Council backs deer free Blue Mountains World Heritage Area

Media Release |

A motion passed by the Blue Mountains City Council last night supported a 2040 target to remove all feral deer from the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area.

‘We welcome the strong support for action on growing deer numbers that are threatening the ecosystems of the Blue Mountains World Heritage Area’, Invasive Species Council CEO Andrew Cox said.

‘A slow invasion of the highly significant Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area by feral deer is taking place. Unless all land managers step up with a coordinated strategy and resources, we will see degradation of rainforests and wetlands, threatened species habitat and other ecosystems.

Feral deer moved into the southern parts of the World Heritage area in the 1990s and are now spreading, moving rapidly into areas burnt in the Black Summer bushfires.

New feral deer populations have emerged in areas such as Mellong on the Putty Road, Bilpin, Nullo Mountain, Jenolan Caves and Abercrombie as a result of escapes from deer farms and deliberate releases by hunters. They have been spotted in the Megalong and Jamieson Valleys and are only kilometres away from the escarpment rainforests near the Three Sisters and the Grose Valley.

Councils that are part of the 1 million hectare Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area were approached by the Blue Mountains Feral Deer Working Group calling for more coordinated action on feral deer.

Last night, the Blue Mountains City Council voted to support a ‘comprehensive and well-resourced management plan to stop further spread of feral deer in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, protect sensitive environmental areas and eradicate isolated populations’.

NPWS NSW undertook aerial shooting of feral deer and other pest animals following the massive Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20 that burnt most of the World Heritage area. While there continues to be aerial shooting, there is no strategic approach to removing isolated populations and stopping the spread of feral deer.

‘We will be working with the Blue Mountains City Council to support greater action from the NSW and federal governments,’ said Mr Cox.

The draft National Deer Action Plan is currently open for comment until 20 March and proposes to contain the spread of feral deer and remove isolated populations.

The Blue Mountains Feral Deer Working Group would like all people who visit or live in the Greater Blue Mountains to report deer sightings via an online form or using the citizen science app iNaturalist.


Background notes for editors:

Full motion supported by Blue Mountains City Council on 28 Feb 2023:

  1. That the Council notes that:
    1. Feral deer are an urgent and growing threat to native wildlife, ecosystems and watercourses in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and across the Blue Mountains City Local Government Area.
    2. Feral deer also pose significant risks to human safety through vehicle collisions, including on the Bells Line of Road, Putty Road and, in future, along the Great Western Highway.
    3. Five different species of feral deer have been recorded within the Greater Blue Mountains in recent years and their numbers and geographic extent are rapidly growing.
    4. Herbivory and environmental degradation caused by feral deer is a Key Threatening Process under the NSW Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and feral deer cause environmental damage by:
      1. Destroying native vegetation by trampling, grazing, and ring-barking young trees.
      2. Fouling waterholes, eroding watercourse and causing soil erosion
      3. Spreading weeds and potentially pathogens such as Phytophthora cinnamomi.
      4. Competing with native grazers such as wallabies, kangaroos, and wombats.
      5. Reducing post-fire resilience of regenerating vegetation.
    5. The draft National Feral Deer Action Plan has found that left uncontrolled in good conditions, feral deer populations can increase by 34–50% every year and that recreational hunting is not an effective means of controlling population growth.
    6. There is currently no comprehensive management plan for feral deer control in the Greater Blue Mountains, information about feral deer numbers and extent are out-of-date and patchy and the resources dedicated to control are insufficient for the scale of the problem;
  2. That the Council express its support for a target to ensure the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area is deer-free by 2040;
  3. That the Council calls on the NSW and Federal Governments to:
    1. Comprehensively survey the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and its adjoining boundary areas to assess the existing numbers and location of feral deer.
    2. Develop a comprehensive and well-resourced management plan to stop further spread of feral deer in the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area, protect sensitive environmental areas and eradicate isolated populations.
    3. Commit to ensuring the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area is deer-free by 2040;
  4. That the Council write to our local Federal and State Members of Parliament, the NSW and Federal Environment Minister and shadow NSW and Federal Environment Ministers advising them of this motion, expressing our support for this proposal and urging them to support it; and
  5. That the Council make a submission in support of the National Feral Deer Action Plan, which highlights the threat feral deer pose to the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and the need for increased resources to stop their spread.

Map of feral deer extent surrounding the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area:

Map: Produced by Blue Mountains Feral Deer Working Group 2023. CC 4.0. Available for use with credit. Based on 2020 survey data provided by NSW Department of Primary Industries.

Help protect NSW!

Our expert team has written a list of policy asks detailing exactly what the next NSW government needs to do to stamp out some of the worst invasive species impacts across the state. But they will only become a reality if every key political candidate at the 2023 NSW state election hears about it from you!

Dear National Deer Management Coordinator,

Please accept this as a submission to the National Feral Deer Action Plan.

[Your personalised message will appear here] 

I am very concerned about the spread of deer and am pleased that a national plan has finally been developed. Without urgent action, funding and commitment from all levels of government it is clear that feral deer will continue to spread and damage our environment.

The feral deer population in Australia is growing rapidly and spreading across the country, damaging our natural environment, causing havoc for farmers and foresters and threatening public safety. Unlike much of the world where deer are native, our plants and wildlife haven’t evolved to deal with these heavy hard hooved animals with a voracious appetite.
With no natural predators and an ability to adapt to almost all environments, they could occupy almost all of Australia unless stopped. Despite this, state and territory governments have been slow to respond and in Victoria and Tasmania they are still protected by law for the enjoyment of hunters.

This plan should be adopted by all governments but must also be underpinned by dedicated funding and clear responsibilities. A plan without funding or accountability is a plan that will fail and Australia cannot afford for this to fail.

In order to prevent the spread of feral deer and reduce their impact on our native wildlife, ecosystems and agriculture, I ask that the following recommendations be adopted for the final National Feral Deer Action Plan:

1. All federal, state and territory governments should adopt the National Feral Deer Action Plan and declare feral deer to be a priority pest animal species.

2. All federal, state and territory governments should commit to:

  • Contain deer to the existing large population areas.
  • Reduce and eradicate smaller and isolated populations.
  • Protect important environmental assets such as world and national heritage areas.
  • Develop and fund regional plans and strategies to manage deer populations which involve land managers across all tenures.

3. In order to drive action and the success of this plan, there should be dedicated Commonwealth funding and support for:

  • A permanent national feral deer coordinator position.
  • A permanent federal feral deer action committee with representatives from the commonwealth and state and territory governments and the environmental and agricultural sectors.
  • An ongoing public education campaign on feral deer.
  • A network of regional feral deer coordinators to drive local action across tenures.

4. The expected outcomes for the plan need to be more ambitious, with clear interim targets including:

  • Within one year, all States and Territories should have in place arrangements to implement the National Feral Deer Action Plan, including allocating dedicated funding for implementation.
  • Within one year, feral deer management plans should be developed for key environmental assets of national significance, including the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, the Greater Blue Mountains, the Australian Alps, the Gondwana Rainforests and the Wet Tropics of Queensland.
  • Within five years coordinated landscape scale management should be in place where land owners, land managers, government and community are demonstrably working together.

5. A national feral deer containment map with three zones should be adopted. It should be more ambitious than the zone map in the current draft plan and there should be greater clarity in the naming of the zones. Improvements that should be adopted include:

  • Renaming the zones to better reflect the management intention to ‘Containment Zone 1’ (the current large population zone), ‘Containment Buffer Zone 2’ (the current buffer zone) and ‘Eradication and prevention Zone 3’ (the current small isolated population zone).
  • The NSW northern rivers area should be in the eradication and prevention zone as there are few feral deer currently in this region and eradicating isolated populations and preventing spread into this area is still possible.
  • The whole of South Australia should be in the eradication and prevention zone as eradication is the goal of the SA Government.
  • The Tasmanian region in the containment zone should be smaller to reflect greater ambition and potential for eradication of deer populations.
  • In eastern Victoria areas such as Wilson’s Promontory, Westernport islands and the Mornington Peninsula should be in the eradication and prevention zone.

6. There should be consistent laws and regulations across all states and territories that:

  • Recognise feral deer as a pest animal and treat them as such.
  • Establish a clear responsibility for all landholders and managers to be involved in feral deer control programs.
  • Set clear penalties to stop the wilful or negligent release of feral deer.
  • Prevent new deer farms in areas where no feral deer are present and phase out all deer farms in the eradication and prevention zone.
  • Enable enforcement of compliance, including on government land.

I support the follow principles being adopted in the final National Feral Deer Action Plan:

  • Feral deer are a pest and should be treated as such on all tenures, except on approved deer farms.
  • Federal, state and territory governments have a responsibility to fund the outcomes under this plan.
  • All land managers in areas where feral deer are present have a responsibility to be involved in feral deer control programs.
  • The focus of management efforts should be on eradication of isolated, satellite populations, protection of key environmental assets currently impacted and stopping the spread to new regions.
  • Feral deer control should be undertaken humanely, safely and professionally according to agreed protocols and all tools which meet this criteria should be adopted, including aerial control.
  • Funding for coordination, regional planning and community engagement is necessary for effective feral deer management.
  • Ongoing management and follow up control efforts are required to achieve long lasting results.
  • Rules and regulations should be consistent across jurisdictions and land tenures.
  • Recreational hunting is not an effective strategy for feral deer control and should not be relied upon.
Sincerely,
[Your name]
[Your email address]
[Your suburb], [Your state]