Ecoscape was engaged in June 2019 to provide the following services for the project:

• undertake and complete Chuditch monitoring
• establish and monitor three control sites more than five kilometres outside of the development envelope
• establish and monitor three impact sites within the development envelope
• record all Chuditch captures in a monitoring database including morphometrics; location of capture; health status and breeding status (e.g. number of pouch young; lactation etc.)
• undertake monitoring within the Chuditch breeding season (May to July).

The results of the 2019 Mt Holland Chuditch monitoring has provided baseline data that can be used to compare future monitoring results for the Covalent Lithium Mt Holland Project site.  One female Chuditch was recorded during the 2019 survey at the Impact site (I3).  A suite of small mammals were also recorded from this site.  No species were recorded at the Control site within Jilbadji Nature Reserve.

The 2019 Chuditch monitoring was the first survey undertaken during the Chuditch breeding season and this may suggest a more accurate population abundance within the development envelope than the results from a previous 2017 survey.