Today\u00e2\u0080\u0099s decision to approve the $82.5 million port expansion at Fisherman\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Landing in Gladstone is disastrous for the area\u00e2\u0080\u0099s threatened dugongs and rare inshore dolphins.<\/p>\n
The Fisherman\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Landing Northern Expansion Project will bury critical sea grass habitat within a designated dugong sanctuary under tonnes of mud and rock, and will have a major impact on the region\u00e2\u0080\u0099s coastal ecosystems.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u0080\u009cThe local dugong population at Gladstone depends entirely on sea grass meadows, a fact that was recognised in the declaration of the Rodd\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Bay Dugong Protected Area in 2002,\u00e2\u0080\u009d said Lydia Gibson, WWF\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Tropical Marine Species Manager.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u0080\u009cThis development will smother a large area of these sea grass meadows under a thick layer of mud and rock, and remove this critical habitat forever.\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/p>\n
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species classifies dugongs as \u00e2\u0080\u0098vulnerable to extinction\u00e2\u0080\u0099 at a global scale, and Australian tropical waters are considered one of the species\u00e2\u0080\u0099 last strongholds.<\/p>\n
WWF has been urging governments to conduct an overarching Strategic Environmental Assessment under section 146 of the EPBC Act to adequately address cumulative impacts in the Curtis Island Gladstone Port Region. This has not happened.<\/p>\n
The area is also home to the rare Indo-Pacific humpback dolphin, which is particularly vulnerable to local threats. The loss of just a few individuals could see this local population disappear.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u0080\u009cThere are over 100 major coastal developments proposed for the Queensland region. Without a strategic approach to managing the impacts on wildlife, it will be death by a thousand cuts for marine turtles, inshore dolphins and dugongs,\u00e2\u0080\u009d Ms Gibson said.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u0080\u009cIf the Queensland Government is serious about protecting the unique wildlife of Queensland they really have to put a stop to the piece-meal approach to coastal development, adopt a more coordinated approach and designate sanctuaries that protect species from potentially devastating impacts of major coastal developments.\u00e2\u0080\u009d<\/p>\n
For further information:
\nCharlie Stevens, WWF Media Manager \u00e2\u0080\u0093 Queensland, 0424 649 689
\nLydia Gibson, WWF Tropical Marine Species Manager, 0406 382 498<\/p>\n
Notes to the editor:<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 Today Australia\u00e2\u0080\u0099s dugong population is only three per cent of its size in the 1960s.
\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 Because they are long lived and slow to mature, population growth is extremely slow and can only ever increase by five per cent a year.
\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 When their habitat quality is reduced (less foraging grounds due to increased coastal development) females dugongs will respond by having less young.
\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 There is a substantial sea grass meadow in the area north of Fisherman\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Landing, consisting of Halophila sp and Zostera sp assemblages1. WWF-Australia is extremely concerned that this proposal combined with scenarios outlined in the Western Basin Strategic Dredging and Disposal Project (WBSDD) – which involves further dredging of shipping channels, swing basins, and construction and management of a proposed Fisherman\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Landing dredge material management area – would be extremely significant and damaging to the marine ecology of the area, its biodiversity and to commercial and recreational fishing in the area
\n\u00e2\u0080\u00a2 Current proposals associated with the dredging of new shipping channels in the Gladstone Port and reclamation of land north of Fisherman\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Landing could result in the destruction of over 400 ha, or 7.0% of coastal sea grasses in the Western Basin of Gladstone Harbour. The loss of this habitat – within a designated Dugong Management Area would be of major significance to the coastal ecosystems of the region. On this basis, WWF-Australia strongly believes that this proposal is unnecessary and unwarranted and approval for the reclamation of Fishermen\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Landing should therefore be denied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Today\u00e2\u0080\u0099s decision to approve the $82.5 million port expansion at Fisherman\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Landing in Gladstone is disastrous for the area\u00e2\u0080\u0099s threatened dugongs and rare inshore dolphins. The Fisherman\u00e2\u0080\u0099s Landing Northern Expansion Project will bury critical sea grass habitat within a designated dugong sanctuary under tonnes of mud and rock, and will have a major impact on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4259,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-581478","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581478","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4259"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=581478"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/581478\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=581478"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=581478"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=581478"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}