The decision by the Parks and Wildlife Service to clear critical habitat for endangered bird species on Maria Island to build a wastewater treatment plant is astounding and the wrong priority.
Maria Island National Park is a gem of Tassie’s East Coast. It provides essential habitat for the swift parrots and is one of only two islands home to a functioning population of forty-spotted pardalotes – endangered species that will come under greater pressure in this biodiversity crisis.
It defies belief that PWS would destroy important foraging and nesting habitat for these birds. Their approach completely contradicts their core purpose – caring for Tasmania’s globally unique protected areas. It’s also especially misguided because the facility could be sensibly placed elsewhere on the island’s hectares of already-cleared land.
Clearing of the Eucalyptus globulus dry forest and woodland, itself a threatened vegetation community, occurred back in July, however this fact has only just become widely known as lifelong visitors and volunteers head back to the island for the spring-summer season. People were rightly outraged to see Parks has flattened such critical ecosystems.
We have real concerns over the future management of Maria Island. This is a clear example of the government’s warped priorities, and the overdue draft management plan for the island has missed multiple deadlines.
National Parks are first and foremost designed for perpetual conservation, and that must remain the top priority for the Parks and Wildlife Service. Of course, nature-based tourism is an important drawcard for tourists, ironically in this case including bird-watchers – but if these places aren’t properly protected, it will threaten the visitor economy too.
How would visitors to the island feel if they knew that their visitation comes at the cost of irreplaceable, threatened species like the swift parrot and adorable forty-spot?
We need this government to stop with their misguided and damaging approach to public protected areas. We’re in a climate and biodiversity crisis and it’s time to put environmental protection back at the top of the priority list.
