MEMBER COMMUNIQUE, MARCH 2020 - BIRDLIFE AUSTRALIA BOARD MEETINGS
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Member Communique, March 2020 BirdLife Australia Board Meetings 22 February and 31 March 2020 The BirdLife Australia Board has met twice so far in 2020, at its normally scheduled February meeting in Melbourne and by videoconference in late March to discuss the COVID-19 crisis and BirdLife’s response. Videoconference, 31 March 2020 All the Board Directors attended the videoconference as well as the CEO and senior BirdLife management. The Board was briefed on steps taken in response to the public health pandemic. This included closing all offices or operating them remotely, with all staff now working from home, together with a range of measures to stabilise critical operations such as mail, banking, reception, payroll, IT and communications. The health, safety and well-being of staff, volunteers and supporters were also considered very important. A planning framework has also been established to deal with the crisis. The economic impact of COVID-19 will be deep, and the Board was eager to ensure BirdLife comes through the crisis as well as possible. The Board noted that BirdLife has a strong financial base which should enable us to continue operating until the crisis passes and economic circumstances improve. The Board and senior management agreed to continue active engagement in scenario and business planning to enable BirdLife to sustain its mission of protecting Australia’s birds. With the current government restrictions on gatherings, the Board noted that it would not be possible to hold the Annual General Meeting in its usual format. It was agreed to conduct the upcoming AGM by proxy. This will be the subject of separate detailed briefing for members. The Board noted that it may be necessary to meet more frequently given the current economic uncertainty. It was agreed that there was a need for flexibility and meetings should be held whenever necessary for the Board to be updated and make decisions. The President and the CEO will remain in regular contact and call a Board meeting when necessary. These meetings will also be held by videoconference. Board Meeting, 22 February 2020 The President welcomed Gary Nelson to his first meeting as a BirdLife Australia Board member. Rob Dunn, Board Director and Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee, indicated he would step down from the Board at the May 2020 AGM. As this was Rob’s last meeting as a Board Director, the President, on behalf of the Board, thanked Rob for the outstanding job he had done as a member of the Board and Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee. The CEO also thanked Rob personally and on behalf of staff. The Board was updated on the status of BirdLife 3.0 and BirdLife’s strategic framework. The Board endorsed the draft vision, mission and goals of BirdLife 3.0. They also discussed the external trends likely to influence BirdLife’s mission into the future. Member Communique 1 March 2020
STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENTS Bushfire Response Planning – strategic issues Staff and volunteers responded swiftly to mobilise an effective bushfire emergency response involving research, conservation, communications and fundraising teams. A ‘360 degree’ approach to managing communications surrounding the bushfire crisis is being implemented for all communications. The Board believed the plan was a good resource. BirdLife International BirdLife Australia contributed extensively to BirdLife International’s comments on the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) zero draft proposal on a post-2020 global biodiversity framework. This will be used to influence negotiations at the Open-Ended Working Group II. Awards The Board endorsed the Awards Committee’s nominations for Honorary Life Members and Distinguished Service Awards. CONSERVATION PROGRAMS Preventing Extinctions The Preventing Extinctions team will consider work on taxa at high risk of extinction as a consequence of the current bushfires. This was outlined in BirdLife Australia’s Draft Bushfire Response Plan. The next iteration of the Conservation Action Plan (CAP) report for the King Island Scrubtit and King Island Brown Thornbill will be circulated to the Steering Committee. The final report on commissioned surveys is now publicly available. BirdLife is also supporting surveys for Western Bristlebird and Noisy Scrub-bird near Albany in a region where Bristlebird surveys have not been conducted since 2001. BirdLife is working with partners to plan post-fire assessments for the Northern Eastern Bristlebird. At least three sites in Queensland are in fire-affected areas. Fire impacts on the Southern Eastern Bristlebird are also of concern and the program will track the species closely as further information becomes available. The next surveys for the Grey Range Thick-billed Grasswren are due to begin in autumn. Staff are in discussion with Western Local Land Services regarding surveys of sites that will undergo on-ground works to improve habitat and a possible workshop for local landowners. Brochures will be distributed throughout the region to encourage reporting of sightings. BirdLife has been working with the Black-throated Finch Recovery Team to review governance, develop a robust survey monitoring program, finalise the Recovery Plan and scrutinise recovery actions by the Carmichael coal mine. Member Communique 2 March 2020
National Laws and Policy BirdLife is drafting a submission to the review of the EPBC Act. A selected list of experts in our network are being encouraged to send detailed submissions. BirdLife met with the Environment Minister and the Independent Reviewer, Professor Graeme Samuel (photo) in early December. BirdLife invited Professor Samuel to accompany its CEO, Paul Sullivan, on a field trip to demonstrate the inadequacies of the EPBC Act. BirdLife is assisting Places You Love to coordinate dissemination of a submission guide. More information can be found at: www.epbcactreview.environment.gov.au Coastal Birds BirdLife Australia will join the Australian Delegation at the 13th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Convention on Migratory Species in February in India. The East Asian Australasian Flyway Partnership Meeting of the Parties will come to Brisbane, Australia in 2021 and will be co-hosted by the Australian Government and BirdLife Australia. The National Directory of Important Habitat for Migratory Shorebirds is currently undergoing review by all Australian states and territories. The Directory identifies internationally and nationally significant habitat for migratory shorebirds and will become a key resource for researchers, conservation groups and decision-makers. Site Action Plans for many of the sites in the directory have been drafted to identify threats and key management needs for migratory shorebirds. As the Shorebirds 2020 project comes to a close and is replaced by a National Shorebirds Monitoring Project, its success will be celebrated with its 1600 volunteers. BirdLife is establishing a new network associated with the Avalon migratory shorebird site. The intention is to work with this group to highlight the values of the Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar site and similarly important shorebird sites (incorporating the Western Treatment Plant, Werribee and Avalon), which will come under increasing pressure in coming decades from development to the west of Melbourne and potentially a second container port. The shorebird floating roost trial is continuing successfully. As the bags and shell contained within the roost become increasingly “fouled” with invertebrates, feeding opportunities increase and shorebirds may remain feeding on and around the bags at low tide. The Australian Government Migratory Species unit has funded a situation analysis on priority habitats for Eastern Curlew in Australia. One element of the project will investigate roost condition and potential management interventions, including feasibility of floating roost deployment. An associated study looking into alternate material is underway. The study is investigating traditional and developing technologies. Member Communique 3 March 2020
BirdLife continues to work with the newly created Toondah Alliance to highlight the potential impacts of Walker’s proposed development of Toondah Harbour (Moreton Bay and Pumicestone Passage KBA). In 2020, BirdLife is celebrating 15 years of the Beach-nesting Birds Program through a social media campaign and an event with key partners. BirdLife is currently monitoring threats and breeding success at 200 Hooded Plover sites. The new Beach-nesting Birds hub will be launched soon providing training inductions, best practice guidelines and training resources for volunteers. It will create greater efficiencies and assist with volunteer engagement, retention and feedback. The season has been impacted by poor weather conditions. Fires also destroyed equipment used to protect nest sites in East Gippsland and Kangaroo Island. BirdLife is looking at the breeding success of terns, Hooded Plovers and Pied Oystercatchers in the Corner Inlet system. The study consists of two fox-free islands and two with foxes. The first paper establishing the split between the Eastern and Western subspecies of Hooded Plover, based on our genetic study has been accepted for publication. The first expedition to Tasmania collected blood samples from seven Hooded Plovers on Three Hummock Island. In collaboration with Deakin University, we have been analysing the long-term Hooded Plover population trajectory since the 1980s. This valuable data set shows the response of the population to conservation investment and will be published to highlight the value of investment. Woodland Birds Birds on Farms in Victoria now has just over 190 properties involved in the project. An analysis of data is underway to inform new guidelines for providing habitat for birds on rural properties. BirdLife has been working with the Local Land Services and other partners to implement the ‘re-ageing the woodlands’ project in the Central West NSW. Activities in the first half of 2020 include nest box production and installation; and registering private land for on-ground works. The Southern Red-tail Black-Cockatoo Recovery Project has set-up bio-acoustic recorders to monitor newly installed nest boxes in the Wimmera region. Nest and stringybark seed crop monitoring will continue and more nest boxes will be installed in the Glenelg Hopkins and South East regions. The Kids Helping Cockies project has students from seven schools who are growing stringybark seedlings. The new Swift Parrot survey method is being promoted among volunteers, with the potential for inclusion within Birdata. Member Communique 4 March 2020
BirdLife has been working with the Regent Honeyeater Recovery Team to coordinate post-
fire recovery actions in response to the bushfires. Spring and Summer surveys have
expanded into central NSW. A new partnership project will reinstate Long-flowered Mistletoe
in previously-burned forests in Cessnock, and covenant habitat.
Cessnock Council is currently considering rezoning the planning overlay for Tomalpin
Woodlands/Hunter Economic Zone to an appropriate environmental zone. BirdLife met with
the Mindaribba LALC CEO to ensure the plan supports the aspirations of Traditional Owners.
The Threatened Mallee Bird program CAP Version 2.0 is awaiting publication. A PDF
version is available. The Mallee Emu-wren Translocation Working Group met late last year
and concluded that drought conditions necessitate deferring the next translocation effort to
2021.
Key Biodiversity Area (KBA) Program
Work continues on updating the KBA Inventory – including a project working with the Great
Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority and a terrestrial project focused on the standard for
ecological integrity.
BirdLife has been working on mapping and preparation of nominations and amendments to
existing KBAs. Fire scars over KBAs have been mapped to assess the impact on current and
nominated KBAs which suggests:
• 144 out of 332 KBAs affected by fire
• A total of 3,052,878 Ha of KBA land has been burnt
• 23 KBAs may have had more than 20% of area affected
• 10 KBAs may have had 50% or more area affected
• Greater Blue Mountains had the largest extent burnt of any single KBA, with 874,579 ha
(81%) affected.
Other key highlights:
• Several branches secured community grants from the Queensland Government for KBAs –
Bulloo Floodplain KBA (surveying Grey Grasswren) and Coastal Wet Tropics KBA
(threatened coastal birds);
• The State of KBA report for 2018 was sent out to Guardians in December and is available
for distribution;
• BirdLife made a submission with BirdLife Tasmania to protect a KBA In Danger (Prosser
River KBA), and
• The Larrakia Nation Aboriginal Corporation won the BirdLife Australia Indigenous Grants
for Bird Research and Conservation in 2019. The grant recognised their outstanding work
for shorebirds in the Shoal Bay KBA.
SCIENCE & RESEARCH PROGRAMS
Monitoring Program
The second iteration of the Threatened Bird Index (TBX) was released in November 2019
and features an increased number of taxa. This increase was due to the inclusion of new
datasets as well as recent new threatened bird listings.
Member Communique 5
March 2020
The challenge ahead lies in institutionalising the index in government reporting processes,
including State of the Environment reporting at state and federal level, NRM reporting, and
perhaps new public-facing reporting such as wellness or happiness indices.
The Department of Energy & Environment (DoEE) included the TBX in its Corporate Plan as a
deliverable. Discussion between DoEE, BirdLife and the National Environmental Science
Program (NESP) has commenced to integrate the TBX into Regional Land Partnership
reporting.
State of Australia’s Birds (SOAB) 2020 will incorporate the TBX and indices for wetland
birds, shorebirds and terrestrial birds at the species and sub-species level. This will be a first
for Australia. A significant portion of work on SOAB (eg spatial analysis and mapping) aligns
closely with the new Action Plan for Australia’s Birds currently in development.
SOAB 2020 and Action Plan for Australia’s Birds 2020 will have revised delivery timelines as a
result of resources diverted to bushfire mapping and analysis.
Taxonomic updates will flow through to SOAB 2020 as well as forming the basis for a major
update to birdata (including contributors’ personal lists).
The first phase of birdata redevelopment is now complete, with a focus on improved user
interface functionality, including raw reporting rates for individual species. The homepage
redesign is being tested and will deliver a more engaging and interactive user experience.
Other changes include colonial nesting bird functionality (only for trained observers) and
CockyWatch; a driving survey to (safely) collect information on Black-Cockatoos in WA.
Further external review of the waterbird indices has also been revived and this is being
integrated presently so that those results can also be presented in upcoming SOABs. The
results are also being used in the 2020 Action Plan for Australian Birds review.
The Birdata developer is expediting changes to collect additional information on bushfire
impacts at survey sites.
Structured Monitoring Projects
The Birds in Plantations project for PF Olsen Australia has had a successful fifth year, with
over 300 standardised surveys completed across the three survey areas (Green Triangle,
Western Victoria; Albany, Western Australia and Kangaroo Island, South Australia). All data
has been analysed and results support previous years’ findings:
• plantations and the remnant habitat maintained within them support diverse bird
communities.
• several species of conservation value are actively using plantation habitat in all three
areas.
Wetland Bird Program
BirdLife Australia staff are helping to progress recovery planning for Australasian Bittern
and Australian Painted Snipe. Draft recovery plans for both species will precede the
formation of a recovery team or teams for these species.
A background document/literature review on the ecology of the Australasian Bittern for
Glenelg Hopkins CMA is near to completion. Information will be extracted from the document
and included in a booklet with photos to inform landholders about the way they can manage
Australasian Bittern habitat on private land.
Member Communique 6
March 2020
BirdLife WA staff are also working with farmers across the south-west to identify, map, conserve and enhance critical wetlands for the conservation of the Australasian Bittern. BirdLife is working with stakeholders in Victoria and NSW to improve assessment on landscape-scale delivery of environmental-water for waterbird outcomes, including a WetMAP project with the Arthur Rylah Institute to deliver waterbird modelling, local response monitoring and citizen science monitoring. A project specific bird identification guide will be prepared for the project and is likely to be based on BirdLife Australia’s National Bird Identification Guide. The second phase of the Great Barrier Reef Catchment Wetland Bird Monitoring Project is underway and will continue until early 2021. Some of the restored wetlands are unrecognisable from two years ago, with small flocks of migratory waders at Mungalla and very low weed levels. The wetland at Fig Tree Lagoon has been built and the first surveys conducted. Surveys have commenced at Victoria Mill, where weeds are still prevalent but good numbers of piscivores are present. BirdLife was invited to participate in DELWP’s Organisational Working Group for both the Eastern Bristlebird translocation Program and the Gabo Island Rat eradication program. Melbourne Water Regional Bird Monitoring The latest report for the Melbourne Water Regional Bird Monitoring Project was approved by Melbourne Water and has been uploaded to the BirdLife website (http://www.birdlife.org.au/projects/melbourne-water-biodiversity-surveys). WA Program The Urban Bird and Black Cockatoo projects are progressing well. The 12th year of the Great Cocky Count is being planned. Based on a recent review of the data analysis methodology, we are gaining greater confidence in population estimates and trends for this region. One year into Cocky Watch, over 400 road transect surveys have been submitted and in coming years data will be used to estimate regional populations and seasonal movements of all three species of Black-Cockatoo across the south-west. The survey method has been incorporated into Birdata to make surveys easier to record and submit. Urban Bird Program The Urban Birds CAP has identified eight urban bird targets, 19 threats, and eight priority strategies. Priority strategies have been assigned to one of three working groups: 1. Industry and Developer, 2. Engage and Mainstream and 3. Government Policy and Enforcement. Upcoming opportunities to profile the CAP and connect with potential partners include BIGnet in April 2020 and a biodiversity forum and workshop in June 2020. Member Communique 7 March 2020
The Urban Birds team worked hard post bushfire on communications, such as advice on supplementary food and water advice and design and placement of nest boxes. Results from the 2019 Powerful Owl breeding season in the Sydney Basin are a cause for concern, with 15% of monitored fledglings lost within a week. Further, road mortality of predominately adult birds continues to rise. Post fire we have huge concerns for the national population of Powerful Owls, with modelling predicting a 30% loss of habitat throughout its range. This may warrant a review of its EPBC status and listing. A series of free webinars for the seasonal Birds in Backyards and Birds in Schools (BIS) surveys proved very popular. All of these projects involve students submitting data to Birdata via the Birds in Backyards surveys. The Bird Strike Project is moving into the first stage of descriptive statistics for the historical and current data to explore spatial and temporal trends in bird strike collisions, species vulnerability and most frequent outcomes (death, euthanised, rehabilitated etc). Seabird Program Options, budget and timing for initiating a Seabird Program CAP are under consideration for 2020. The Australasian Seabird Group (ASG), with feedback from BirdLife program staff, has finalised a proposal to add seabird beach wreck surveys to Birdata (browser and app). COMMUNICATIONS, ENGAGEMENT & DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM The second dinner was held at the President’s house in December to introduce Melbourne- based supporters to the President, highlight the impacts their support had driven in 2019 and introduce organisational priorities in 2020. A small engagement event was held in Melbourne in late February. Following a request from the Board, the BirdLife website has been updated to make the pathway to becoming a member or Wildbird Protector clearer. CORPORATE SERVICES Finance The Finance team continue with their program of work to improve financial controls and data integrity and enhance financial and project reporting. A review of all project contracts under the accounting policy AASB15 has been completed. The external audit for 2019 financial statements commenced in February 2019. A review of BirdLife’s insurance policies is being conducted. Member Communique 8 March 2020
Governance and Risk
Following confirmation from ASIC that ‘Limited’ has been omitted from the company name,
regulatory and statutory organisations and service providers etc are being notified.
A Whistleblower policy and procedure has been developed and communicated to all staff and
the Network. A copy can be found on the website.
Technology
The Information, Communications and Technology health check was completed in late
December and the report, roadmap and recommendations are being reviewed.
Occupational Health & Safety
No workplace injuries have been recorded. Two incidents were reported from the Network.
An OHS Alert was issued in December 2019 to inform staff and the Network of key updates
to the ‘Bushfire Safety’ section of the BirdLife Guide to Leading Outings and BirdLife
Fieldwork Policy. The next OHS alert is planned for the end of February and will contain
articles on:
• Bushfire Smoke and Air Quality – a reminder to Check Air quality for your activity and
travel areas and follow advice from state and territory health and environment agencies.
• Angry Birds – a reminder to be cautious of swooping birds, follow instructions and signage
when observing owls and general advice for smaller swoopers.
• Top Tips for Risk Assessments - how to do a risk assessment (link to policy) and a link to
Conservation Volunteers ‘In Safe Hands Toolkit’ with common hazards and controls.
Member Communique 9
March 2020You can also read
