Fitzroy River Turtle - Conservation Status

Conservation Status

The Fitzroy River turtle is currently listed as vulnerable in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC Act 1999). Agriculture (particularly cotton and cattle farming), mining and salinity are three major areas of concern that impact on this species. Their once crystal clear, clean water has largely disappeared and been replaced by turbid, chemical and pesticide polluted water. In one area on the Dawson River where we have taken water samples, the pH was found to be as high at 9.1. In captivity, we have determined that a pH outside the range of 7.0–7.4 has drastic effects on the health of hatchlings, leading to life threatening skin problems. We have never encountered any hatchlings or juveniles in the wild. This could be one reason why there appears to be zero or very low recruitment i.e. no hatchlings reaching maturity to replace those that die of old age or other causes. This species is also unable to tolerate high levels of salinity, which is one of the after effects of land clearing. Along some of the roads that follow the Dawson River we were alarmed by the damage to patches of native forest caused by high soil salinity. Trampled banks were also a constant reminder of the damage that cattle can cause when allowed to drink from and graze beside river systems. We have travelled thousands of kilometers along the Fitzroy and Dawson drainages over the past five years and the entire area is extremely drought affected. Many of the smaller tributaries had either completely dried up or had become isolated, stagnant pools unsuitable as habitat for Fitzroy River turtles. Around these pools were rotting carcasses and sun bleached shells of Rheodytes, Emydura and Elseya species. The clear, clean water that they prefer was nowhere to be found.

There is an even more serious threat on the horizon. The Nathan Dam is proposed for the Dawson River, which will have significant environmental impacts. This 880,000 mega-liter dam will be Queensland's fourth largest dam. Its main purpose will be to irrigate 30,000 hectares of cropping land, most of which will be cotton. By far, cotton farming is the most threatening agricultural activity undertaken in the Dawson River area. Cotton crops require large amounts of fertilisers, pesticides and water for irrigation. The runoff from the crops can make its way back into the river system carrying with it high levels of pollutants and sediment. This will have detrimental effects on the whole river ecosystem, particularly the turtles, fish and migratory birds. The proposed dam may even impact on the Great Barrier Reef. One condition for the dam to proceed is the completion of a two-part Environmental Impact Study. These studies will target areas downstream from the dam as well as the impact of irrigated agriculture facilitated by the dam. In the past we have seen many environmental impact studies that completely lacked any consideration for freshwater turtles inhabiting the area of concern. Several years ago, we were involved in a turtle rescue and relocation where almost one thousand turtles were not included in the impact study and over four hundred were subsequently squashed on nearby roads the day the dam walls were broken. The site was to be developed into residential housing.