LAND ACCESS
ANTARESIA STIMSONI – STIMSON’S PYTHON
NOTADEN NICHOLLSI – DESERT SPADEFOOT
Thirty thousand native animals have been recorded, and the majority moved to safety, as part of a major environmental program at Chevron’s Wheatstone LNG plant in Western Australia.
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estern Australia’s north-west is a treasure trove of native animals. It’s also known as the engine room of Australia – home to a massive mining industry in crude oil, salt, natural gas and iron ore. Located near Onslow on Western Australia’s Pilbara coast, Chevron’s Wheatstone LNG plant is one of Australia’s largest resource developments. As part of the construction of the onshore processing facility, Chevron’s principal contractor, Bechtel Australia, engaged environmental consultancy and wildlife research company, Terrestrial Ecosystems, to relocate native animals that would have otherwise lost their habitat. Over seven years, from 2011 to 2018, more than 30,000 frogs, lizards, geckos, snakes and mammals – the largest number to have ever been removed from an industrial development site in Western Australia – were relocated from a 1,000-hectare area to beyond an exclusion zone around the facility. Terrestrial Ecosystems has undertaken vertebrate fauna surveys and assessment programs on many other large projects across Western Australia, but this was the first time it had been engaged to carry out fauna salvage and feral animal control of this scale.
CREATURES GREAT AND SMALL Dr Scott Thomson, Terrestrial Ecosystems Partner and Principal Zoologist, said his team was responsible for catching and relocating the native vertebrate fauna that were identified during the vegetation clearing program. “This included over 10,000 frogs that would have died as part of the project construction,” Dr Thompson said. The team also removed 4,200 animals from 158 termite mounds, which were carefully deconstructed to reveal the animals living inside, with 91 per cent of these being relocated. Each termite mound represented a fascinating community where a number of species lived together. Larger animals, such as kangaroos and wallabies, which are generally thought to be capable of moving themselves on, were not relocated as part of the initiative. Terrestrial Ecosystems staff also responded to more than UTILITY • NOVEMBER 2019
4,000 call-outs when animals entered the accommodation camp or work areas around the construction facility, and worked to educate site crew on fauna management and snake awareness.
BONUS BENEFITS According to Dr Thompson, the benefits of the program extended beyond just those animals that were rehomed. “We removed 77 feral cats from the project area, all of which would have continued to predate on native animals, birds and reptiles,” Dr Thompson said. “And we gained new knowledge on invasive and nonnative fauna incursions into a major construction project and recorded range extensions for the distribution of many Western Australia fauna species.” The program also provided real-life industry experience and career development to 50 early-career zoologists. INDUSTRY LEADERS Dr Thompson said the program demonstrated Chevron’s commitment to environmental management and sustainability. “There were no formal approval conditions that required Chevron to capture and relocate fauna, so the relocation program was a Chevron initiative,” Dr Thompson said. “This was a very positive initiative, and the results indicate that a very large number of animals were saved.” Dr Thompson said he hoped the program’s success would encourage other companies to roll out similar initiatives, and not just when threatened species were identified in areas earmarked for development. The ongoing survival of relocated fauna should also be assessed. “For most mining developments, fauna salvage programs are not implemented unless threatened species are identified as being present in the area during the impact assessment process,” Dr Thompson said. “It is hoped that this program has influenced the regulatory approach for future construction management in Western Australia.” WWW.UTILITYMAGAZINE.COM.AU
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