27 Aug Conservation management of the Southern Brown Bandicoot

A team from Nature Advisory (BL&A) was engaged to develop a conservation management plan for Southern Brown Bandicoot on a 7.4Ha parcel of land in Garfield, Victoria. This plan was requested by Cardinia Shire Council and the Department of Primary Industries and Environment (DEPI) as part of a planning permit assessment process. The Southern Brown Bandicoot is a listed threatened species under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) and under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act (FFG Act). The species had been detected in mixed native and introduced habitat in the eastern portion of the area and surrounds.

The Conservation Management Plan has been designed to minimise the impact of the proposed development on the Southern Brown Bandicoot. It includes the identification of areas where bandicoots occur so management zones can be identified and also the identification of threatening processes that require management.

The plan sets out the creation of a conservation reserve including revegetated bandicoot habitat corridors as part of the proposed development. In these areas, dense revegetation has been recommended, using indigenous species, to be established prior to the loss of dense cover arising from weed removal. Weed removal will be carefully staged so the bandicoots are not left without habitat at any time.

Predator control measures are an important component of this plan.  The area will have predator and rabbit exclusion fencing with pipes (<15 cm in diameter) at ground level to allow free bandicoot movement whilst reducing the access for predators and therefore adverse impacts on the local bandicoot population. Domestic animal control is also essential and having the housing development a cat-free zone is recommended. Community education will be a very important part of the delivery of many aspects of the plan.

A revegetation program will maximise safety and movement opportunities between areas of suitable habitat that be retained and enhanced.  It is envisaged that in the long term the bandicoot corridors will be part of a habitat link connecting with other suitable bandicoot habitat in the broader region such as the railway line reserve that links up to Bunyip where populations of SBB exist.