REDLAND City Council’s move to help save one of Australia’s most threatened cockatoo species has been criticised by Facebook users concerned developers had free reign of the region.
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The council, in a post placed on its Facebook page on Wednesday, September 20, asked residents to help tree planting efforts this Saturday in a bid to boost native habitat for the glossy black-cockatoo.
About 1000 she-oaks, a food source for the bird, will be planted at Redland Bay’s Denham Boulevard Park in a working bee between 9am and 11am.
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The park, which is a pocket of greenery along School of Arts Road, is intersected by Weinam Creek and surrounded by residential blocks.
A council spokesperson said council efforts to rehabilitate the patch had continued for more than a decade.
“Council has carried out tree plantings designed to enhance conservation and habitat for over 14 years,” the spokesperson said.
However, the she-oak planting exercise copped criticism from seven Facebook users, who inferred council’s efforts to save the glossy black-cockatoo from extinction were “hypocritical”, given development had destroyed wildlife habitat in the region.
One person said the initiative was “a joke”.
“You are allowing developers free reign to clear hundreds of trees and then have the nerve to ask the ratepayers to plant more,” the comment read.
Another respondent described the move as a public relations stunt.
“Trying to make people think you are doing something to help…,” they said.
Concerns about wildlife habitat destruction have come after remnant koala trees were removed earlier this month by developers at Cleveland’s Shore Street East, as reported by the Redland City Bulletin.
When approached by the Bulletin for a response to Facebook users’ comments, the council spokesperson said a range of programs designed to protect wildlife, including the glossy black-cockatoo initiative, were followed by council.
“(These include) council’s annual tree planting programs, wildlife extension programs, voluntary land use agreements, catchment and waterway management programs and land acquisition measures, such as the recent purchase of 150 hectares of land at Heineman Road at Mount Cotton, with a large portion to be set aside for conservation,” the spokesperson said.
“In the past, council engaged environmental consultants to identify important glossy black-cockatoo nesting and feed trees on the Southern Moreton Bay Islands. Where these trees have been under threat of development, council has provided the landowners with a voluntary offer to exchange their land with council-owned SMBI residential zoned land located elsewhere on the SMBIs.”
The spokesperson said annual surveys had been conducted since 2009 for the Glossy Black Conservancy program to monitor numbers.
Records indicated 50 birds were sighted in 2014 at North Stradbroke, Russell and Macleay islands, with six observed in 2015 at Macleay Island and 14 recorded last year at NSI.
”In the Redlands, we have had varied (survey) results as it depends on the birds actually sighted by volunteers on that day,” the spokesperson said.
“The Southern Moreton Bay Islands and North Stradbroke Island are the stronghold areas for glossy black-cockatoos, as they have larger bushland areas and more older trees that provide hollows.
“It is possible that glossy black-cockatoos nest in larger bushland areas such as Mount Cotton, but we rely on the assistance from private property owners to monitor their land and inform the conservancy.”
The tree planting working bee is between 9am and 11am this Saturday, September 23 at Denham Boulevard Park, at the corner of Muller and Burmah Boulevard.
