Changes passed by the Queensland parliament on 3 May 2018 will affect a variety of aspects of vegetation management in the state. Lisa Carter, senior ecologist in Brisbane, summarises the key changes that project proponents and landholders need to know about. Four key changes that could affect your project Protections for regulated vegetation clearing have…
Niche was commissioned by South 32 Illawarra Coal to undertake a multi-stage project to establish the Appin West BioBank Site, under the NSW Government’s Biodiversity Banking and Offsets Scheme (BioBanking). “The establishment of the Appin West BioBank Site is an excellent result for South 32 Illawarra Coal and for conservation and I believe there will…
In NSW, the legislation governing how we conserve and manage Aboriginal cultural heritage is about to change. This will include new regulations, policies and guidelines that could significantly affect your project’s cultural heritage management. Our experienced heritage consulting team will be working closely with clients to understand what the changes mean for their projects and…
Niche Environment and Heritage is pleased to announce that heritage consultant Jessica Cuskelly has joined our Sydney head office. Jessica has a diverse range of experience including research, recording, archaeological excavations and surveys. She has experience in both Aboriginal and historical cultural heritage management projects and has worked in QLD, NSW and overseas. After completing…
Coastal wildlife will face one of the most certain impacts of global warming; that of changing coastlines caused by sea-level rise. While not a coastline-dependent species, many of the recognised strongholds of the Koala occur in low elevation coastal areas. The Port Stephens population of the Koala was once considered a stronghold for the species.…
Niche and Riparian Engineering were commissioned by Kiama Council to prepare a conceptual design of a 1.6km boardwalk from the southern part of Minnamurra River estuary adjacent to Riverside Drive to the northern road bridge. The boardwalk will improve pedestrian and cyclist access between Minnamurra and Kiama whilst achieving an iconic tourist attraction for visitors,…
Niche heritage consultant Xavier Carah is an experienced field archaeologist, with particular skills in survey, excavation and community liaison for Indigenous cultural heritage projects. Queensland-based Xavier is the co-author of a new research article recently published in the journal Nature, Human occupation of northern Australia by 65,000 years ago. The research reports on the results…
Watershed Landcare’s Green Day is an annual event for year five and six students from sixteen schools in Mudgee and the surrounding region. Now in its ninth year, Green Day 2017 will provide a record number of 625 kids with an opportunity to learn about the environment. Green Day includes workshop presentations from a local…
The project Niche Environment and Heritage, in association with Bowditch Group and Hills Environmental, is currently engaged by Roads and Maritime Services in an 8 year contract for environmental services for the upgrade of the Pacific Highway between the Oxley Highway at Port Macquarie and Eungai. The Pacific Highway upgrade is one of the largest…
Niche has welcomed seven new consultants to our team during the first half of 2017. Each of our new team members brings with them a unique set of skills and experience in their specialist field, adding strength to our team’s capacity to support our clients and their projects. Ecologists Dr Radika Michniewicz and Jodie Danvers…
Niche’s heritage team leader Renée Regal,a specialist in Aboriginal archaeology, community consultation and NSW heritage regulation, gives her advice on completing an Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessmen.. Community consultation will take 5 to 6 months to complete at a minimum, so make sure you start the process early to give community members sufficient time to comment…
The latest addition to Niche’s expanding multidisciplinary consulting team in NSW is botanist Dr Cairo Forrest, who joins the Sydney head office. Cairo is an experienced ecological consultant and research scientist with particular expertise in terrestrial vegetation, threatened species survey and long term biodiversity monitoring programs. Cairo’s PhD focused on five threatened Acacia…