Every year, these remarkable, threatened migratory shorebirds travel thousands of kilometres from breeding grounds in Japan and Russia to spend the Australian non-breeding season in grasslands and paddocks adjacent to wetlands like this.
Shearwater is recognised habitat of national importance for Latham’s Snipe. Research led by Professor Birgita Hansen has shown that Latham’s Snipe can have large, overlapping home ranges and repeatedly return to the same habitat. Protecting snipe therefore means protecting the wider network of roosting and feeding habitat—not simply counting birds in a single patch.
At Shearwater, the difference is stark: 6.3 hectares of habitat identified in Hansen’s work, compared with a 1.216-hectares mapped by the developer’s consultant, resulting in an 81% smaller clearing cap under the EPBC approval.
The habitat deserves an independent, rigorous survey.
🪶 Protect Latham’s Snipe.
🌿 Protect Shearwater habitat.
🔎 Make the habitat survey truly independent.
⚖️ Uphold Planning Permit Condition 5.
#LathamsSnipe #Shearwater #Paynesville #GippslandLakes #MigratoryBirds #Wetlands #HabitatProtection #FriendsOfGippslandLakes
Detailed report: https://fogl.org.au/home/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/FOGL-EPBC-SUBMISSION-Final-2025_v2.pdf