Every species found. Every habitat assessed. Every obligation met.
Fauna surveys are among the most critical environmental assessments in the development and approvals process in Western Australia. The presence of a threatened species — a Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo roost, a Greater Bilby population, a colony of Baudin's Cockatoos — can fundamentally alter the approvals pathway for a project, triggering EPBC Act referrals, EPA assessment requirements and conditions that reshape project design. Identifying what is present, where it is and what the regulatory implications are is the job of a fauna survey. Getting it right requires more than a field visit — it requires the right methodology, the right timing, the right equipment and the depth of species knowledge that only comes from years of field experience across WA's diverse environments.
Trace Ecology conducts fauna surveys and wildlife assessments for developers, miners, exploration companies, infrastructure builders, local governments and private landowners across WA and the NT. Our team of qualified zoologists and fauna ecologists brings specialist expertise across mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, invertebrates and bats — deploying current best practice survey methodologies and delivering reports that meet the requirements of the EPA, DWER, DBCA and the EPBC Act.
Our fauna survey services cover the full spectrum of assessment types. General fauna surveys provide a baseline assessment of fauna communities and habitat conditions across a project area — establishing what species are present, what habitats they use and what the potential impacts of proposed works may be. Detailed fauna surveys provide a rigorous, quantitative assessment of fauna populations and habitat suitability, using statistically robust survey designs appropriate to the bioregion and the faunal groups present.
Targeted species surveys are conducted where the potential presence of specific threatened or priority fauna species needs to be confirmed or ruled out. Our targeted survey capability covers all three threatened black cockatoo species present in WA — Carnaby's Black-Cockatoo, Baudin's Cockatoo and the Forest Red-tailed Black-Cockatoo — including nest hollow surveys, roost assessments and breeding habitat assessments that meet the requirements of the EPBC Act and DBCA. We also conduct targeted Greater Bilby surveys across the Pilbara, Goldfields and arid regions of WA, as well as targeted surveys for other EPBC Act listed species including threatened bats, reptiles, amphibians and invertebrates.
Our survey methods include Elliott and cage trapping, track stations, pitfall arrays, spotlighting, acoustic bat monitoring using AnaBat and other passive acoustic recorders, infrared camera trapping, eDNA sampling, targeted diurnal and nocturnal bird surveys, reptile refuge searches and marine turtle monitoring where relevant. We manage fauna during vegetation clearing — providing fauna spotter-catchers, relocation services and clearing supervision to protect wildlife and meet project approval conditions.
Trace Ecology is a division of Trace Enterprises — Perth's only fully integrated heritage, environmental and planning consultancy.
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Whatever your heritage or environmental project needs, Trace Archaeology and Trace Ecology is ready to help. Talk to our team today — no obligation.