Protect Ngununggula/Bluetts Block

The diverse woodlands of Ngununggula/Bluetts Block urgently need protection as a Nature Reserve.

Ngununggula/Bluetts Block is home to over 100 plant species as well as rare marsupial populations of Dunnart and Antechinus. A birding hotspot, it provides habitat for the endangered Superb Parrot, Gang-gang Cockatoo, and many more woodland birds – which we know are facing steep decline.

Find our letter template calling on the minister template to protect Ngununggula/bluetts block as a nature reserve

Protect Bluetts Block as a Nature Reserve

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Email Minister for the Environment Rebecca Vassarotti and Minister for Planning Chris Steel.

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Protect Bluetts Block as a Nature Reserve*

Rebecca Vassarotti
Minister for the Environment and Land Management

Chris Steel
Minister for Planning and Transport

Dear Ministers Vassarotti and Steel,

I am writing to call on you to protect the area known as Bluetts Block- Piney Ridge (an area extending across Stromlo Blocks 402 and 403, and Denman Prospect Section 1, Block 12) for its high biodiversity values, and to:

1. Declare the Government's intention to establish the area as a Nature Reserve, and commence the appropriate processes to ensure this happens.

2. Ensure that no further urban development takes place in Denman Prospect Block 12 until a full ecological assessment of the values of this area has been undertaken.

3. Ensure the ecological assessment considers the impacts on threatened species, critically endangered Box-Gum Woodland, old-growth trees, landscape connectivity, and include an assessment of urban edge effects.

Bluetts Block-Piney Ridge is an area of high-value, remnant dry forest and Box-Gum Grassy Woodland. It has significant biodiversity and also plays an important role in landscape connectivity from the Murrumbidgee corridor, through to the Molonglo River and north to Black Mountain.

The EIS Exemption from Capital Estate Developments for Denman Prospect Block 12 does not fully assess the impacts of urban development on high biodiversity areas, nor has there been any consideration of the merits of establishing a buffer between the urban edge and medium-high biodiversity areas.

I call on you to ensure that the biodiversity values at Bluetts Block-Piney Ridge are protected by establishing the area as a nature reserve.

Yours sincerely,

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Ngununggula/Bluetts Block deserves to be a Nature Reserve – instead it is under threat as Canberra’s Western Edge becomes the next frontier for development. All development that will impact on the area’s important natural values should be stopped.

In addition to its extraordinary biodiversity, Ngununggula/Block – Piney Ridge is important because it provides landscape connection from the Murrumbidgee River Corridor to Kama Nature Reserve, Pinnacle Nature Reserve, and Stoney Creek Reserve. Landscape connections allow animals to move safely into different areas to breed and forage. Without connectivity across the landscape, many species cannot find food, water or shelter when they need it, leaving them vulnerable.

Purchase this poster and support our campaign to protect Ngununggula/Bluetts Block!

Details on how to get to Ngununggula/Bluetts Block

Directions: From John Gorton Drive, turn into Opperman Ave, at the roundabout entrance to Stromlo Leisure Centre turn right into Uriarra Road. After about 3km you’ll see a parking area on your right and a gate with “BB”. The map below indicates red for the gate and green for the car spaces.