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Site description (2008 baseline):
Site location and context
The IBA covers all of the forests believed to be important for Swift Parrots from Orford to Recherche Bay in south-east Tasmania. The IBA is designed to capture core breeding habitat for the endangered Swift Parrot as identified by the Swift Parrot Recovery Team but excludes Maria and Bruny Islands, which are separate IBAs, and out-lying breeding areas around Swansea and St Helens. The region has a mild temperate climate with cool temperatures in winter, warm temperatures in summer and annual rainfall which exceeds 500 mm in most locations. The IBA includes wet and dry eucalypt forests containing old growth eucalypts, used by Swift Parrots for nesting, and/or Tasmanian Blue Gum or Black Gum, used by Swift Parrots for feeding, but also includes suburban residential centres and large areas of farmland. Within these non-forested habitats, the IBA includes all large flowering Tasmanian Blue Gums and adjacent hollow-bearing trees, as Swift Parrots range unpredictably across the entire IBA. Key blocks of forest within the IBA include Wielangta, Meehan Range and Wellington Range, the Southern Forests and Tasman Peninsula. The IBA also includes grassy Eucalyptus viminalis woodland used by the endangered Forty-spotted Pardalote. The Forty-spotted Pardalote has been recorded at five sites within the IBA since 1986: Lime Bay, Mount Nelson, Howden, Tinderbox Peninsula and Coningham. The IBA does not include the adjacent coast or any offshore islands, some of which are included in separate IBAs for shorebirds and seabirds.
The IBA supports a diverse range of bird species by Tasmanian standards. Notable species which have been recorded in the IBA but which are not documented to reach IBA thresholds include the Tasmanian subspecies of Wedge-tailed Eagle, which is listed as endangered under federal and Tasmanian state government legislation, and Grey Goshawk, which is also listed as endangered under Tasmanian state government legislation.
Non-bird biodiversity: The IBA supports a diverse range of fauna and flora. For example, Wellington Park Conservation Area alone provides habitat for 30 species of threatened plants and animals (e.g. Mount Mangana Stag Beetle, Clasping Leaf Heath, Wellington Eyebright) and contains specimens of 30% of Tasmania's endemic vascular flora species. The Wielangta region also supports a number of rare and threatened species including Broad-toothed Stag Beetle, Spotted-tail Quoll, Eastern Barred Bandicoot and the rare orchid Genoplesium nudum.
Pressure/threats to key biodiversity
The primary management consideration within the IBA is the protection and retention of all forests containing Tasmanian Blue Gums and Black Gums (
E. ovata) for foraging, and old-growth eucalypt forest with nesting hollows for breeding Swift Parrots. Forty-spotted Pardalote colonies are tiny and require specific management. Other species would benefit from conservation of all areas of native forest. The prevention of further logging and habitat loss should be the general aim of conservation management in this IBA.
Conservation responses/actions for key biodiversity
The IBA overlaps with many protected areas which are managed for conservation purposes. For example, control of introduced plant species is currently being pursued within Wellington Park Conservation Area.
This IBA overlaps with a large number of protected areas - see separate section.
State or local government, private, indigenous land.
Eric Woehler and Matt Webb helped to delimit the IBA and write the nomination.
Recommended citation
BirdLife International (2024) Important Bird Area factsheet: South-east Tasmania (Australia). Downloaded from
https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/south-east-tasmania-iba-australia on 22/11/2024.
