The future of the Eagleby Wetlands could hinge on the existence of a migratory bird species being counted this week as part of a national survey.
On September 18, BirdLife Southern Queensland will partner with the Eagleby Community and Wetlands Group to count the numbers of Latham’s Snipe in the wetlands.
The Eagleby Wetlands are regarded a key habitat for the species on its migratory path.
The Eagleby Community and Wetlands Group hopes they can use the count to trigger a referral of the decision to have the Coomera Connector go through the wetlands.
“We’re still fighting, we still believe we’ve got a fair chance of getting it at least on the environmental grounds,” the group’s chair Marilyn Goodwin said.
“We’re currently looking for volunteers to help the experts, so they’ve got big numbers to conduct the survey effectively.”
Ms Goodwin said the wetlands are an important nesting site for the species.
“They come all along the east coast of Australia to nest and breed through our summer months and then they fly back to Japan, and they’re trying to record numbers because there is concern they are diminishing,” she said.
BirdLife SQ is conducting the research on behalf of the national survey led by Dr Birgita Hansen whose work informs state and federal policy on the environment.
The birds are being tracked by satellite from Japan to Australia. On August 24, the study tracked two Latham’s Snipes which had flown 7800km over 5 days to reach Cape York and Gladstone.
Under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, the wetlands “need to have a certain percentage of particular listed species to trigger a referral” under the act, according to BirdLife SQ convenor Sheena Gillman. What would a referral do?
For that to happen, the study needs to prove 18 or more individual Latham’s Snipe inhabit the wetlands.
Ms Gillman is seeking 20 volunteers from the community to help her team.
She said the survey is important for two reasons, including how it will contribute to international conservation efforts.
“One reason is to run the snipe count on behalf of our national group and cooperate with other countries that contribute data to the northern fly way up to Japan and China, but we will also provide data to the Eagleby community,” she said.
Latham’s Snipe is protected under a commonwealth environment and biodiversity act.
The federal government also aims to protect the bird through bilateral agreements with Japan, China, and Republic of Korea through the JAMBA, CAMBA and ROKAMBA treaties.
“People in Japan are counting them right now and finding less snipes travelling through their landscape and they’re blaming Australia because we’re not looking after our wetlands,” Ms Gillman said.
“We’re considered to not be pulling our weight and not respecting our commitments to Ramsar and the JAMBA and ROKAMBA treaties.”
