Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00930:reg:2:p18
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00930
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 2 (pt 18/48)
Character Range: 110655–113636

the species recovery through contributing to overall population increases in abundance, maintenance of genetic diversity (given site fidelity may lead to small-scale genetic differences) and expanding habitat occupancy. Within reproductive BIAs, southern right whales demonstrate a spatial and temporal dependence to these areas, and calving and nursing is known (due to presence of calves) to consistently occur in varying densities.
Migration areas
These are areas known, or likely, to be used for movement between regions that support biologically important behaviours. This includes the movement of whales along the coast and the movement from offshore areas, including foraging areas, to nearshore and coastal areas.

     2.10.2     Habitat critical to the survival of the species
A Recovery Plan, under Part 13, section 270 of the EPBC Act, must identify the habitats that are critical to the survival of the species or community concerned, and the actions needed to protect those habitats. The EPBC Act Significant Impact Guidelines 1.1 – Matters of National Environmental Significance 2013 state that "An action is likely to have a significant impact on a threatened species if there is a real chance or possibility that it will: adversely affect habitat critical to the survival of a species." The definition of habitat critical to the survival (HCTS) of a species are areas necessary:
       * for activities such as foraging, breeding, roosting, or dispersal,
       * for the long-term maintenance of the species or ecological community (including the maintenance of species essential to the survival of the species or ecological community, such as pollinators),
       * to maintain genetic diversity and long-term evolutionary development, or
       * for the reintroduction of populations or recovery of the species or ecological community.

Habitat critical to survival for the southern right whale has been identified as all reproductive BIAs across the species range (Figure 4). The identification of HCTS reflects that southern right whales display strong site fidelity to calving areas in Australian coastal waters, within and between years, over decadal time spans (Bannister 2001, Charlton et al. 2021, Watson et al. 2021). Reproductive areas have been identified as HCTS of the species based on:
       * they meet the species essential life cycle requirements for reproduction (e.g., mating, calving, and nursing) and reproduction is known to occur at that location,
       * there is a level of occupancy by individual breeding females at these locations of multiple days in any given year, and across multiple years, for long-term maintenance of the species, and
       * they are critical for recovery of the southern right whale in terms of expanding habitat occupancy and contributing to the maintenance of genetic diversity as site fidelity may lead to small-scale genetic differences.
No 'Critical Habitat' as defined under section 207A of the EPBC