Ecological Constraints Assessments Report

What is included in an Ecological Constraints Assessment?

Our Ecological Constraints Assessment (ECA) reports are strategically designed to be easy to read and easy to interpret by both you and your team. They are designed so that they can be adapted into Flora and Fauna Assessments (FFA) and/or Biodiversity Development Assessment Reports (BDAR), removing a significant portion of the overall costs that other consultants charge for rewriting the report.

INTRODUCTION

The introduction of an Ecological Constraints Assessment will include the following information:

• Identification and description of the developmental site

• The regional context and physical description of the study area including hydrology, geology, soils, landforms, climate and types and conditions of the habitat(s) within, and adjacent to the site.

LEGISLATION, POLICY AND CONTROLS

The Ecological Constraints Assessment will outline all relevant legislation, policy and guidelines relevant to your site including:

• Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 & Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017;

• Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 & Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021;

• Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999;

• State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience & Hazards) 2021 (formerly Coastal Management);

• State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity Conservation) 2021;

• Water Management Act 2000, Fisheries Management Act 1994 & Biosecurity Act 2015;

• Local Environmental Plans & Development Control Plans (relevant to your local government area); and

• Consideration of the proposal against the thresholds of the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme (BOS).

East Coast Ecology will clearly detail how any future development can demonstrate compliance with the above legislation.

SITE INVESTIGATION

A site investigation is highly recommended to inform an Ecological Constraints Assessment (ECA) however, a desktop assessment (i.e. no site assessment) can be undertaken too. A site assessment will involve the collection of all relevant environmental data and photographs from the site, such as vegetation communities and threatened species habitat.

The Ecological Constraints Assessment will include the following information:

• Details of desktop and field survey methods employed

• A map and photos of the study area and subject site

• A list of flora and fauna species (native and introduced) identified on site

• A list and map of threatened species and ecological communities known or likely to occur in the study area and locality

• Description, map and photographs of any Plant Community Types (PCTs) identified within the study area.

• List of threatened flora surveyed for, including whether the survey was undertaken within the recommended survey period as outlined in the Threatened Biodiversity Data Collection (TBDC).

• Description of fauna habitat available on the site

• Map of all hollow-bearing trees located within the study area, including a description of the size of the hollow (cm).

• Map of survey method locations (including any specialist fauna survey methods), including a map of GPS tracks, survey dates, times and weather conditions.

• Map of environmental features and habitat types (such as sandstone outcrops, culverts or overhangs).

• Discussion of any constraints or limitations of the study.

Vegetation Communities

 The Ecological Constraints Assessment (ECA) report will identify the vegetation communities within your property. This will involve collection of a comprehensive flora species inventory, an analysis of historical imagery/data, and in some cases vegetation integrity plots. These data are always collected by a qualified ecologist, so you and the consent authority can be certain of the reported findings.

Threatened Species

The Ecological Constraints Assessment (ECA) will identify what types and quantities of significant habitat you have in your site, and how these can be avoided and managed during construction. Threatened species habitat is diverse, and often unique to each species. Some examples of threatened species habitat in New South Wales include tree hollows, caves & crevices, ponds, wetlands, termite mounds, leaf litter, woody debris and nests. If a habitat type is present and likely to be impacted, your Local Council may request specialised targeted surveys are undertaken to rule-out their presence before any construction can commence.

Threatened species surveys can be expensive depending on your consultant’s methods. At East Coast Ecology, we adopt passive, automated survey technologies (accepted by industry) that dramatically reduce the cost of surveys. Passive survey technologies come at no extra cost to us, so why should they come at extra cost to you?

ECOLOGICAL CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES IDENTIFICATION

The Ecological Constraints Assessment (ECA) report will include a comprehensive and detailed information about all ecological constraints identified within your property. It can also describe opportunities for increasing the ecological values on your site.

A non-exhaustive list of ecological constraints that might be identified include:

• The location or habitats of threatened species, populations or ecological communities

• Land that is mapped under the Department of Planning and Environment’s (DPE) Biodiversity Values mapping 

• The Bushfire Attack Levels (BAL) throughout the site based on the modelled radiant heat from bush fire prone land.

A non-exhaustive list of ecological opportunities that might be identified include:

• Locations that benefit from clearing exemptions, clearing eligibilities, or existing approvals

• High-value biodiversity values that if avoided, can be used to demonstrate to Council how your development has ‘avoided and minimised’ impacts to biodiversity

• High-value vegetation that may be suitable for offsetting your own development or may be used to generate ‘Biodiversity Credits’ to sell to the public market.

Each size and extent of each constraint/opportunity will be provided on detailed maps (and GIS files).

RECOMMENDATIONS

For all developments, the first step to protecting biodiversity is designing to avoid and minimise impacts to biodiversity.

Council requires all measures to avoid and minimise impacts to biodiversity to be clearly demonstrated. Appropriate measures that can be used to demonstrate this include:

• Demonstration that design options have been explored (e.g. Ecological Constraints Assessment) and selected based on avoiding and minimising impacts to biodiversity.

• Attending a pre-lodgment meeting with Council and demonstrating that your design complies with their recommendations.

• Avoid impacts to any native vegetation in any areas mapped within the NSW Biodiversity Values Map published by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE).

• Avoid impacts to any areas identified as a Threatened Ecological Community (TEC).

• Where safe, avoid removing large native trees, hollow-bearing trees or dead trees with hollows or cavities as they provide vital habitat for native fauna.

• Where permissible, opt for increasing the height of the proposed development rather than expanding the development footprint if an increased footprint is likely to impact native vegetation.

• In bush fire prone areas, locate or orientate your dwelling to maximise the distance between the dwelling and any areas of native vegetation or increase your construction standard to minimise required asset protection zones (APZ).

Depending on your development, your Council may require you to implement certain measures to mitigate the impact on the environment. These measures can include:

• Nest box installation

• Pre-clearing surveys and clearing supervision

• Weed management

• Replanting trees or revegetating bushland

Mitigation measures need to be practical before they are recommended. Inexperienced consultants may recommend measures that directly conflict with your interests, the intent of the DA, or the requirements of other specialist consultants. A common example of this is consultants who recommend revegetation of bushland in areas that are required (or proposed) to be managed as an asset protection zone. Poorly thought-out recommendations can create costly issues when seeking Construction Certification or Occupation Certificate. East Coast Ecology employ Ecologists and Bushfire practitioners in-house to avoid such conflicts.