What Is This?
Animal breeding places include obvious structures such as bird nests and tree hollows, as well as more cryptic places such as amphibian or reptile habitat where breeding takes place. A requirement to identify and manage animal breeding places when habitats are affected by development is set down in the Nature Conservation (Animals) Regulation 2020. A permit is required to tamper with animal breeding places – this includes for habitat clearing, individual tree felling or trimming, soil disturbance and any other activity that may directly affect a breeding habitat. Note that Koalas are not included in the requirements as they do not have fixed breeding places – and disturbance to Koala habitat is subject to other legislative controls.
A permit application to the Department of Environment and Science must be made prior to the disturbance regardless of any other approvals which may have been granted for the action. The application must include the results of an inventory of active animal breeding places present on the subject land.
If animal breeding places are present, a Species Management Program must be submitted relevant to the management of breeding places for least concern species (low risk of impacts) and/or threatened species and colonial breeders (high risk of impacts).
Your permitted Species Management Program must be implemented during site disturbance and you must a retain an animal breeding places register. Often significant components of the plan will be implemented by the Fauna Spotter present during site disturbance.
How We Address It
The submission process is relatively simple via an online application form, and we will provide permit application advice to make it easy. We will record animal breeding places in the field while undertaking other ecological survey requirements and the results will be included in the general ecological assessment report which is attached to the permit application – so there is no need for a separate report. If only least concern species are affected the Department of Environment and Science provides a generic Species Management Program that is submitted with the permit application and there is no charge for this. If threatened or colonial breeding species are present, a specific Species Management Program will need to be prepared and submitted. When quoting to address animal breeding places we will include the preparation of a Species Management Program for threatened and colonial breeding species (should they be present) as a contingency cost.
Animal Breeding Place assessment can be conducted and reported independently or is included as a component of an Ecological Assessment where one is undertaken.
