Steve Wilson and Gerry Swan were employed by Nacap to monitor fauna along the 205 kilometre gas pipeline that runs between Origin Energy’s Darling Downs Power Station, under construction near Braemar, and Wallumbilla in south west Queensland.
Their role was to minimise wildlife fatalities and relocate fauna from the trench, including the removal of dangerous snakes from the jobsite. Both Mr Wilson and Mr Swan utilised their extensive experience – having conducted many biological surveys along a number of different pipelines – to tackle this sensitive challenge and in the process uncovered a few surprises.
Fauna entrenched
The pipeline alignment traversed an area of subtropical dry forests known as the Brigalow Belt; named after one of the significant tree species that forms part of the vegetation community. Much of the original forest cover is fragmented and a number of animals that inhabit the Brigalow Belt are regarded as threatened.
Between November 2008 and March 2009 when open trench was in place, a total of 2,790 animals comprising
96 various species were recorded.
Each individual animal was identified and its locality logged with a Global Positioning System. At the end of the job the data was provided to the Environmental Protection Agency for inclusion in their Wildnet mapping program for Queensland vertebrates.
Snaking along the gas pipeline
Among the most exciting finds were different species of snakes. There were 323 snakes recorded on the project, ranging from 24 different species, the rarest being the Dunmall’s Snake. The 70 cm long venomous snake, which lives only within the Brigalow Belt, is cited as ‘vulnerable’ under federal, state and international listings.
Little is known of the Dunmall’s Snake lifestyle and few biologists have ever encountered it, yet three were recorded during this project. Two of these were just 4 km apart in a small forest block near Yuleba.
The White-Crowned Snake and a species of ground python called a Woma were also recorded.
Relocating wildlife
For several years Nacap has proactively employed fauna monitors specifically to remove and relocate wildlife. Pipelines frequently traverse remote and poorly researched areas. Surveys such as this one make a unique contribution to vital ecological information which might otherwise be hard to obtain.
