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After the most recent meeting of Birds Australia’s Threatened Species Committee, a subcommittee of RACC, there is mixed news to report. First, the good news regarding Albert’s Lyrebird. This species, confined to the rainforests and wet sclerophyll forests of south-eastern Queensland and north-eastern New South Wales, was formerly considered Vulnerable because of its small population and restricted range. It has now been decided that, as most suitable habitats within its range are now protected within reserves, the conservation status of the species should be downgraded to Near Threatened. The news was not so good for the enigmatic Painted Honeyeater. The population of this honeyeater, reliant on mistletoes for food, is now thought to be much smaller than previously estimated (by up to a third), and large tracts of its habitat throughout inland eastern Australia have become irrevocably degraded. In light of this, it was decided to upgrade its conservation status from Near Threatened to Vulnerable.
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The Federal Government recently announced the much anticipated 2008–2009 transitional funding arrangements for its Caring for our Country program. Many conservation organisations had been waiting with bated breath, but for Birds Australia, it was well worth the wait, as five of our major applications received funding, an outstanding result and a ringing endorsement of our work.
The most exciting development is the establishment of the Woodland Bird Conservation project, combining the resources and expertise of the Regent Honeyeater and Swift Parrot Recovery Teams into an expanded conservation project aiming to protect all threatened woodland birds in south-eastern Australia. The co-ordinators have already been appointed and the project’s commencement is imminent.
Birds Australia’s projects that received funding were:
Caring for our Country – Open Grants: Woodland Bird Conservation; Threatened Bird Network; Protecting Critical Habitat for the Endangered Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo.
Caring for our Country – Coastcare: Shorebirds 2020; Promoting Coexistence between Recreationists and Beach-Nesting Birds (Phase 2). |
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