Biodiversity Australia was engaged by ‘Skyway Joint Venture’ to conduct Fauna Management of the vegetation clearing and dewatering works at Skyway NPR. Biodiversity Australia was predominantly involved during phase 2 of the development in which zones A,B,C,D, and E were cleared. This involved over 200 days of terrestrial clearing and dewatering between 28th July 2017 and 31st March 2020.

During clearing, the management of Ground dwelling fauna, including the Near Threatened (NCA 1992) Lewin’s Rail, was the primary concern. Call playback and thermal imagery searches for the Lewin’s Rail were conducted each day prior to clearing in areas containing suitable habitat. Where call playback indicated presence of Lewin’s Rail within a clearance area, the Fauna Spotter conducted an extensive walk through and assessed the site for any risks of impediment to the Lewin’s Rail’s ability to disperse away from the clearing activity. During clearing the Fauna Spotter walked ahead of operating machinery to thoroughly check all areas for Lewin’s Rail. Where the species was detected, an exclusion zone of 30m was established.

Due to the active vigilance of the on-site Fauna Spotters, a total of 151 interactions during vegetation removal, and 2941 interactions during dewatering were successfully managed. This figure includes 6 Lewin’s Rail that were identified, and allowed to self-disperse into adjoining habitat.

Key deliverables and reporting requirements:

• Construction Procedure – Injured Wildlife;
• Construction Procedure – Sensitive Habitat;
• Pre-clearance Fauna Habitat Reports; and
• Post-clearance Fauna Management Reports.