State of Australia’s Key Biodiversity Areas 2018

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Table of Contents

Acknowldgements .................................... 2

Key Biodiversity Areas ........................... 3

What are Key Biodiversity Areas and why do we need them? ...............4

The KBA Program in Australia ............. 6

Measuring the health of KBAs ............. 8

KBA Guardians ........................................... 9

2018 Easter health-checks .................. 10

Getting involved in the KBA Program .....................................................13

KBAs in Danger: our success stories .........................................................14

KBA outlook ...............................................18

KBA contacts..............................................19

KBA achievements for 2018..................20

Acknowledgements

BirdLife Australia thanks all the volunteers who contributed their time and expertise to collecting data and helping to identify Australia’s Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). We are extremely grateful to the KBA Guardians, and all those who continue to monitor KBAs and contribute to the conservation and management of these areas.

We would also like to thank the regional KBA Coordinators, the KBA Technical Advisory Committee and the BirdLife branches and networks that have embraced and championed the KBA Program so effectively.

BirdLife Australia’s KBA Program is made possible through the generous support of BirdLife Australia’s donors, and we thank them for their ongoing passion and commitment.

BirdLife Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of Country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We pay our respects to them and their cultures, and to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Front cover image: Two Peoples Bay and Mount Manypeaks KBA. Declared for the Critically Endangered Gilbert’s Potoroo and Endangered Noisy Scrub-bird and Western Bristlebird. Image by Robert Horler.

The KBA Partnership is a global initiative of 13 conservation organisations

Citation: Reaney LT and Maurer G, 2019. State of Australia's Key Biodiversity Areas 2018. BirdLIfe Australia, Melbourne ISBN: 978-1-875122-00-4

What are Key Biodiversity Areas and why do we need them?

Biodiversity loss is occurring at an alarming rate across the world. In the last four decades, there has been a 60% decline in wildlife populations across the planet. It is clear that our huge impact on nature now threatens our very existence. We are reliant on a bountiful nature if we want to have a healthy and prosperous future, not just for our children but for ourselves. Identifying and safeguarding sites of particular importance for biodiversity is therefore more urgent than ever. The availability of fresh water, our food production systems, such as crop pollination or fisheries, and our cultural heritage depend directly and indirectly on a world with a rich diversity of species.

In 2016, a partnership of eleven of the world’s leading conservation organisations launched the new Global Standard for the Identification of Key Biodiversity Areas to determine the sites that contribute significantly to the global persistence of biodiversity. This is a momentous achievement for the conservation community. For the first time we have a common language to talk about the most important places left for life on Earth.

These sites are called Key Biodiversity Areas.

Australian Alps KBA, showing the Long Plain area inside the Kosciuszko National Park. This is a fragile area of channels and bogs which form the headwaters of the Murrumbidgee River. It is under threat by damage from Brumbies. Image by Les Main, Australian Alps KBA Guardian

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Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) are:

• Places of global signficance for the conservation of birds and other wildlife

• Recognised as a focus for practical conservation action

• Linked to internationally binding agreements

KBAs are identified using the strict, scientific Global Standard and must meet one of five criteria:

• Contain 0.5% of the population of a (critically) endangered species*

• Contain 10% of the population of a species* with a very small range

• Represent intact wilderness

• Provide important nurseries, migration bottlenecks etc. for one or more species*

• Be an irreplaceable part of a site network

TOP: Shorebirds wading in Mundoo Island Station in the Coorong KBA. Image by Sally Grundy. MIDDLE: Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo foraging in a banksia, Jervis Bay KBA. Image by Chris Grounds. BOTTOM: Flowering Red Swainson-pea (Swainsona plagiotropis) in the Patho Plains KBA, an important area for the endangered Plains-wanderer. Image by Aillin O’Brien.

BirdLife International, the world’s largest nature conservation partnership, is tracking the conservation status of over 12,000 of these sites of international significance for birds.

Community monitoring reveals that many of the world’s nature hotspots, including sites under legal protection such as national parks, are in danger of losing the species that make them important.

Through the KBA Partnership, which mobilises the expertise, experience and resources of 13 of the world’s leading nature conservation organisations, we are aiming to map, monitor and conserve these areas.

Industry, governments and many others need a reliable and scientifically valid source of information on sites that are critical for nature conservation. The KBA Program provides this much needed information to ensure we make the best management investment decisions for these nature hotspots.

*These species are known as trigger species in the KBA Global Standard (see Resources page 19)

Key Biodiversity Areas: A coordinated approach to conserving nature’s hotspots

Lake Wollumboola KBA. Image by Chris Grounds

1. cbd.int/sp/targets/rationale/target-11/2. cbd.int/doc/strategic-plan/strategic-plan-indicators-en.pdf3. portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/2016-048.pdf4. presspage-production-content.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/1763/jointstatement-905923.pdf5. wwf.org.au/news/news/2017/more-than-a-quarter-of-australias-ecosystems-are-not-protected#gs.geb94u

The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity enshrines a commitment of over 130 countries, including Australia, to ‘Aichi Target 11’1. In short, this target, agreed at a 2010 conference in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, requires Australia to protect and manage 17% of its land and water for nature “especially areas of particular importance for biodiversity”. One of the main indicators of progress towards Target 11 is the number of Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) under formal protection2.

In Australia, a KBA National Coordination Group (NCG) has been established to identify and map as KBAs all areas of particular importance for biodiversity according to rigorous scientific KBA criteria3. This map aims to provide guidance and momentum for increased investment in the conservation of such areas and the growth of Australia’s protected area network. To accomplish this, the NCG brings together global KBA partners and species experts and taps into the knowledge of many community groups and government agencies. A network of KBAs for Australia, strongly supported by science and the community, will not only assist with local conservation actions but also provide an impetus for Australian Governments to assume a renewed leadership role in biodiversity protection.

In 2020, the world will set new targets to address the extinction crisis at the Convention on Biological Diversity conference in China. Global conservation organisations, including WWF and BirdLife International, are calling for a ‘30 by 30’ target: 30% of land and sea protected by 20304. KBAs will play a crucial role in ensuring that the 30% protected area represents the most important areas for wildlife and their conservation should be used to measure the success of these new targets.

Mapping Australia’s terrestrial KBAs

The current set of KBAs in Australia is based on Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas mapped by BirdLife Australia before the Aichi Targets came into effect. While birds prove their worth as indicators of biodiversity—with about two thirds of all of Australia’s threatened animals and plants found in these areas—this current network is not enough to safeguard our continent’s unique wildlife. The KBA network currently covers a mere 5.7% of Australia’s land mass and only about half (53.8%) of KBAs have formal protection.

To reach the ambitious 30 by 30 target, much work needs to be done. Despite the welcome creation of Indigenous Protected Areas, only 36 of 85 terrestrial bioregions have reached 17% protection5. An increase in Australian Government investment in strategic protected area growth for both government and private area conservation is needed.

The KBA Partnership aims to refine and expand the initial KBA map taxonomically and geographically to give Australia a blue-print to protecting its unique wildlife.

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In Australia, 315 Key Biodiversity Areas have been identified so far, covering 5.7% of the continent’s landmass. What we have discovered, however, is that despite their international significance, many KBAs do not receive the protection they need and deserve. Fewer than 20% of Australia’s KBAs are fully protected and many are managed inadequately. As a result, globally important habitat is being lost and the status of threatened species has deteriorated.

Australia’s KBA Program maps the country’s most important places for conservation action. Community organisations and environmental managers, such as “Friends of” groups, Indigenous Rangers or Natural Resource Management Agencies, use KBAs to help ensure they tackle the most pressing conservation issues where it matters most.

KBA Partner organisations are working to improve recognition of the value of KBAs, and to find solutions to the threats they face. Monitoring the status, threats and conservation actions in KBAs is essential for a quick and effective response to threats to our wildlife. The simple, intuitive and globally standardised monitoring framework used in the KBA Program means our national data are analysed regionally and globally. It also allows a comparison of our monitoring and conservation efforts at the local and national scale to help improve our approach and support global conservation efforts.

BirdLife Australia’s KBA Program Leader Dr Golo Maurer has led the program in Australia for the last three years. He has supported a team of dedicated KBA Guardians and volunteers in every state and territory to create a snapshot of the health of the country’s most important places for wildlife and take action to protect them.

The KBA Program in Australia

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Christmas Island

North Keeling Island

Heard Island (Right) and McDonald Island

Lord Howe Island (Top)and Ball's Pyramid

Norfolk Island

Macquarie Island

State of Australia's KBAsKBAs in Danger of Losing a Trigger Species

KBAs With Health Checks in 2018

Other KBAs

KBA with Trigger Species other than Birds

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KBAs in Danger of losing a trigger speciesKBAs with Health-checks in 2018Other KBAsKBAs with trigger species other than birds

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Volunteer KBA Guardians are the basis of the success of KBA conservation and they are as diverse as the places they care for. There is no one skill set or background that defines a KBA Guardian. However, KBA Guardians do share a love for nature, an ability to see how their skills (whatever they are) can help wildlife and a readiness to use these powers for good. KBA Guardians can be individuals or teams or even local conservation groups such as BirdLife Australia branches. The diversity of backgrounds and skills makes for a strong and inspiring national support network and is illustrated by the examples below.

Many KBAs, even those in formally protected areas, are subject to threats from a range of large-scale impacts, such as introduced species, drought or fire.

BirdLife International has developed a simple but powerful protocol to monitor KBAs all over the world. Each KBA is monitored using a standardised method to score threats (Pressure), the condition (State) and conservation actions (Response).

This methodology is widely used to assess environmental health by institutions globally, including those outside the conservation movement. The KBA Health-check is therefore repeatable, widely applicable and detailed without being prohibitively complex.

BirdLife International maintains the KBA world database, which houses summary data of KBA condition and significant threats to individual trigger species or their habitats. In 2018, almost a third of Australia’s 315 KBAs have an up-to-date KBA Health-check.

STATE

Condition of KBA

PRESSURE

Threats to KBA

RESPONSE

Actions in KBA

Measuring the health of KBAs KBA Guardians

KBA Easter Health-checksA team of dedicated volunteer KBA Guardians use the methodology set by BirdLife International to conduct annual Easter Health-checks in over 90 KBAs nationwide, generating an annual snapshot of the conservation status of Australia’s nature hotspots.

What makes you tick?Growing up as a birdwatcher in central NSW and having a job with NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, working with the community for an iconic wetland is a great start for a KBA Guardian.

Fortunately, the Department reports annually on the condition of the Macquarie Marshes, so with support of their science and regional staff, we can directly inform KBA reporting. We feel it is important that the community is given every opportunity to be better informed about the condition of our key inland wetlands, particularly, because we continue to work with water for the environment and other means to buffer, maintain and enhance parts of it.

“I feel that the KBA program allows the wider birdwatching community to be more engaged with key environmental assets that they may love but not get to visit very often. This works well for inland wetland systems like the Marshes, which are hard to keep tabs on from a distance.”

Tim HoskingMacquarie Marshes

KBA Guardian

Coastal Wet Tropics KBA Guardian Group led by Helen Larson

What makes you tick? Our enthusiastic KBA Guardian Team has a long-standing connection with the Coastal Wet Tropics, and boasts an internationally renowned fish expert, and members from local BirdLife Northern Queensland and conservation groups C4 (Community for Coastal and Cassowary Conservation) and JES (Johnstone Ecological Society). We are on a mission to increase standardised monitoring of the KBA, improve its boundaries and include more taxa that qualify this area as a KBA. The KBA provides additional focus and support for successful conservation work already being undertaken in the area.

“This work is only possible with such a dedicated team, as the KBA is large and varied, with many poorly known sites with difficult access. We are looking forward to increasing knowledge of this special region, especially finding new shared sites for everyone to use, and working with local conservation groups on restoring habitat and monitoring indicator species.”

The Coastal Wet Tropics KBA Guardian Team (From left to right: Peter Rowles, Jeff Larson, Helen Larson, Ceri Pearce and Sandra Christensen)

Tim Hosking talking to a community group in the Macquarie Marshes KBA

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2018 KBA Easter Health-checks The threats putting Australia’s KBAs in Danger

This year, 28 of Australia’s KBAs were considered “in Danger” of losing one or more of their trigger bird species due to the threats shown in the figure below. Drought, fire and habitat shifts were major threats and all are likely to worsen with climate change. Minimising global warming and managing for its impacts are thus critical for the future of Australia’s nature hotspots. In addition, we need to reduce other threats like habitat destruction and invasive species, to give our wildlife the best chance of success in a world affected by climate change.

The State of Australia’s KBAs - Does being in a National Park (NP) result in more area and better habitat quality for trigger species within the KBA?

28,896 hours of monitoring and conservation

Almost half of the the KBAs that were monitored in 2018 are situated wholly or largely in a NP.

Figure 1 shows the habitat area available for the trigger species (A) and the quality of that habitat (B) in a KBA against NP coverage. With increasing NP coverage, both habitat available and its quality increased. Surprisingly, some KBAs still do well without protection, while some fully protected KBAs were rated ‘poor’.

For individiual KBAs, habitat area and quality may not always be in sync. The risk of permanent destruction of mudflats in Moreton Bay & Pumicestone Passage KBA (See KBA in Danger, page 14), for example, would reduce the amount of habitat available for the trigger species, but may not reduce the quality of the remaining habitat.

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B. Habitat quality

Percentage of KBA within a National Park

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A. Habitat area

Percentage of KBA within a National Park

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YESKBAs in National Park fare better than those outside. However, even National Park are losing habitat

No NP protection resulted in poor levels of both

habitat area and quality

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GoodPoor

Almost half of the KBAs monitored in 2018 are mostly or wholly in National Parks. Jervis Bay KBA. Image by Chris Grounds.

Narran Lakes KBA. Image by Rosemary Maddox

0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14Number of KBAs in Danger reporting the threat

Drought Dams and water management Invasive and problem species

Building developmentFire and fuel reduction

Habitat shifting Forestry

Agriculture - grazingRecreational activities

Floods

2 4 60 8 10 12

74 community groups

2,886 volunteers

91 Easter Health-checks

19 BirdLife Australia branches

We cannot thank the KBA volunteers enough for their amazing contribution to the conservation of nature’s hotspots in Australia

Volunteers looking for birds in Macquarie Marshes. Image Chris Grounds

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There are many ways to volunteer in the KBA program. With KBAs being so diverse there is bound to be something you enjoy and are good at! Help protect Australia’s most important nature hotspots and take action for KBAs. Email us at kba@birdlife.org.au to get started.

Getting involved in the KBA Program

1. Volunteer for data entry from the convenience of your armchair

2. Never miss a worthy cause by signing up to monthly BirdLife e-news at support.birdlife.org.au/sign-up

3. Alert kba@birdlife.org.au when you hear about a threat to local KBA

1. Get the free Birdata app, and start recording birds in KBAs birdata.birdlife.org.au

2. Raise funds for threatened species in KBAs through the Twitchathon on the last weekend of October

3. Join your local BirdLife Australia branch on special KBA activities

4. Report chance sightings of rare birds on Birdata

1. Go on holiday to or near a KBA and tell everyone that this is why you are visiting

2. Put this KBA Status Report on your coffee table and fly the flag for KBAs

3. Donate to KBAs birdlife.org.au/support-us/donate

4. Join BirdLife Australia birdlife.org.au/support-us/join-us

5. Follow the KBA action at keybiodiversityareas.org.au

1. Get your hands dirty planting trees in KBAs

2. Help clean up weeds and rubbish from nature’s beauty spots

Messy

Birdy

1. Become a KBA Guardian for one of Nature’s Hotspots

2. Work with local councils or Friends Groups to take on-ground actions

Friendly

Easy Comfy

In light of the pervasive occurrence of threats it is good news that community conservation actions were reported in 79 of the 91 KBAs that were surveyed. For 10 out of 76 KBAs in which >10% was in a protected area, no government conservation activity was reported. Only 18 KBAs were considered to have received ‘most required conservation actions’ through government agencies.

Chart Title

No conservation action at all BirdLife Monitoring only

Conservation only Conservation and monitoring

No conservation action happening

BirdLife Australia monitoring only

Conservation actions only

Conservation and monitoring actions

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reported most frequently

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Image by Chris Grounds

Image by Golo Maurer

Image by Golo Maurer

TOP: Rajah Shelducks in Prince Regent and Mitchell River KBA, home of many biome restricted species. Image by Andrew Burbidge. MIDDLE: Boodjamulla KBA receives careful fire management to ensure the survival of the Carpentarian Grasswren. Image by Matthewn Stanton. BOTTOM: A Dingo in the Diamantina Floodplain KBA. Top predators are critical to a functioning ecosystem. Image by Matthew Stanton.

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KBAs in Danger: our success stories

The decision to declare a KBA as ‘in Danger’ is not taken lightly. Only KBAs at very high risk of losing their trigger species are considered. In Australia, the ‘in Danger’ declaration is made by BirdLife Australia after consultation with external experts. This process ensures our conservation effort is targeted to areas most urgently in need of advocacy and action. Last year, BirdLife Australia identified 28 KBAs ‘in Danger’ based on KBA Guardian reports and other data. Since 2014, we have focused on 10 KBAS ‘in Danger’, and have supported guardians and local champions to successfully implemented conservation actions in eight of these KBAs. Below is an update on these KBAs.

KBA Name Bird species in dangerNumber of other threatened or endemic species

Threat Conservation actions Key Collaborators 2018 Status Further Actions

Boodjamulla Carpentarian Grasswren 10 threatened Inappropriate fire regime

Change in fire management, surveys

Southern Gulf NRM; QLD Dept. of Environment

Out of Danger Monitor

Norfolk Island Norfolk Island Green Parrot 50 endemic Invasive species Re-introduction, nest boxes, control invasives

Parks Australia; Norfolk Island Flora and Fauna Society

Out of Danger Monitor

Lower Hunter Valley Regent Honeyeater 65 threatened Industrial development

Legal action to stop development

Friends of Tumblebee; Mindaribba LALC; Hunter Bird Observers Club

Improving Advocate for full legal protection

Wyperfeld, Big Desert, Ngarkat Mallee Emu-wren, Black-eared Miner 183 threatened Inappropriate fire regime

Re-introduction, change fire management

Various NRM Groups; Universities; Monarto Zoo

Improving Complete re-introduction

Patho Plains Plains-wanderer 28 threatened Agriculture grazing Promote farming for Plains-wanderers

Dept. of Environment, Land, Water and Planning, VIC

Improving Support farming changes

Christmas Island Abbott’s Booby, CI Frigatebird 283 endemic Mining Submission to reject mining proposal

BirdLife International Improving Increase bird tourism

Bruny Island Swift Parrot, Forty-spotted Pardalote 27 threatened Logging Expert advice to stop logging Australian National University Improving Advocate for long-term protection

Northern Swan Coastal Plains Carnaby’s Black-Cockatoo 20 threatened Urban development Community campaign to revise urban growth plan

BirdLife Western Australia Deteriorating Stop logging

Macquarie Marshes Waterbirds 35 threatened Impact of record drought

Management of water for the environment, community input into managment

NSW Dept. of Planning, Industry and Environment; Nature Conservation Council of NSW

Deteriorating Advocate for water for the environment

Moreton Bay & Pumicestone Passage Eastern Curlew and other shorebirds 53 threatened Urban development Movement building to enforce the law

Redlands 2030 Community Group; Australian Conservation Foundation

Deteriorating Support local movement

PREVIOUS PAGE LEFT: Christmas Island KBA is globally significant for its endemic bird species but is probably more famous for its crab migration. Image by Tanya Detto. PREVIOUS PAGE RIGHT Paroo Floodplain & Currawinya KBA is one of many inland KBAs in danger of losing its waterbirds due to severe drought. Image by Matthew Stanton. LEFT: The Montebello Islands KBA is home to a globally significant Roseate Tern colony. Image by Andrew Burbidge.

Macquarie Marshes KBA. Image by Chris Grounds

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Many of the unique species on Christmas Island rely on the island’s lush rainforest. Unfortunately, the diversity of this rainforest ecosystem is underpinned by rich phosphate deposits that have been mined on the island since 1898. Phosphate mining is highly destructive, requiring the removal of forest cover and topsoil, which makes forest recovery in the mined areas impossible. Already, about 25% of Christmas Island’s forest cover has been lost to mining and other human activities. Mining also facilitates and exacerbates the impacts of invasive species, which include black rats, cats, wolf snakes, yellow crazy ants and an invasive vine. Any disturbance of native vegetation, even for exploration drilling, opens the forest to these aggressive invaders.

RESPONSE

BirdLife Australia has called on the Australian Government to commit to an end to mining on Christmas Island and to continue to improve the control of invasive species, including tight quarantine to stop the arrival of new species.

Abbott’s Boobies represent an ancient lineage of birds and are now extinct everywhere except Christmas Island. In the past, phosphate mining destroyed some of its breeding trees. Today, clearing for the mine opens up its remaining colonies to destructive winds causing young birds to fall from their nests. Image by Tanya Detto.

Christmas Island Moreton Bay and Pumicestone Passage

This KBA not only supports more than 1% of the total population of Eastern Curlews—the world’s largest migratory shorebird endemic to our flyway—but also more than 40 other species of migratory and resident shorebirds. In fact, shorebird numbers can swell to over 40,000 in summer.

A proposed development in Toondah Harbour in Cleveland by Walker Group Holdings would cause a permanent reduction of the feeding and roosting habitat of the Eastern Curlew, encroaching on the Moreton Bay Ramsar site.

RESPONSE

BirdLife Australia has called on the the Australian Government to uphold its obligations under the Ramsar Convention and reject the current Toondah Harbour development proposal.

RESULTThe development proposal was revised several times over three years, ostensibly to address environmental concerns. None of the revisions addressed environmental concerns satisfactorily. Regardless, in 2018 the third revision was approved to progress to the Environmental

RESULT In 2018, the Minister for the Environment rejected the proposed exploration mining permit that threatened the Endangered Abbott’s Booby. A first step towards getting Christmas Island off the ‘In Danger’ list. However, invasive species continue to threaten this KBA despite great progress by Parks Australia staff in controlling them. The Christmas Island community needs to have an economic future beyond mining to ensure the permanent protection of the KBA and BirdLife Australia is researching and promoting sustainable ecotourism.

THREATS

THREATS

Impact Assessment stage by the Minister—against the advice of his own department. In the resulting public comment period, BirdLife Australia made a detailed submission. The Australian Conservation Foundation (a member of the KBA National Coordination Group) filed a Freedom of Information request, which documented the flawed decision process and inability of our current laws to protect the environment. The decision sets a dangerous precedent for Australia’s 65 other Ramsar listed wetlands. BirdLife Australia and our KBA partners continue to work on stopping the development.

Ongoing coastal development across the range of the Eastern Curlew has

resulted in a population decline of over 80% in only 30 years

Eastern Curlew. Image by Chris Martinez

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KBA contacts and local coordinators KBA outlook

1. Addition of KBAs for non-avian species

In 2018, BirdLife Australia’s KBA program was recognised locally and at the international level for its considerable contribution to the vision of the global KBA Partnership. By far the most widely monitored and most actively conserved species in Australian KBAs to date have been birds. Looking ahead, the geographic and taxonomic expansion of the KBA network will continue. The driving force behind this expansion is the KBA National Coordination Group. This group provides a forum for species experts and organisations leading habitat conservation in Australia to help identify, propose and protect new KBAs. Eventually, this process will create a comprehensive inventory of KBAs for all of Australia’s threatened and unique species.

2. A community-driven approach for monitoring and on-ground conservation

In the coming years this program aims to increase the capacity of KBA Guardians to achieve their KBA conservation goals. Many KBA Guardians have taken on the role because of their knowledge of birds or other species and their passion for a place. The result is a dynamic volunteer force with a diversity of interests and backgrounds. All KBA Guardians keep tabs on ‘their’ KBAs in a brief annual Health-check, but many choose to take action for their KBAs in other ways, too. Central to this are training and materials that empower KBA Guardians to engage with open standards conservation action planning processes. This approach can formalise and strengthen collaborations between individuals, Indigenous groups, government agencies and non-government organisations, which already are critical to the KBA Program in Australia.

3. Leading the charge for biodiversity protectionKBAs have an important role to play when it comes to safeguarding the planet’s biodiversity for future generations. The next couple of years will be critical as the framework for biodiversity conservation will be set through the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in 2020. Australia, as one of the world’s most biodiverse countries, can and should lead the charge in this process with an active and effective KBA partnership.

KBA National Coordination Group (NCG)

• Dr Martin Taylor, WWF, Chairperson mtaylor@wwf.org.au• Dr Golo Maurer, BirdLife Australia, Secretary kba@birdlife.org.au

KBA-Guardian Program Coordinators

• National and NT: Dr Golo Maurer, KBA Program Leader golo.maurer@birdlife.org.au• ACT: Dr Elisabeth Karplus emhodson@exemail.com.au• NSW: Dr Elisabeth Karplus emhodson@exemail.com.au• QLD (N): Dr Ray Pierce raypierce@bigpond.com• Kath Shurcliff crabplover@westnet.com.au• QLD (S): Tida Nou tida.nou@gmail.com• SA: Vacant• TAS: BirdLife Tasmania Monitoring Subcommittee,

led by Mike Newman omgnewman@bigpond.com• VIC: Greg Turner gregturner56@bigpond.com• WA: Linda Borrison lindaborrison@iinet.net.au

KBA Resources

• KBA Blog: keybiodiversityareas.org.au • Australia’s KBA Health-check data portal: portal.birdlife.org.au/kba-health-check/ • KBA-criteria: portals.iucn.org/library/node/46259 • Guidelines for using the KBA standards: portals.iucn.org/library/node/47982 • State of KBA Report: birdlife.org.au/documents/KBA-report-2017.pdf • Detailed information on KBAs: datazone.birdlife.org/site/search • KBA-maps Australia: birdlife.org.au/projects/KBA/volunteers-kba

Annual Important KBA dates

• Easter — submit KBA Health-checks

• 22 May — International Day of Biological Diversity

• 31 May — BirdLife Australia Indigenous Grant for Bird Research and Conservation

Everyone can play a role in safeguarding the future of Australia’s nature hotspots—will you join us?

Lake Wollumboola KBA. Image by Chris Grounds

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KBA achievements in 2018

t

Next year will be about building KBA-Guardian capacity and continuing our work for better Nature Laws.

Thank You, KBA Guardians for bringing the KBA program to life!

THREATS

SUCCESS

In 2018 the KBA program has been very active, visibly and behind the scenes.

PLACES YOU LOVEEaster Health-checks for 91 of 315 KBAs (up 25%)

To be part of this ambitious community conservation initiative contact: Dr Golo Maurer, KBA Program Manager kba@birdlife.org.au 0467 444 114

SPECIES YOU LOVE

>128

Status of > 128 threatened, endemic or gregarious species assessed

VOLUNTEERSOver 28,000 hrs of KBA

monitoring and conservation by over 2,800 volunteers

19 BirdLife Branches and affiliates and 74 NGOs active in KBAs

COMMUNITY

74 NGOs

26 KBAs in Danger of losing biodiversity

We helped prevent mine expansion on Christmas Island KBA and inspired local land managers to protect their KBA. Keep track of our successes and activities on www.keybiodiversityareas.org.au

>50%

26

91 KBAs28k

hours

Health-checks done in all states

COVERAGE

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