Endangered ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITY : Coastal Cypress Pine Forest (Callitris columellaris Forest). This ecological community was once widespread along the coast of Australia in various forms. It is  threatened and very much at risk(*see below) and is listed by the NSW Government.  The LEDA development (Leda Group owned by Bob Ell) at Kings Forest and other nearby potential URBAN and INFRASTRUCTURE developments pose serious threat to these sparse Ecological Communities that are now scattered through the Tweed Coast of NE NSW.

I have struggled to complete this article, so sorry if it has seemed abit over the place. Have been in hospital having an operation and the internet has been not working.   However, from what I can glean,   this Ecological Community HAS been listed as endangered by the NSW Government, – as of 2008. I have just updated this on the 14th October, 2009. And  to echo Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.‘s words of Kilgore Trout in Timequake – I have been sick, now I’m well and there’s work to be done……….And so it goes:-

Callitris columellaris and some of the native grass species found in association with it

• Threatened species  recorded in Coastal Cypress “Pine” Forest or associated vegetation, including Acronychia littoralis (scented acronychia), Archidendron hendersonii (white lace flower), Geodorum densiflorum (pink nodding orchid) and Drynaria rigidula (basket fern)

• “Kings Forest sent back to the Drawing Board” at the Tweed Shire Echo 9th July 2009 article by Luis Feliu.
• “Administrative Law in an Environmental Context” search results at bluecray Environmental search engine
• Kings Forest – State Significant Site – information that is provided by the NSW Department of Planning .
• NSW Far North Coast Regional Strategy at NSW Government Planning
• Planned retreat, climate change & biodiversity – Byron Bay :- this is a workshop by the EDO Northern Rivers on 3rd December 2009. Whilst this is for Byron Bay, you may find some interesting information at the EDO website
• Projected non-environmentally sustainable construction based development and the Tweed Shire Council – article at Tweednews.com.au 17th September 2009
• kings forest land release part 3a : search results at bluecray environmental search
• Planning Workshop Australia – Kings Forest and some other State Significant Sites’ work for developers : this uses Part3A of the NSW Planning Law

• Meanwhile, at Kingscliff,NE NSW:-  large developments (that will further fragment our native wildlife habitats) are planned nearby (Kings Forest, Cobaki Lakes ) and the sea is moving inwards – “Hungry Mother Nature bares her teeth” -  infrastructure damage at Kingscliff on the NSW North Coast -  by coastal erosion (2010): SMH article by Saffron Howden

• Kingscliff battles beach erosion (story 11th august 2010):- at ABC local + other local beach coastal erosion stories from NE NSW (Tweed and Byron shires)

• National Framework for the Management and Monitoring of Australia’s Native Vegetation .The shifting sands and Callitris sp. – what the Autralian Government was saying about Managing and Monitoring Native Vegetation in 2001. This framework included directions for seed bank management and outlines “duty of care” issues in the 2001 perspective.
• Duty of care and the precautionary principle : search results at bluecray environmental search engine.
• The TWEED COAST is also experiencing engineered non sustainable development near Casuarina, Kings Forest, Cudgen, Pottsville, Cudgen Creek , Wooyung – in fact much of the coastal area of the Tweed Shire! These Google Map links will give you an idea of what this Coastal Zone looks like.

Let us look at what job the Callitris columellaris Forest does for the Coastal Ecosystems of Australia. In particular, NE NSW and the Tweed Coast.

• Firstly, the Ecological Community of this “Cypress” has largely disappeared from the Northern NSW Coastal Region. Accounting for 2% of Australia’s Forest cover (at about the year 2008), the Genus of Callitris was revised in 2006. The species Callitris columellaris and its associated ecological community has disappeared by almost 80% in the North Coast Bioregion of NSW.

• Secondly, Callitris columellaris is being currently studied as one of the Significant Projects in the Australian Government’s $100 million Commonwealth Environment Research Facilities (CERF) initiative for understanding  and preparing for Climate Change. I guess that means that this plant is somewhat special!

• Thirdly, Callitris columellaris Forests and their Ecological Communties have withstood the changing dunal system of our Coastal Landscapes for eons – as the sea levels have risen and fallen over time.
• Fourthly:-The Ecological Communities associated with Callitris columellaris are now so fragmented and sparsley populating the coast of NE NSW that enhancement, re-establishment and re-connection of these communities is essential to help the North Coast of NSW withstand the pressures of Climate Change, sea level rise and native habitat survival:-  Coastal Cypress Pine Forest in the NSW North Coast Bioregion – endangered ecological community listing :- In NSW, Coastal Cypress Pine Forest is currently known from the local government areas of Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Richmond Valley and Clarence Valley, but may occur elsewhere within the NE Coastal NSW bioregion.

This Conifer – (Pinophyta) -  is from a very old – ancient group of plants.  It’s seed is protected in a cone. It has been around longer than the flowering plants of more modern millenia. The Callitris genus is found only in Australia & New Caledonia. That’s right – NO WHERE ELSE IN THE WORLD! At some stage in Australia’s history they have formed GREAT forests across our continent. ***

• Fifthly, Callitris columellaris grows primarily on sedimentary soils of a sandy nature. Seed banks of these soils are  easily altered by clearing, fire, water table changes, environmental weeds, machine and other human traffic disturbance. The resilience by sandy soil seed banks to recreate their native vegetation cover is lessened by continual disturbance, weed infestation and over cultivation.(see below #)

• The above dangers to an already fragile seed bank will increase with Bob Ell’s proposed INTENSE urban development and associated infrastrutures, industries and traffic.  The Tweed Coast has been pressured enough by development of housing estates, shopping centres, transport corridors and habitat fragmention / clearing.

• Much of the reason that Australia’s unique marsupials, frogs, other fauna  and flora are now becoming “threatened” status is because of inappropriate development decisions and practices. Many of them only a short time ago.  Town Planners, Ecological  and Environmental Consultants and Directors of Government PLANNING Departments have all gone through a similar higher educational standards, that at some time show them why species, ecological communities and whole ecosystems become threatened with extinction. It is incredible that these Australian decision makers are condoning developments such as these Tweed Coast Developments, as they are still letting our future and the future of our children’s children slide into horror.

• There is the looming threat of climate change and rising sea levels to consider also. Gold Coast coastal developments are testimony to this. Habitats and ecological communities have totally disappeared with intense non sustainable developement. The sea is moving inland, and the dunal systems are, and have already been disappearing over the past thirty years. The fragmented remnants of time tested ecological communities that inhabited coastal areas – wetlands, old dunal systems, estuarine areas – require rescuing, rather than surrounding and over-running by non sustainable development.

• Land management practices and non sustainable regional development that may be condoned by the NSW Department of Planning Director-General and Minister under the Major Project Assessments and Part 3A of the EPA Act NSW have  potential to further destroy this fragile Ecological Community.
• What is a State Significant Site in NSW? How do you find out more about them, where they are, and when they were listed?

• Threats that will affect the Endangered Ecological Community (still awaits listing?) of the Callitris columellaris Forest include weed invasion, human interference such as trampling, fragmentation, easement maintenance and illegal rubbish dumping. Fire is a great threat to this Ecological Community

Phantom Koala (PK) and Benoit look at coastal development further south of Kings Forest, on the Tweed Coast. They see that fences, roads, bare earth, fires, cars, people, cats, dogs, fences, mown land, rubbish, noise, cleared land and building after building present many challenges to the native wildlife that rely on  the remnant Callitris trees and their associated ecological communities.

Find out more about the Endangered Ecological Community of the Callitris columellaris Forest at bluecray environmental search.  The PDF “Coastal Cypress Pine Forest in the NSW North Bioregion” should be  available at the NSW Department of Environment Climate Change & Water. You will be able to find out more about what other plants grow in this endangered Ecological Community and its associated vegetation.

Look up threatened species & ecological communities at the NSW Government’s Threatened Species Website

North Coast Bioregion of NSW -

Look up Callitris collumellaris at the Australian Government Department of  Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry – Bureau of Rural Sciences : Australian Forest Profiles – Callitris.

FIRE : the more people – the more fires are lit. This is a reasonable consideration when bringing urban populations close to Significant State Sites and Endangered Ecological Communities . Especially where that Endangered Ecological Community contains species that do not recover well from fire. This year (2009) quite a few fires have been fought on the Tweed Coast:- a number of them have been thought to be suspiciously lit.

• “Arson suspected in bushfires” 23rd November 2009 Lismore Northern Star
• “Firies battle suspicious blazes” 22nd November 2009 Tweed Daily News (Cabarita / Pottsville area)
• “Fire pests suspected” 29th September 2009 Tweed Daily News
• “Houses saved from scrub and grass fire” 25th September 2009 Tweed Daily News (Cudgen area)

* A note here about the listing of this community and the endangered status. I had thought that at  the time of writing this post, the list was yet to be implemented by the  Government. I had thought that listing wouldn’t occur, due to technicalities, politics, insufficient urgency… etc etc…perhaps like the KOALA, it never does get listed, and just disappears from the area/North Coast NSW Region all together. Pedantics can be an interesting feature of rationalising destruction and non sustainable development. The reality of endangered and the “legals” of endangered can be two very different things.

***The great Callitris Ecological Communities have withstood just about everything that nature can throw at them. These great forest cycles can be upwards of 500 years. As a human lifetime is nowhere near that, we are unable to grasp just what this means, unless we look carefully at the GREAT CYCLES.  These precious CONIFERS have kept ecological communities and habitats going, thriving, changing, maintaining biodiversity in times of stress from climatic and geological changes.  Should climatic change and stress occur in Australia, one of the tried and tested species of plants, that can probably recreate ecological communities is Callitris columellaris.

# Whilst wetland sedimentary soils can have a high seed bank percentage and longevity, sandy soils that are well drained tend to have much less seed held in the soil. Due to the nature of the overclearing and disturbance of  Tweed Coast Soils, many weed seeds now inhabit the seed bank, both below and above ground. These form strong competition for the Callitris species and the  associated native vegetation that is critical for the survival of this ecological community.

Phantom Koala and Part3A of the Planning Law .

Koala Sagas : “When Phantom Koala was Young”   and “There is a Way”- two poems about how Phantom Koala lost his mother, and then found her in trapped in Kings Forest, thus becoming a “Hero”.

For more about some of the Wildlife and Plant Species threatened by Leda’s  Kings Forest development try Kings Forest Development threatens 21 Threatened Species of Fauna . Some of these species are also known to be found in Callitris columellaris forests – I have made a note beside some of these species in the Kings Forest threatened species list below, but others on the list may also be present in Callitris Forests and ecological communities as well. It is hard to say, as the Callitris columellaris Forests have been so badly destroyed in recent decades, and historical scientific evidence is extremely scattered.

And NOW, some of the threatened Kings Forest species:-

the Koala

Rose-crowned Fruit- Dove (Ptilinopus regina) – and images .

Grass Owl (Tyto capensis) -

Masked Owl (Tyto novaehollandiae) – known to inhabit Callitris forests

Black Bittern (Ixobrychus flavicollis) –

Black-necked Stork (Ephippiorhynchus asiaticus ) -

Bush stone-curlew  (Burhinus grallarius) (Aust. Govt) and at NSW Govt- and images .

Bush-hen (Amaurornis olivaceus) -

Osprey (Pandion haliaetus) – known to inhabit Callitris forests

Eastern False Pipistrelle (Falsistrellus tasmaniensis) -

Yellow-bellied sheathtail Bat (Saccolaimus flaviventris) -

Common blossom Bat (Syconycteris australis) - and images . known to inhabit Callitris forests

Common Planigale (Planigale maculata) -  and images . known to inhabit Callitris forests

Long-nosed Potoroo (Potorous tridactylus) – and images .

Red-legged Pademelon (Thylogale stigmatica) – and images .

Little Bent-Wing Bat (Miniopteris australis) - and images .known to inhabit Callitris forests

Grey-headed flying-fox(Pteropus poliocephalus) and images .

Olongburra Frog (Litoria olongburensis) and images .

Wallum Froglet (Crinia tinnula) and images .

Glossy Black-cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami) and images .

Archidendron hendersonii (white lace flower) – a species of threatened flora that is found at Kings Forest

• Caldera Environment Centre .
• Whilst no specific mention is made, on the Kings Forest Planning Documents, that I could find, about Callitris columellaris other that planting it in landscape plans, it is the fragile remnants that I am concerned about. Remnant vegetation is as worthy as a large stand, ecologically significant, if it is highly fragmented and under pressure from human interference. Ecological stands of Callitris columellaris are more than like very close to this development and other developments on the Tweed Coast, due to the nature of the geology and natural/botanical history. Constant burning and disturbance can force this conifer and its vegetation associations toward heathland. The presence of vegetation that grows in association with Callitris columellaris in the Kings Forest planning documents suggests that the conifer was more than likely there at some stage, and could easily be struggling to survive in the area. No mention of this ecological community, how it can be preserved, enhanced, protected,  appears to be an oversight in the planning and development stage of this huge development.
• Land-use and land-cover change : local processes and global impacts / Eric F. Lambin, Helmut Geist (eds.) : ISBN 3540322019 (hd.bd.)
• Callitris sp at Wikipedia
• A natural history of conifers / Aljos Farjon ; foreword by William G. Chaloner. ISBN     9780881928693
• Terrestrial ecosystems through time : evolutionary paleoecology of terrestrial plants and animals / edited by Anna K. Behrensmeyer … [et al.].
  ISBN:    0226041549 (cloth : alk. paper)
  0226041557 (pbk. : alk. paper)

• search for  Aboriginal  (Indigenous peoples) research literature for the North Coast of NSW at the Libraries Australia Search
• I had the opportunity to speak with a young Indigenous Australian a number of years back. She told me how her “totem” animal was no longer living on the planet. It was EXTINCT. She described how it felt to go to a museum, and see an exhibit of this dead totem. She told me that it felt very strange indeed. This made me feel sad for her.  I grew up spending many hours sitting under these trees and listening to stories, learning about nature. Back then, there were many more of these trees along the coastal strip, together with their biodiverse ecological communities. Back then, people were already speaking out about the clearing of forests, and our precious habitats. The facts were already there, the data, the knowledge. That was three generations ago.
• Reforestation of Degraded Lands at http://www.agroforestry.net/ .
• Search results (Google search) for Managing Our Coastal Zone in a Changing Climate .

• National Sustainability Initiatives at the Australian Government Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage & the Arts. This website page includes links to the related areas of :-  EPBC Reporting, Indicators & Local Agenda 21, as well as to  Ecologically Sustainable Development LINKS .

The Ecologically Sustainable Development LINKS page includes (as at November 2009):-

• Conferences and Events
• Sustainability Networks and Discussion Groups
• State Government Sites
• Australian Government Environment Sites
• Local Government Sites
• Non-Government Organisations

“Clearing the Habit of Habitat Clearing” – at Journey for Wisdom in the Land