Stop work at Aussie airport after warning project will be 'nail in the coffin' for rare animal

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Canberra grassland earless dragon.

Little remains of the species' original habitat and Friends of the Grasslands president Professor Jamie Pittock said he was "shocked" by the airport's decision to begin clearing land for its new Northern Road.

Fresh discussions between the Federal Government and interested parties about the future of the contentious road were announced in October 2023, and Pittock said it was "disappointing" that construction had started before they were sorted out.

“One of Australia's most critically endangered animals is in a precarious position. We're down to just a handful of individuals surviving in the wild, and this group want to go ahead with a plan to build a two-lane road through the habitat of one of the last three remaining populations. It just doesn't make sense,” he said to Yahoo News.

Most of the new developments have taken place at the airport's southern end, in an area where the lizard hasn't been spotted before. However, to complete the project, the road needs to be extended to the north, where the lizard's habitat is located. Experts are concerned that the tiny lizard won't be able to cross the busy road, which would further divide the remaining dragons, already heavily impacted by urban development around the city.

Search for rare dragon lizard not spotted in 30 years

She had flagged for recovery in 2022 and he warned the project could be one of the last "nails in the coffin" for the species' future in the wild.

Speaking with Yahoo he added: “There are already so few of them, and this would only make things worse if they're split into two groups. Roads do things like make it easier for cats and foxes to go hunting, and they do things like help weeds spread out and change the habitat.”

There's not a lot known about Australia's rare dragons. While there are no dragons that exist in the real world, some Aboriginal cultures in Australia have stories and legends about dragons.

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Airport claims that the proposed development won't disrupt the habitat of a nearby dragon.

Plibersek's office sent questions from Yahoo News to her Department, which confirmed Canberra Airport had agreed to put on hold work on the top part of its planned road "because this area has higher conservation values".

“Canberra Airport is working closely with the department, the ACT government and species experts to deal with the potential effects on the Canberra grassland earless dragon,” it said.

Canberra Airport, which is privately managed by Capital Airport Group, has confirmed with Yahoo that it will now develop what it's dubbed a "nature-positive" plan.

"Canberra Airport is dedicated to finding a balance between protecting the environment and meeting the infrastructure demands," said Aviation Director Michael Thomson in a statement.

The Northern Road project has been thoroughly checked and given the green light by the relevant authorities, making sure there's no loss of habitat, no breaking up of habitats, and no increased danger to the Canberra grassland earless dragon population.

But Chief Executive of the ACT Conservation Council and critic of the plan Dr Simon Copland isn't confident the suspension of works will end up being a happy ending for the dragons.

“The real question is why did they start building if they didn't already have a plan in place to save the species? It seems like they're just responding to public pressure,” he said to Yahoo.

Legally, Canberra Airport can go ahead with the road project, given it has received federal environmental approval. However, Copland is calling on Plibersek to cancel it, pointing out that a protection plan hasn't been put in place.

Project labelled as Canberra's 'most damaging'

The road was green-lit by then Environment Minister Peter Garrett in 2009 before the real importance of the dragons in Canberra was fully understood.

For decades it was believed there was only one species of grassland earless dragon in Australia, but in 2022 genetic testing revealed there were four, including one in the ACT that had been pushed to the brink of extinction and only existed in the wild at just three sites.

Only about one in a hundred of its original wild environment still exists.

Pittock reckons it's a waste of time to keep breeding Canberra's dragons in captivity if there's no more space for them to be released into.

“Fair dinkum, the airport's said it's all good because they've got a captive breeding program running, but as a scientist, I've gotta say, chucking a threatened species in a shipping container at Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve just ain't conservation, it's not enough on its own, mate.”

“This project is causing the most environmental harm of any project currently happening in Canberra.”

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This story was originally published on Yahoo News Australia at (Note: There is no original text provided, please provide the text to be paraphrased) https://au.news.yahoo.com/stop-work-at-aussie-airport-after-warning-project-will-be-nail-in-the-coffin-for-rare-animal-055815073.html