Conservation planning ‘good for biodiversity and business’

The Northern Territory’s investment in solar and wind energy production needs to benefit people and the planet, but new research highlights critical pitfalls in planning. 

Research conducted by Charles Darwin University (CDU) reviewed the NT’s existing formal conservation planning against the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia, a framework used to identify gaps in protected areas and track national conservation goals.  

The purpose of conservation planning is to identify areas for protecting natural resources, while balancing human needs for development.  

An example of successful application of conservation planning is the Renewable Energy Zones approach used in parts of New South Wales and Victoria.  

The paper’s results show two thirds of the NT’s bioregions – geographical areas defined by characteristics such as plant and animal species – fall short of the minimum area-based protection goals of 30 per cent protected.  

Most of these bioregions reside on pastoral leasehold land, which covers 44 per cent of the Northern Territory.  

The paper identified bioregions in central parts of the NT, particularly in the Barkly region and south of Tennant Creek, needing urgent conservation planning to avoid cumulative impacts from the development of solar and wind, and increased land clearing for cotton and onshore gas fields. 

Lead author and CDU PhD candidate Billee McGinley, who is with CDU's Research Institute for the Environment and Livelihoods, said with so many ecologically valuable areas outside of formal protection, the findings underscore the need for adequate conservation planning.  

“Conservation planning identifies and connects important habitats across landscapes beyond isolated protected areas," Ms McGinley said. 

“It captures critical habitats for threatened and endemic species, considering persistence of animal species requiring movement across large ranges and areas of refuge during climatic extremes.  

“Conservation planning offers a safeguarding approach in regional planning to fosters resilient landscapes and helps manage cumulative effects of development to avoid biodiversity loss through what is described as ‘death by a thousand cuts’.” 

Ms McGinley said improved conservation planning would allow businesses, particularly developers in wind and solar energy, to more strategically develop these projects while safeguarding the land.  

“Conservation planning is good for biodiversity and business,” Ms McGinley said. 

“With clear conservation plans, knowing where your most important natural assets need to be avoided, can save time and money reassuring communities and investors – avoiding pushback from the community and conservation groups once a proposal is underway.” 

An example of a species which could be protected by conservation planning in the Barkly and Central Desert regions earmarked for largescale solar farm is the Greater Bilby, Macrotis lagotis. 

The Greater Bilby is listed as Vulnerable under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, threatened by degradation, fragmentation and loss of habitat. 

“Without a conservation plan in these bioregions that severely lack in provision of protected areas, the Greater Bilby is under threat from cumulative impacts of large scale solar in these regions,” Ms McGinley said. 

Gaps in conservation planning in the Northern Territory of Australia: preparing for the energy transition was published in the Australasian Journal of Environmental Management.