The Gouldian finch was once found right across northern Australia but it's now thought there are fewer than 2,500 left in the wild. Their return to a coastal corner of Darwin has started a grassroots movement to stop a Defence housing project.
A spokesperson for the authority said environmental approval "was obtained following a detailed assessment of the impacts of the project on biodiversity". However, the authority noted it is continuing to work with "experts, with the Commonwealth Environmental Minister and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water in relation to the project".
Mr Sawyer, who is leading the campaign to stop the second stage of clearing, believes the land would provide more benefit to the public and the economy if it was turned into a tourist attraction. "There's something like 240 bird species that have been seen in that Casuarina Coastal Reserve, Lee Point area and that's about a quarter of Australian bird species," he said. "Estimates in the United States are that birding is worth about $40 billion a year. That's a big industry and it could be a great thing for Darwin. "You could offer somebody a world class birding trip for the day in Darwin and we're not taking advantage of these things."Mr Sawyer calls the relocation of the recovering species to Lee Point a "fantastic phenomenon" and argues the quality of the habitat is what's helped the bird revitalise its dwindling population. "When you get an area like that, where you've got food and you've got water, the birds will come there for a period of time, but the fact that these birds seem to be resident there, and their numbers have been increasing, that indicates they're breeding close by to there as well." "We were really worried back in the nineties, and so forth that we were going to lose it as a species, so it's had a pretty remarkable recovery in some areas."Co-Director of the Environment Centre of the Northern Territory, Kirsty Howey said the bird's endangered status could throw a spanner in the works for the development. "The significance of Gouldian finches being in this area is quite stark because they're listed as endangered under our federal law the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, and that puts Federal [Environment] Minister Tanya Plibersek firmly in the frame about decision making for this area," she said.'Additional surveys' to identify Gouldian finch habitat The community effort to lobby environment minister Tanya Plibersek's office, which includes citizen science projects, hasn't gone unnoticed in Canberra. "We've heard that in response to the huge community outcry on this issue, Minister Plibersek is actually reviewing the situation at Lee Point, which is huge news," Ms Howey said. A spokesperson for the environment department told the ABC that departmental officers inspected the site earlier this month and met with the Defence Housing Authority. As a result, the department is working with the authority to conduct additional surveys to identify habitat for the Gouldian finch. Gouldian Finches are also located in the Kimberley, where they are one of 45 animal species there under threat. Ms Howey said the recent federal government steps had provided a sense of hope for those involved in the campaign. "People in Darwin now truly believe that this place can be saved. It's galvanised people. It's motivated people," she said. "This campaign has been enormously successful in that it has galvanised thousands of people in Darwin. It shouldn't be that hard to save this habitat, and to listen to the community on this issue." Larrakia traditional owner Tibby Quall speaking during the Save Lee Point and the Gouldian Finch rally.
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