The Kangaroo Island subspecies was listed after the summer of 2019-20 when fire \u2013 one of the greatest threats to the species \u2013 tore through the western end of Kangaroo Island, devastating the southern emu-wren\u2019s habitat. Experts estimate more than half of the local southern emu-wren population perished in the catastrophe.<\/p>\n
Past habitat clearing has reduced the Mount Lofty Ranges population to about 300 birds in wet heaths and swamps south of Adelaide.<\/p>\n
On the tip of the Eyre Peninsula, fewer than 1,000 birds remain. The federal government gave this subspecies its endangered listing in 2023. The government\u2019s conservation advice states that every known site where the Eyre Peninsula subspecies occurred was habitat critical to its survival.<\/p>\n
Last year, the federal government gave the green light to Adelaide-based start-up Southern Launch to construct permanent rocket launch facilities at Whalers Way, a conservation sanctuary that has been protected under a South Australian heritage agreement since the 1990s.<\/p>\n
The site is home to one of the largest and most important populations of the Eyre Peninsula southern emu-wren, along with other endangered species.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it was approved, I was astounded,\u201d says Prof Hugh Possingham, the vice-president of BirdLife Australia.<\/p>\n
Southern emu-wrens rely on heathlands and have a superior ability to move through the dense, low scrub.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir super power is to be able to feed and live in this impenetrable vegetation which protects them a lot from predators,\u201d Possingham says.<\/p>\n
But the birds are poor flyers. They move slowly, cover small distances and hop along from one bush to the next. For every breeding pair, about a hectare of good quality habitat is required. Fragmentation of their habitat is a serious concern because the birds rely on the connected heaths for their safety.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe thing that puts them most at risk is habitat fragmentation,\u201d Pedler says.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey can\u2019t hop from a bush here to one 100 metres away. Because they don\u2019t really fly, they need to be able to hop from bush to bush to bush.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you have cars driving through or bulldozers driving through clearing vegetation, these little things can\u2019t just jump across a road or a rocket launching pad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Southern Launch has approval to clear up to 24ha of southern emu-wren habitat at Whalers Way. The development would also introduce other threats including noise and light pollution, roads and increased fire risk.<\/p>\n
Possingham, Pedler and other conservationists argue a suitable alternative site should be found for the development on land that has already been cleared.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s many equally good locations that don\u2019t involve destruction of nature and affecting an endangered species,\u201d Possingham says.<\/p>\n
The South Australian heritage agreement that covers the Whalers Way site would also need to be varied before the development can proceed.<\/p>\n
Southern Launch\u2019s chief executive, Lloyd Damp, says orbital launch complexes have to be located on the coast to ensure rocket stages land in the ocean, away from homes and critical infrastructure.<\/p>\n
He says the location of Whalers Way within 50km of a major population centre \u2013 Port Lincoln \u2013 that has amenities and services was also a \u201ckey determining factor\u201d in the site selection.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe lower Eyre Peninsula has over 140,000 hectares of native vegetation and 41,000 hectares has been identified as southern Emu-wren habitat,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Damp says Southern Launch was committed to delivering a \u201cnet environmental benefit\u201d at Whalers Way, including a biodiversity strategy, to ensure native species in the area were protected and to manage the environment through measures such as eradication of feral animals.<\/p>\n
Pedler says the existing heritage agreement means that for close to 40 years the Whalers Way site had been an undisturbed area of magnificent coastline, wild ocean for species such as the southern right whale, and nature.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe southern emu-wren, the Eyre Peninsula variety, it\u2019s numbers are so reduced it\u2019s under threat of extinction,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce the last breeding pair goes you can\u2019t bring them back from extinction.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is their habitat and they must be protected at all costs.\u201d<\/p>\n