HSI

Bat Advocacy and Humane Society International (HSI) expressed their extreme disappointment at the rejection by the Federal Court of Bat Advocacy's appeal regarding the Commonwealth Environment Minister's decision to approve the dispersal of grey-headed flying-foxes from Royal Botanic Gardens Sydney.

The appeal sought to have it determined that the Minister had not considered the impact that the removal of critical habitat from the grey-headed flying-foxes would have on the species. Bat Advocacy brought the case, with financial support from HSI, due to concerns over the loss of roosting and breeding habitat resulting from the dispersal of the bats from the Botanic Gardens, an area categorised as "critical roosting habitat" in government documents.

These concerns were further enforced today when the groups learnt that the Gardens are seeking to vary the strict conditions imposed upon them by the Federal Environment Minister, before the dispersal has even begun. It was these strict conditions which satisfied the judges that the potentially significant impacts on the bats, arising from the loss of habitat, would be mitigated.

"The requests by the Royal Botanic Gardens Trust to downgrade the strict conditions placed upon the dispersal is of significant concern, and suggests that the Trust has little regard for this protected native species," said Alexia Wellbelove of Humane Society International.

"In 2010, the proposed dispersal of flying-foxes from the Botanic Gardens was postponed due to the poor condition of the bats as a result of an ongoing shortage of natural food sources. This situation shows no sign of abating and so we are calling on the Federal Environment Minister, Tony Burke, to reject any further variation of conditions, and instead call a halt to the planned flying-fox dispersal from the Gardens," said Storm Stanford of Bat Advocacy.

HSI and Bat Advocacy have made the Minister aware of their concerns and we hope that these will be taken seriously, given the acknowledged potential for there to be significant impacts on the recovery of the grey-headed flying-fox, listed as vulnerable under both State and Federal environmental legislation.