Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2007B00385:body:0:p16
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2007B00385
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 43936–46968

breeding and sheltering habitat, little information is available. For any populations of shrews located, an important action is to identify critical microhabitat within the rainforest used for foraging, shelter and breeding purposes. Additionally, it will be important to assess usage of regrowth areas, sites infested by crazy ants and weeds, and the importance of edge effect. Such an action will assist in the identification and protection of other areas of potential habitat critical to survival, and aid in targeted surveys to locate additional populations.

Action 9: Identify threatening processes (Obj. 3, 4, 5, 6 & 7; Perf. Crit.  3, 4, 5, 6 & 7).
The threatening processes affecting the viability of Christmas Island Shrew populations have not been identified, although disease, habitat loss and habitat alteration are suspected to have been important factors in their decline. It is also likely that the spread of the crazy ant will have a deleterious effect on remaining populations. However, it is important with any extant populations, to assess components of the site that may assist in the identification of threatening processes. Confirmation of threatening processes is critical for long-term effective management of the species. Management practices must then be determined to reduce the impact of identified threats on located populations of the shrew.

Management Practices
It is difficult to identify specific management practices to avoid adverse impacts on the Christmas Island shrew due to the lack of information on the species. Many of the Actions outlined above are designed to determine specific management practices. Until these have been determined, the broad interim management practices below should be adopted to minimise potential further declines:

    * No removal of primary plateau rainforest within Christmas Island National Park;
    * Implementation of the Invasive Ants on Christmas Island Action Plan;
    * Continuation of liaison with AQIS and WAQIS to ensure tight quarantine controls to prevent the accidental introduction of new diseases and exotic pests;
    * Feral Cat and Black Rat control programs within primary plateau and terrace rainforest;
    * Maintenance of existing habitat quality of primary rainforest through strategies to minimise spread of exotic weeds following the Weed Management Strategy (Hart 1998); and
    * Adoption of strategy to avoid wildfires within potential shrew habitat.

Removal of any primary plateau and terrace rainforest could result in a significant impact on the Christmas Island shrew and should be referred to the Commonwealth Environment Minister under the EPBC Act. Removal of primary plateau and terrace rainforest on vacant crown land or leasehold land should not occur without intensive targeted surveys for the Christmas Island Shrew (see Appendix 1).
PART E: DURATION AND COSTS

Stage 1 – Costs of actions prior to location of extant populations

Recovery Action                                           Year of Implementation