Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016C01080:clause:1_2
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016C01080
Segment Type: clause
Provision Reference: sch 1 cl 2
Character Range: 13625–15629

2  Description
  The Rookery Islands contain breeding colonies of six bird species resident in the Mawson area: Adélie penguin (Pygoscelis adeliae), Cape petrel (Daption capense), Snow petrel (Pagodroma nivea), southern giant petrel (Macronectes giganteus), Wilson's storm petrel (Oceanites oceanicus) and the Antarctic skua (Catharacta maccormicki). The southern giant petrel breeds nowhere else in the region. The designation of the Area aims to safeguard this unusual association of six species and ensure the preservation of a representative offshore island habitat.
  The Rookery Islands provides a representative sample of the offshore island habitats occurring along the coast of Mac.Robertson land.
  The southern giant petrel has a world population of approximately 62,000 individuals and is inferred to have sustained a population reduction of at least 20% over the last 60 years. The species is in continued rapid decline. Giganteus Island in the Rookery Islands group is one of only four known breeding localities of southern giant petrels around the coastline of continental Antarctica. The other three continental breeding colonies are located near the Australian stations of Casey (66° 13 S, 110° 11 E), (Frazier Islands) and Davis (68º 35 S, 77º 58 E) (Hawker Island), and near the French station Dumont d'Urville (66º 40 S, 140º 01 E) in Terre Adélie. The current population for continental Antarctica is estimated at approximately 290 pairs, comprised of 3 pairs on Giganteus Island, 25 pairs on Hawker Island, 16 pairs at Pointe Géologie archipelago (Terre Adélie) and 248 pairs on the Frazier Islands. Southern giant petrels on the Antarctic continent comprise less than 1% of the global breeding population.
  Southern giant petrels are widespread in more northerly latitudes, breeding on islands to the north‑west of the Antarctic Peninsula and on islands of the Scotia Ridge. However, it is important that it should be protected at the southern limit of its breeding range.