Introduction

This document constitutes the ‘National Recovery Plan for Australasian Bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus)’. The plan considers the conservation requirements of the species across the part of its range lying within Australia and identifies the actions to be taken to ensure the species’ long-term viability in nature, and the parties that will undertake those actions.

Principal threats to the Australasian Bittern include the loss and degradation of wetland habitats through altered water regimes (e.g. drainage and diversion, infilling, water regulation), clearing for urban and agricultural development and climate change. Other potential threats to the species may include reduced water quality, predation by introduced foxes (Vulpes vulpes) and cats (Felis catus), overgrazing by livestock, and inappropriate fire regimes.

Accompanying Species Profile and Threats Database (SPRAT) pages provide background information on the biology, population status and threats to the ‘species’. SPRAT pages are available from: http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/sprat/public/sprat.pl.