Biodiversity Stewardship Site Feasibility Assessment

Last week, East Coast Ecology undertook vegetation mapping of a 700ha site near the Piliga (central-west NSW), to provide greater insight into whether the establishment of a Biodiversity Stewardship Site would be feasible.

Feasibility assessments are a quick and cost-effective way of determining whether a site (or property) is suitable for a Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement (BSA), before committing to the full biodiversity assessment.

Although often arduous, the field work for these projects can be some of the most rewarding for ecologists- particularly when we find a Threatened Ecological Community (TEC)! Our ecologist was fortunate to find good condition patches of White Box – Yellow Box – Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland. This community is Critically Endangered under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW), which means managing and conserving it under a Biodiversity Stewardship Agreement would be a big win for biodiversity. The patches of White Box – Yellow Box – Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland were restricted to the lower lying areas within proximity to watercourses, grading into several other communities to create a stunning mosaic of native grassy and shrubby woodlands at this very large site.