also discovered two Lismore Muttonwood plants - a species recorded only once in the last 50 years and presumed extinct. These may be the last two in the world. Also, we rediscovered a little native vine (Tylophora woollsii) whose last known population was destroyed."

"We found specimens in places where we wouldn’t have thought to look for them and other species we didn’t expect to find," Ms Flint said.

RACAC’s Rex Bowen confirmed that no previous survey in the region has been so ambitious in scope and thorough in detail.

"The research and methodology has been open to the scrutiny of the scientific community as well as to stakeholders," Mr Bowen said.

"The survey will fill in many gaps in existing data and will allow a full species assessment for national parks and State forests in the north east.

"The fact that people from all sectors of the community have contributed their experience and expertise makes the survey all the more worthwhile. The CRAs are all about broad stakeholder involvement and it is gratifying to see it happening at the level of raw data collection," he said.

To date the surveys have been conducted in State forests and national parks. Private landholders interested in fauna surveys on their land would be helping the survey to present the most accurate picture possible. Mr Bowen said ground surveys for the CRAs would only occur with the full and voluntary agreement of owners.

Of particular interest are bush remnants within the tablelands and lowland coastal river valleys. If you are interested in your land being surveyed as part of the CRAs, please contact Carol Morris at the Resource and Conservation Division on 02 9228 4153.

Contact: Gillian Higginson 02 9228 3166

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