Flora and Fauna Assessment Report (FFA) NSW

What Is Included in a Flora and Fauna Assessment Report from East Coast Ecology?

Our Flora and Fauna Assessment (FFA) reports are strategically designed to be easy to read and easy to interpret by both you and the consent authority who will be assessing your Development Application (DA). A Flora and Fauna Assessment Report from East Coast Ecology will include the following information:

Introduction

• Identification and description of the site;

• Description of the proposed development and references to plans and reports used for the assessment; and

• The regional context and physical description of the study area includes hydrology, geology, soils, landforms, climate and types and conditions of the habitat(s) in and adjacent to the land affected by the proposal.

Legislation, policy, and controls

The Flora and Fauna Assessment Report is required to address all relevant legislation, policy and guidelines that include:

• Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 & Biodiversity Conservation Regulation 2017;

• Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 & Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021;

• Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999;

• State Environmental Planning Policy (Resilience & Hazards) 2021 (formerly Coastal Management);

• State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity Conservation) 2021;

• Water Management Act 2000, Fisheries Management Act 1994 & Biosecurity Act 2015;

• Local Environmental Plans & Development Control Plans (relevant to your local government area); and

• Consideration of the proposal against the thresholds of the NSW Biodiversity Offsets Scheme (BOS).

A comprehensive assessment of your proposed development is provided against these acts. In this section, East Coast Ecology will detail how your application complies with the above legislation.

Site investigation

A site investigation will always be required to prepare a Flora and Fauna Assessment (FFA), however, the level of survey effort will depend on the size of the development and the level of impact. A site assessment will involve collecting all relevant environmental data and photographs from the site, such as vegetation communities and threatened species habitat.

At a minimum, all FFAs should include the following information:

• Details of desktop and field survey methods employed;

• A map and photos of the study area and subject site;

• A list of flora and fauna species (native and introduced) identified on site;

• A list and map of threatened species and ecological communities known or likely to occur in the study area and locality;

• Description, map and photographs of any Plant Community Types (PCTs) identified within the study area;

• List of threatened flora surveyed, including whether the threatened flora survey was undertaken within the recommended survey period as outlined in the Threatened Biodiversity Data Collection (TBDC);

• Description of fauna habitat available on the site;

• Map of all hollow-bearing trees located within the study area, including a description of the size of the hollow (cm);

• Map of survey method locations (including any specialist fauna survey methods), including a map of GPS tracks, survey dates, times and weather conditions;

• Map of environmental features and habitat types (such as sandstone outcrops, culverts or overhangs); and

• Discussion of any constraints or limitations of the study.

Vegetation Communities

The Flora and Fauna Assessment (FFA) report will identify the vegetation communities within your property. This will involve collecting a comprehensive flora species inventory, analysing historical imagery/data, and sometimes vegetation integrity plots. A qualified botanist always collects this data, so you and the consent authority can be certain of the reported findings.

Threatened Species

The Flora and Fauna Assessment (FFA) will identify what types and quantities of habitat you have on your site and how these can be avoided and managed during construction. Threatened species' habitat is diverse and often unique to each species. Some examples of threatened species habitats in New South Wales include tree hollows, caves & crevices, ponds, wetlands, termite mounds, leaf litter, woody debris and nests. If a threatened species habitat type is present and likely to be impacted, your Council may request specialised targeted surveys to rule out their presence before construction can commence.

Threatened species surveys can be expensive, depending on your consultant’s methods. At East Coast Ecology, we adopt passive, automated survey technologies (accepted by the industry) that dramatically reduce the cost of surveys.

Passive survey technologies come at no extra cost to us, so why should they come at an extra cost to you? They shouldn’t.

Impact Assessment

The Flora and Fauna Assessment (FFA) will provide a concise and clear summary of the impacts of the proposed development, including ‘direct’ impacts (vegetation clearing, asset protection zones) and ‘indirect’ impacts (noise, vibration, light spill). Each of these impacts can be managed in several ways suitable for your property and your development.

The FFA should identify all direct and indirect impacts to biodiversity values associated with the proposal.

Direct and indirect impacts may include:

• Clearing and modification of vegetation;

• Removal of habitat features such as hollows;

• Caves and rock outcrops;

• Fragmentation or isolation of habitat;

• Changes to flora and fauna dispersal routes;

• Soil disturbance;

• Run-off and sedimentation;

• Increased noise, vibration, increased lighting and traffic in natural areas; and

• Demolition or modification of human-made structures utilised by wildlife (such as bats).

This includes impacts associated with:

• Demolition and construction;

• Excavation and fill;

• Construction access and staging areas;

• Materials and debris stockpiling;

• Installation of services and stormwater infrastructure;

• Onsite effluent disposal areas;

• Establishment of bushfire asset protection zones (APZ);

• Landscaping; and

• Ongoing operation of the development.

The area (ha) of native vegetation required to be cleared for the development should be clearly stated. A “Test of Significance” or “5-Part Test” per s7.3 of the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 is required to accompany all Flora and Fauna Assessment (FFA) that may impact upon a threatened species, population or community or their habitats. Where relevant, an assessment against the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Significant Impact Guidelines 1.1 – Matters of National Environmental Significance) is also required.

Avoidance, Minimisation and Mitigation

Avoid and Minimise

For all developments, the first step to protecting flora and fauna biodiversity is designing to avoid and minimise impacts to biodiversity.

Council requires all measures to avoid and minimise impacts to biodiversity to be demonstrated in all Flora and Fauna Assessments (FFA). Appropriate measures that can be used to demonstrate this include:

• Attending a pre-lodgement meeting with Council and demonstrating that your design complies with their recommendations,

• Avoid impacting native vegetation in any areas mapped within the NSW Biodiversity Values Map published by the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE);

• Avoid impacts to any endangered dauna habitats and areas identified as a Threatened Ecological Community (TEC);

• Where safe, avoid removing large native trees, hollow-bearing trees or dead trees with hollows or cavities as they provide vital habitat for native fauna;

• Where permissible, opt for increasing the height of the proposed development rather than expanding the development footprint if an increased footprint is likely to impact native vegetation;

• In bush fire-prone areas, locate or orientate your dwelling to maximise the distance between the dwelling and any areas of native vegetation or increase your construction standard to minimise required asset protection zones (APZ).

Mitigation Measures

Depending on your development, your Council may require you to implement specific measures to mitigate the environmental impact. These measures can include:

• Nest box installation;

• Pre-clearing surveys and clearing supervision;

• Weed management; and

• Replanting trees or revegetating bushland.

Mitigation measures need to be practical before they are recommended. Inexperienced consultants may recommend measures that directly conflict with your interests, the intent of the DA, or the requirements of other specialist consultants. A typical example is consultants who recommend the revegetation of bushland in areas that are required (or proposed) to be managed as an asset protection zone. Poorly thought-out recommendations can create costly issues when seeking Construction Certification or Occupation Certificate. East Coast Ecology employs Ecologists, Arborists, and Bushfire practitioners in-house to avoid such conflicts.

Conclusion

Assessment of the proposal against the biodiversity controls and legislation applicable to the site. A statement summarising the overall direct, indirect, ongoing, and cumulative impacts of the proposal on biodiversity or ecological values of the subject site and locality, with specific reference to impacts to threatened entities and essential wildlife habitat.