Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00195:reg:8:p2
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2022L00195
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 8 (pt 2/16)
Character Range: 131865–134823

have a significant impact on an endangered species, such as the Mahogany Glider. Under these criteria, a proponent should consider carefully any actions that may impact the Mahogany Glider, which include:
    * Clearing of vegetation, remnant or non-remnant, within any corridor that results in a loss of connectivity.
    * Removal of known or potential den trees. A den tree is one that has hollows in which a Mahogany Glider seeks refuge in the day. Trees hollows used by Mahogany Gliders typically occur in living or dead tree of the family Myrtaceae that have a diameter at breast height (DBH, ~1.3 m from the ground) of ≥20 cm (Jackson, 2000b).
    * Loss or fragmentation of habitat associated with the conversion of tenure from leasehold to freehold, rural to rural/residential and/or other land tenures.
    * Loss or fragmentation of habitat associated with Material Change of Use (MCU) applications.
    * Loss or fragmentation of critical habitat and/or den trees associated with post-natural disaster clean-up.
    * Inadequate management of the remaining habitat through insufficient habitat through, for example, insufficient or inappropriate fire and weed management.
For example, an action may be considered to be significant if it disrupts the breeding cycle of a population. In addressing this potential impact, a proponent should consider the timing of the action, noting that it may be difficult to avoid the breeding season, considering the timing of the wet season (December to April). A proponent should also note that female gliders appear to be less likely to cross over roads than males (Asari et al., 2010), and that fragmentation of habitat may therefore influence the breeding cycle. Efforts should be made to maintain connectivity during construction, even if disruption is only temporary.
An action that results in the creation of gaps that exceed the average maximum glide distance (30 m) may, depending on the location, also result in a significant impact by fragmenting an existing population into 2 or more populations. This is particularly the case with actions that require clearing within priority wildlife corridors, as identified in the Mahogany Glider Recovery Plan Storymap (Terrain NRM, 2015, see Map 3).
The section on Management Practices (see section 8.3) also provides information on measures to avoid or mitigate actions that may have a significant impact on the Mahogany Glider.

8.3                 Management practices

8.3.1             Reducing habitat loss and fragmentation
The retention and effective management of the remaining Mahogany Glider habitat is critically important in ensuring the long-term viability of this species (Jackson, 2000e). An important part of this process has been to identify and prioritise wildlife corridors for protection, management and restoration (Jackson et al., 2020). The function of corridors is to provide continuity between populations by maintaining or restoring