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Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (List of Threatened Ecological Communities (EC187)) Instrument 2026
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Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (List of Threatened Ecological Communities (EC187)) Instrument 2026
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Commonwealth Coat of Arms of Australia
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (List of Threatened Ecological Communities (EC187)) Instrument 2026
I, Murray Watt, Minister for the Environment and Water, make the following instrument.
Dated 13 March 2026
Murray Watt
Murray Watt
Minister for the Environment and Water
Contents
1 Name
2 Commencement
3 Authority
4 Schedules
Schedule 1—Amendments
Declaration under s178, s181, and s183 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 - List of threatened species, List of threatened ecological communities and List of threatening processes
Schedule 2— Description of ecological community
1 Name
This instrument is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Amendment (List of Threatened Ecological Communities (EC187)) Instrument 2026
2 Commencement
This instrument commences on the day after it is registered.
3 Authority
This instrument is made under section 184 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
4 Schedules
Each instrument that is specified in Schedule 1 to this instrument is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in Schedule 1 to this instrument has effect according to its terms.
Schedule 1—Amendments
Declaration under s178, s181, and s183 of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 - List of threatened species, List of threatened ecological communities and List of threatening processes
1 In the appropriate position under the category heading “ECOLOGICAL COMMUNITIES THAT ARE ENDANGERED”
Insert the following ecological community:
(a) Pinkwood cool temperate rainforests of south east New South Wales and far east Victoria
Schedule 2— Description of ecological community
Pinkwood cool temperate rainforests of south east New South Wales and far east Victoria
The ecological community consists of the native flora, fauna, and other organisms associated with, and dependent upon, cool temperate rainforests that typically has a simple, closed forest structure with dense horizontally-held foliage and abundant ferns and mosses. Eucryphia moorei (pinkwood, plumwood, eastern leatherwood) is the dominant tree species in most occurrences of the ecological community
Pinkwood cool temperate rainforests generally occur as small patches (mostly less than 20 ha) in the South East Corner, South East Highlands and Sydney Basin bioregions, scattered mainly between the Illawarra escarpment west of Wollongong in the north and in the vicinity of the NSW-Victorian border in the south. The ecological community typically occurs on sheltered upper slopes and gully heads, usually with a southerly or easterly aspect, on elevations usually around 400 m to 1050 m above sea level. It occurs on a range of lower fertility felsic to intermediate volcanic and fine-grained siliciclastic sedimentary substrates.
The ecological community is usually dominated by Eucryphia moorei (pinkwood, plumwood, eastern leatherwood), and has a closed canopy that is relatively uniform, averaging 20 m height, with microphyll foliage. Emergent trees are generally absent except for occasional eucalypts. There is a layer of tree ferns and mesophyllous shrubs (averaging 3.7 m) and the ground layer is dominated by ferns and forbs. Commonly occurring tree species include Hedycarya angustifolia (native mulberry), Syzygium smithii (lilly pilly), Doryphora sassafras (sassafras) and Synoum glandulosum (scentless rosewood). At higher elevations, other common species include Elaeocarpus holopetalus (black olive berry) and Atherosperma moschatum (southern sassafras).
Commonly occurring ground layer plants include forbs, such as Australina pusilla (small shade nettle) and Urtica incisa (stinging nettle), and a diverse array of ferns, some of which cover rocks and tree trunks or branches. The fern assemblage occurring in this ecological community is specialised to cool moist conditions. In particular, there is a high diversity of epiphytic and lithophytic ferns as well as tree ferns and ground ferns. Commonly occurring tree ferns and shrubs in the understorey include Dicksonia antarctica (soft tree fern), Cyathea australis (rough tree fern), Coprosma quadrifida (prickly current bush) and Olearia argophylla (musk daisy-bush). Pepperbushes Tasmannia lanceolata and T. insipida are also common shrubs.
Vines also characteristically occur in the understorey, most commonly Fieldia australis (fieldia), Smilax australis (lawyer vine), Pandorea pandorana (wonga wonga vine), Parsonsia brownii (mountain silkpod), Marsdenia rostrata (milk vine) and Clematis aristata (old man’s beard), and these species may occasionally reach the tree canopy.
The ecological community includes a variety of fauna species, including several species that are listed as threatened at a national or state level.