Letter to Shane Rattenbury, Minister for Municipal and Territory Services requesting the return of land into nature reserve; click here.
Swift Parrot, Lathamus discolor. Photograph Geoffrey Dabb 27.04.2005 at Mount Majura nature reserve.
The Variation to the Territory Plan No 182 (April 2002) moved an area north of the Hackett water reservoir from nature reserve to special purpose reserve, horse grazing. The area contains Yellow box Red gum grassy woodland listed Critically Endangered under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act and Endangered under the ACT Nature Conservation (NC) Act. The area contains a large number of mature trees that provide food and breeding habitat for declining woodland species, such as Gang-gang Cockatoo. For several weeks in autumn 2005 / 2008 about 60 / 25 Swift Parrots (Lathamus discolor) were observed foraging in paddock 6 and surrounds. The parrot species is listed as Endangered under the EPBC and the NC Acts.
Yellow box Red gum Grassy Woodland at paddock 6.
Since 2003 Friends of Mount Majura (FoMM) lobbied the ACT Government to return paddock 5 and paddock 6 to nature reserve to protect the conservation values in perpetuity; the paddocks are shown on the map at the bottom.
Open forest with shrub ground cover at paddock 5.
In August 2008 the ACT Conservator for Flora and Fauna informed FoMM that paddock 5 will be returned.
In 2009 the Land Planning Authority ACTPLA advised that it prepares a Variation to the Territory Plan which includes the Conservators’ recommendations.
During the past three years FoMM inquiries about the Variation revealed no further progress.
FoMM wrote to Shane Rattenbury, Minister for TAMS requesting to act without further delay and to return both, paddock 5 and paddock 6 into nature reserve.
