Threatened Species Surveys for Road Infrastructure Planning

The environment

Residential and roadside native vegetation areas in Cardinia Shire, Victoria, where planned road upgrades intersect with native tree habitat.

‍

What needed to be understood

Cardinia Shire Council needed to know where key native animals (including endangered Greater Gliders) were using roadside trees that could be impacted by proposed road works. This information was required to support planning decisions and reduce the risk of impacting critical habitat.

‍

Why was this difficult

Many native and threatened species present were nocturnal and difficult to detect using traditional survey methods. Methods such as spotlighting or ground-based observations were not enough to build a clear, site-wide picture across long roadside corridors.

‍

The need for a clearer picture

To support infrastructure planning, Cardinia Shire Council needed better spatial visibility without increasing survey effort or operational risks.

Key considerations included:

- understanding where endangered greater gliders and other native animals were using roadside tree habitats

- limited insight from point-based or ground-only survey methods

- the need to make defensible planning decisions about road alignment and habitat protection

- information that could be clearly explained and relied on in internal and external discussions

At this stage, the question was how to improve confidence in decisions using broader visibility and spatial context.

‍

The approach

A survey approach was developed using drone-based thermal imaging to systematically survey nocturnal wildlife usage along roadside vegetation.

The focus was on:

- covering long stretches of roadside habitat efficiently and without the risk of walking along country roads at night

- recording all instances of native wildlife for future reference

- providing a consistent, landscape-wide view of species presence

The drone-based aerial surveys provided a critical additional layer of information, helping planners and decision-makers understand where endangered greater gliders and other native animals were present along the roadside environment.

‍

What was delivered

- Thermal survey data covering significant lengths of roadside native vegetation

- Mapped detection locations with spatial context

- Photo/video evidence of all detected wildlife

- Qualified ecologist identification of each animal detected

- Information suitable for internal consideration, planning discussions and infrastructure design evaluations

- The emphasis was on producing information that could be understood, discussed and used in planning contexts, not just collected.

‍

What this enabled

This approach supported:

- earlier and more comprehensive visibility of where endangered Greater Gliders and other native animals were active

- a clearer understanding of spatial patterns relevant to planning decisions

- more informed assessment of risks associated with planned road upgrades

- planning discussions grounded in site-wide evidence rather than assumptions

- early determination of project feasibility before significant design and construction expenditure was committed

By improving visibility and coverage, Cardinia Shire Council was better equipped to discuss road design and habitat protection with greater certainty.

‍

Key takeaway

Improved site-wide visibility of wildlife activity supported more informed infrastructure planning decisions across a long roadside corridor, without increasing survey effort.