Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01713:body:0:p7
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2023L01713
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 16930–19941

Peoples in cross-collaborative recovery planning and actione for the water mouse.

1.6                  Recovery team
National Recovery Teams provide advice and assist in coordinating actions that are outlined in recovery plans. They include a diversity of representatives from organisations with responsibility for, and a direct interest in, the recovery of threatened species. A national Water Mouse Recovery Team is integral to successfully implementing the water mouse recovery plan across northern and eastern Australia, and one is to be established as a primary recovery action of this plan. A Water Mouse Recovery Team is necessary to collate, manage and disseminate information among a broad range of partners to ensure water mouse recovery efforts are collaborative and effective, and the vision of this plan is achieved within the next ten years.

    2               Recovery information
This document constitutes the National Recovery Plan for the water mouse (Xeromys myoides) – an elusive rodent listed as Vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act).

2.1                  Historical context
This recovery plan is an update to the 2010 National Recovery Plan for the water mouse (DERM 2010). The 2010 plan was reviewed in April 2017 during a dedicated workshop in Brisbane to meet the requirements of Section 279 (2) of the EPBC Act. The review supported the development of a new recovery plan given the previous recovery plan had:
    * Succeeded in guiding investment and actions for understanding and recovering the water mouse in southeast Queensland, which represented a significant component of the known and directly threatened water mouse national population at the time.
    * Guided and ensured a strong interest in essential research that confirmed suspected threats (predation by European red fox and feral pig).
    * Acted as a platform for vital policy development and mapping updates to better inform decision making for improved water mouse recovery outcomes.
The review confirmed with a high level of confidence that the national water mouse population was likely to be robust given its broad distribution and large extent of unsurveyed, undeveloped and likely habitat, but its conservation trajectory was considered to be deteriorating due to widespread threats from invasive mammals and sea-level changes, and localised declines from habitat loss due to urban and commercial development. There was a strong consensus that progress with recovery had been made in a small but important part of the water mouse range. However, it was also acknowledged that concerning threats were acting beyond this region and these required prioritising for the species as a whole.
The review recommended future recovery planning should prioritise actions to:
1)        Minimise negative impacts to water mouse at locations along the central and southern Queensland coasts that are important for long-term species persistence.
2)        Increase