Upper Spencer Gulf Common Purpose Group

 

REGIONAL SUSTAINABILITY 

Biodiversity Management Planning

 

The Spencer Gulf and its environment is a highly valuable resource.

 

It is important for economic activity and development, supports many social and recreational uses and provides a range of environmental services.

 

A healthy Gulf is essential for strong economic outcomes, social activities and service provision.

 

Unfortunately, expanding development combined with changing climatic circumstances is a real issue for important habitat such as mangroves and samphire marshes and other  species which are identified as threatened or vulnerable.

Recognising this, the Upper Spencer Gulf was one of only three regions funded under the Commonwealth “Sustainable Regional Development” program to help inform and improve environmental, social and economic sustainability within the region and in doing so:

• enhance protection and conservation of the environment, particularly matters of national environmental significance

• increase long term regional sustainability and community liveability

• reduce regulatory burden on business and government and provide greater certainty for developers and the community around future development and conservation outcomes

 

A key deliverable under this project was development of a biodiversity management plan for the Upper Spencer Gulf that consolidated existing terrestrial, coastal and marine environment data for the region, identified critical gaps, mapped and evaluated the extent and condition of threatened ecological communities and species and identified potential impacts and mitigation options from climate change and future industrial development.

 

Prepared by the University of Adelaide’s ‘Environment Institute’, the report identified a total of 529 species (395 terrestrial, 134 marine) of conservation concern, of which 19 had more than 15% of their mapped distribution within the three local government areas of Whyalla, Port Augusta and Port Pirie.

 

The report concluded that properly managed development, understanding the existing industry and environmental interactions of other Gulf users, alongside those from new developments, is a priority.

 

Poor management of multiple uses often result in cumulative impacts and detrimental economic and social outcomes. Conversely, an integrated management approach can deliver significant economic benefits – part of these were recently valued at over $100 million across the Spencer Gulf.

 

Several key issues and recommendations were specifically identified to assist future environmental management and planning, in relation to:

• Species distribution, abundance and condition

• Species connectivity

• Sea level rise modelling

• Regional and Local Government planning

 

 

It is hoped this document will now help contribute to the streamlining of development approvals and project feasibility studies in the region as interest in industry opportunities increases

 

The final report for this project is available here