Following the 2009 cooking of the frogs Shane Rattenbury reports that the Northern Corroboree Frogs of Namadgi National Park were spared in the recent fire:
Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Shane Rattenbury, today commended ACT fire fighters for their success in containing and suppressing the recent fire in Namadgi National Park at Mount Ginini while at the same time protecting the habitat of Northern Corroboree Frogs.
“On Saturday 5 January 2013, the ACT Parks Brigade and ACT Rural Fire Service responded to a forest fire in Namadgi National Park near Mount Ginini,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“Similar to what occurred in 2003, this fire started as a result of lightning strikes in the Snow Gum forests of the national park. Crews worked tirelessly throughout Sunday to contain the fire which was suppressed by Monday afternoon.
“In total, 26 hectares of land was burnt in Namadgi National Park with the fire front stopped within metres of the significant Ginini Flats, a wetland of international significance listed under the Ramsar convention.
“During the incident, crews constructed 1.7 kilometres of containment lines with bulldozers which assisted in protecting Ginini Flats as well as historical NSW/ACT border markers known as lockspits. The Ginini Flats, home to the Northern Corroboree Frog, was decimated in the 2003 Canberra fires.
“Since 2003 the wetlands and sphagnum bogs of Ginini Flats has been extensively rehabilitated and a Northern Corroboree Frog captive breeding program, coordinated by ecologists from the Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate, has actively released frogs back to the site,” Mr Rattenbury said.
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