Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L01747:reg:4:p60
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L01747
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 4 (pt 60/80)
Character Range: 220762–223893

background document). Cat-free islands also offer safe breeding sites for seabirds and hold cultural significance for many First Nations groups.

To date, the conservation benefits of creating cat-free havens have focused on cat-susceptible mammals. This threat abatement plan presents a preliminary assessment of the cat-susceptibility of reptiles and land-birds (section 4.1.1), finding relatively few whose long-term persistence is likely to rely on representation within cat-free areas. This analysis could be refined, with additional field data on cat impacts, and using a structured expert elicitation. Note that the benefits of cat-free havens may be subverted if those places also support populations of foxes; where this is so, fox eradication is also required to achieve and maintain the benefits arising from eradicating or excluding cats.

Further expansion of the haven network is required to increase the representation of species currently present, to include more currently unrepresented species that are cat-susceptible (i.e. fill the 'protection gap'), and to strengthen the resilience of the network in the context of climate change (including the likely increase in the incidence of drought and severe wildfire) and other threats. Havens are currently managed by many types of groups and organisations. This diversity is a strength, as it engages with a broader cross section of society, draws funding from a wide range of sources, and fosters complementary objectives. Haven managers develop their own communication and support pathways; however, there are opportunities to improve coordination and information exchange across the disaggregated network. This objective in this threat abatement plan will achieve the most efficient and effective outcomes if haven managers are supported to collaborate and skill-share, through a Safe Haven Network Working Group (Action 6.1 and as outlined in the Threatened Species Action Plan 2022-2032).

The management and recovery of native species that are, or could be, protected within cat-free havens is usually addressed (albeit to varying extents) in threatened species' conservation planning documents. However, there are some general management considerations that transcend individual species and apply across the network of cat-free havens, and that are therefore relevant to this threat abatement plan. In particular, havens need to be managed to:

    * maintain their cat-free status (e.g. by regular surveillance monitoring)
    * minimise the potential detrimental consequences of creating barriers to dispersal (to some species at fenced havens)
    * minimise the risk of genetic bottlenecks
    * minimise the risk of losing predator recognition and response behaviours in the cat-free populations

    * source ongoing maintenance costs (especially for fenced areas) and restoration costs following any major environmental disturbance event (e.g. severe wildfire).

Targets for haven creation:
Ten-year targets for protection for extremely and highly cat-susceptible species should be set by the Safe Haven Network Working Group (Action 6.1), but interim