Dear friends of Culburra Beach,

Thank you for signing our petition. The fight is not over yet!

Did you see the Wilderness Society's court action against Australia's Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek? The Wilderness Society claims that Minister Plibersek and previous environment ministers have failed to meet their legal obligation to create threatened species recovery plans to give threatened wildlife a better chance at surviving extinction.  We at the Culburra Residents and Ratepayers Action Group (CRRAG) are seeing the damage of this unfold at ground level.

Australia's environmental laws are clear, the Environment Minister's role is to create and enact recovery plans when animals, plants and ecosystems are at risk of extinction.  And yet, a 2022 audit found that the vast majority of these recovery plans are either out of date or behind schedule for even being created. Take, for example, the Greater Glider – one of the eleven species included in the court case.  The Environment Minister in 2016 decided the threat to this species was such that a recovery plan was required. By law, these plans need to be in place within three years of this decision.  Yet, nine years later there is still no recovery plan and the Greater Glider is still listed as an endangered Matter of National and Environmental Significance (MNES).  

The Greater Glider is one of the many species at risk from the proposed West Culburra subdivision and if the recovery plan wasn't SIX YEARS overdue, this Greater Glider habitat would likely not be under threat today.

The proposed West Culburra subdivision developer is currently seeking a controlled action approval from the Honourable Tanya Plibersek under the EPBC Act. The DCCEEW's conservation advice (the step below a recovery plan) on the Greater Glider is that even potential habitat for the Greater Glider should be protected.  The developer acknowledges in its environmental report that 38Ha of the West Culburra action area "is considered habitat critical to the survival of the Greater Glider".  It is clear from this alone that the subdivision plans should be refused, there is too much at stake.  But conservation advice provides the Minister with guidance only, whereas a recovery plan would be legally binding.

And that's only the tip of the iceberg at the proposed West Culburra development site. Here's what else is under threat:

• Gang-gang cockatoo – endangered and under conservation advice since 2022.
  Conservation advice: "Actions that remove habitat critical to survival would interfere with the recovery of Gang-gang Cockatoos and reduce the area of occupancy of the species, and therefore must be avoided. It is important to retain both breeding and foraging habitats described above."
  Developer environmental report: the West Culburra development "would remove 38.14 ha of foraging habitat for the Gang-gang Cockatoo through vegetation clearance."
  
  
• Glossy Black cockatoo – vulnerable and under conservation advice since 2022. Recommended for a recovery plan in 2022, but this has not yet been delivered.
  Conservation advice: "Habitat critical to the survival of the subspecies should not be destroyed or degraded."
  Developer environmental report: the West Culburra development "would remove 8.13 ha of preferred foraging habitat for the South-eastern Glossy Black Cockatoo through vegetation clearing."
  
  
• Grey-headed flying fox – vulnerable. Recovery plan launched 2021.
  Recovery plan advice: "The primary known threat to the survival of the Grey-headed Flying-fox is loss and degradation of foraging and roosting habitat."
  Developer environmental report: the West Culburra development site consists of "46.27 ha of potential foraging habitat in good condition"
  
  
• Yellow-bellied Glider – vulnerable and under conservation advice since March 2022.
  Conservation advice: Known important populations of yellow-bellied gliders include "Shoalhaven populations (severely fire-affected, surveyed)"
  Developer environmental report: the West Culburra subdivision "would remove 38.14 ha of marginal foraging habitat for the Yellow-bellied Glider through vegetation clearance."
  
  
• Powerful Owl - NSW conservation status: vulnerable.
  Since the developer's environmental report was prepared, Powerful Owls have one again been sighted in the area.  The Owl's preferred habitat is woodland and open sclerophyll forest and this can be found on the 47ha site to be clear-felled by the developer. Its highly likely that the Powerful Owls seen and heard by locals are using this forest for breeding and hunting.

The obvious first step in protecting any of the above species from extinction would be to stop the ruthless destruction of these creatures' habitat. Please write to Minister Plibersek (minister.plibersek@dcceew.gov.au) and remind her:

1. We, the public, support her making the tough decisions to protect Nature - let's get this broken system fixed!

2. There is a 'right now' step that can move towards correcting the failings ... say no to the proposed West Culburra subdivision and take a real step to protect the Greater Glider, Gang-gang Cockatoo, Grey-headed Flying Fox, and the Yellow-bellied Glider.

Yours sincerely,
The Culburra Residents and Ratepayers Action Group team.