Australia’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act) is the national law under which species and ecological communities can be ‘listed’ as threatened across all jurisdictions. Listing relies on an assessment of scientific evidence under a range of regulated criteria to determine eligibility and conservation status. If approved, these assessments are published in a Conservation Advice and the threatened entity appears on the National List as a matter of national environmental significance (MNES).
The listing of ‘threatened ecological communities’ (TECs) has experienced a transition over the past decade or so—from mainly terrestrial, to the first at-risk landscape-scale aquatic ecosystems (e.g., Coastal Saltmarsh, Salt-wedge Estuaries, River Murray-Darling to Sea, Macquarie Marshes). As such, the EPBC Act provides an excellent, and potentially legally enforceable, path to assist in a restorative response to environmental change impacting aquatic ecosystems.
There are many benefits to being nationally listed as a TEC. In addition, a TEC Conservation Advice includes priority actions for research and conservation, thereby negating the need for a separate Recovery Plan. Importantly, listing provides regulatory protection from significant impacts.
A brief overview will be provided of the process of listing, along with the many benefits of listing. Overcoming the challenges posed by the regulated criteria under the EPBC Act (which were designed mainly with terrestrial systems in mind) when assessing aquatic systems, will also be discussed. And newsflash! Listing begins with a public nomination, and anyone can nominate!