Because of overcrowding on their island outcrop in 1995, a small colony of gannets flew to nearby Point Danger in Portland, Australia, to begin establishing the country's only mainland gannet breeding location—downwind from Alcoa's nearby Portland Aluminium smelter. The seabird colony is about 600 strong today, protected from humans and predatory animals through programs implemented jointly by the Victoria state government's environmental authority, the local community, and the smelter.
The Australasian gannet is relatively rare on a world scale, largely because of the seabird's highly restricted breeding range on islands in New Zealand and, to a lesser extent, Australia. When the Portland smelter first opened in 1986, concerns about its effects—particularly fluoride emissions—on the island gannet population prompted the Victoria Department of Natural Resources and Environment to study the colony.
"We monitored the eggshell thickness of the major gannet colony on Lawrence Rocks for the first 10 years of the smelter's operation, and we found no differences," said Andy Govanstone, the Department of Natural Resources and Environment's senior flora and fauna management officer. "We didn't have any concerns about the smelter's proximity to the new mainland colony."
When the pioneering gannets left crowded Lawrence Rocks for nearby Point Danger, they became vulnerable to the mainland threats of humans and introduced predators, mainly feral cats and foxes. In the first year of mainland living, the birds failed to nest successfully and produced no offspring because of the effects of these predators.
Help was at hand, however. The Department of Natural Resources and Environment erected an electrified fence around a portion of Point Danger for protection. Alcoa instituted a fox and feral cat control program to minimize predatory disturbances. Alcoa also provided funds to build a platform for controlled public viewing of the nesting colony and to landscape the area outside the fence. In addition, the smelter's plant nursery contributed grass species for the landscaping effort.
"I think it's good for the smelter to be involved due to its close proximity to the colony," said Doug Phillips, president/conservation officer for the Portland Field Naturalists' Club, Inc. "The work on fox control measures is extremely valuable, although weed control measures in the Point Danger area may need to be examined more carefully with community input regularly sought."
Alcoa also supported an independent research project to study the interaction between people and the mainland colony. Although results from the yearlong study are not yet available, the effort received a high commendation in the Victorian Coastal Awards for Excellence in April of this year.
Today's mainland colony of nearly 600 birds produced 300 chicks in the last breeding season—the most successful yet. In addition, the Point Danger area and the wetlands surrounding the smelter are seeing the return of and an increase in other native birds, such as the southern emuwrens and masked lapwings. Native mammals, such as the nationally endangered southern brown bandicoots and heath mice, are also benefiting from the predator- and vermin-control programs.
Phillips notes that anecdotal evidence from his club's members seems to suggest that the rufous bristlebird and brush bronze-wing pigeon populations have declined, possibly due to vegetation management practices in the Point Danger area. He also commented that a long-term fauna research program could be used as a tool for the implementation of environmental best management practices to ensure that the vegetation management work does not adversely affect fauna species.
"Environmental offset programs like those for the Portland gannet colony should be further encouraged, particularly in Australia," said Phillips. "Alcoa, through its substantial and ongoing environmental commitments, should serve as the current Australian benchmark for other industries embarking on such programs. These industries also need to recognize—as Alcoa has—that a majority of community members could easily dismiss contributions that amount to little more than tokenism. An extremely important facet of any environmental offset program is meaningful community participation in both the implementation and decision-making processes."
Adds Govanstone, "When industry is a concerned community participant that makes significant contributions toward endangered animal management, it can produce outcomes that are far greater than 'good public relations exercises.' It can produce significant and tangible economic, social, and environmental benefits."
Related Sites
Alcoa in Australia
Alcoa has significant smelting operations in Victoria, Australia.
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Lawrence Rocks Gannet Colony
Learn more about the original gannet colony off of Point Danger.
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Rebirth of an Orchid
An industry, government, and community partnership works to ensure the long-term survival of the fragile Melblom's Spider-orchid in Victoria, Australia.
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Return of the Native Plants
Since Alcoa's Portland smelter opened in Victoria, Australia, in 1986, the company has been working to return pre-European-settlement vegetation to much of the adjacent buffer zone.
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