Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00153:body:0:p13
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00153
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 35093–38103

community which kill or inhibit the growth of species in the ecological community; or

      * interfere with the recovery of an ecological community.
If there is scientific uncertainty about the impacts of an action and potential impacts are serious or irreversible, the precautionary principle is applicable. Accordingly, a lack of scientific certainty about the potential impacts of an action will not itself justify a decision that the action is not likely to have a significant impact on an ecological community (Matters of National Environment Significance: Significant impact guidelines 1.1).

2.1.1      Guidance on Significant impacts
Patch sizes for Littoral Rainforest vary from < 1 ha to > 100 ha, although large patches are now rare. The loss of, or disturbance to, the highest quality patches, or habitat critical to the survival of Littoral Rainforest, is highly likely to lead to a long term loss in the overall extent of the ecological community.
Development related activities such as vegetation clearing, excavation and earthworks within and adjacent to Littoral Rainforest are highly likely to adversely affect the ecological community, if not directly then indirectly through impacts to individual sites and the subsequent accumulated losses across the ecological community as a whole. These activities reduce the size of patches and the extent of Littoral Rainforest by directly affecting small clumps or indirectly destroying or degrading the quality of habitat. This further disrupts connectivity and effective functionality of Littoral Rainforest and its component parts, including species prevalence and habitat structure.
The option of a buffer and its width depends on the local landscape context and patch sizes. Decisions on buffer size should be informed by the guidance in Section 3.7 below, and an investigation of the project area. Information relevant to buffer definitions and width includes the degree of isolation of the site, patch size, the local availability of alternative patches, plus information on the nature of the proposed impact, strategies to avoid or mitigate impacts, and the duration and intensity of the impact.

2.1.2      Avoiding or mitigating likely significant impacts
The primary way to prevent the decline of Littoral Rainforest is to protect remnant patches that meet the condition thresholds in the Listing Advice. This includes not undertaking activities within close proximity that could impact on the extent, quality and functionality of Littoral Rainforest. The primary goal should be to avoid all impacts to patches of Littoral Rainforest. Offsets should be considered a last resort after all avoidance and mitigation measures have been exhausted and residual impacts remain. Offsets do not mean proposals with unacceptable impacts will be approved (Section 6.2.2 Offsetting).
Nevertheless, restoration and revegetation activities are valuable options for patches lost or degraded by significant impacts. This requires an understanding of the