Conservation Forests and Land Act 1987, vesting in a public authority or voluntary acquisition by the Crown

Conservation Forests and Land Act 1987, vesting in a public authority or voluntary acquisition by the Crown.
A Conservation Management Plan will be prepared for each conservation area to outline how these areas will be protected and managed.
What happens if new species are listed as threatened or new species are discovered in the growth corridors in the future?
Because the protection and conservation of species is considered at a growth corridor level and to ensure planning certainty, the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy does not require the future protection of matters not currently known to occur in the growth corridors. This also includes those that are not currently listed or nominated for listing.
How will the conservation areas in the strategies be funded?
Landowners who remove native vegetation and habitat for certain threatened species within the growth corridors must pay habitat compensation fees to DELWP. The fees will be used to protect and manage the conservation areas.
For further information on these fees, visit Habitat Compensation.
What do the sub-regional species strategies do?
The Sub-Regional Species Strategies for Growling Grass Frog and Golden Sun Moth identify all land in the growth corridors that will be protected for the conservation of those species and set out how this land will be managed.
The sub-regional species strategies informed the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy. All land requiring protection for the conservation of the Growling Grass Frog and the Golden Sun Moth has been identified in the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy.
The Sub-Regional Species Strategy for the Southern Brown Bandicoot focuses on conservation actions for the species in a management area outside the Urban Growth Boundary. The supplement identifies additional actions to provide habitat connectivity in the Melbourne's south-east region.
How were seasonal herbaceous wetlands addressed?
Seasonal herbaceous wetlands were listed as a matter of national environmental significance under the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 after public consultation had been undertaken on the draft Biodiversity Conservation Strategy.
Subsequently, the Victorian and Commonwealth governments agreed to address seasonal herbaceous wetlands separately to the strategy.
A previous report identified occurrences of seasonal herbaceous wetlands within the growth corridors. The Seasonal Herbaceous Wetlands report showed that significant areas of this community will be protected in the Western Grassland Reserves and other conservation areas.
DELWP general enquiries: 136 186 VicEmergency Hotline: 1800 226 226 Local Government Switchboard: 03 9208 3333.
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Australia's Biodiversity Conservation Strategy 2018-2030.
Australia's Biodiversity Conservation Strategy 2018-2030.
Prepared by the National Biodiversity Strategy Review Task Group convened under the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council, October 2018.
Executive summary.
Australia's Biodiversity Conservation Strategy 2018-2030 (referred to as 'the Strategy') is a guiding framework for conserving our nation's biodiversity over the coming decades.
The vision of this Strategy is that Australia's biodiversity is healthy and resilient to threats, and valued both in its own right and for its essential contribution to our existence.
Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is the variety of all life forms. There are three levels of biodiversity:
genetic diversity—the variety of genetic information contained in individual plants, animals and micro-organisms species diversity—the variety of species ecosystem diversity—the variety of habitats, ecological communities and ecological processes.
Biodiversity occurs in all environments on Earth - terrestrial, aquatic and marine.
Biodiversity is not static; it is constantly changing. It can be increased by genetic change and evolutionary processes, and it can be reduced by threats which lead to population decline and extinction. Biodiversity in Australia is currently declining because of the impacts of a range of threats.
Conserving biodiversity is an essential part of safeguarding the biological life support systems on Earth. All living creatures, including humans, depend on these life support systems for the necessities of life. For example, we need oxygen to breathe, clean water to drink, fertile soil for food production and physical materials for shelter and fuel. These necessities can be described collectively as ecosystem services. They are fundamental to our physical, social, cultural and economic well-being.
Ecosystem services are produced by the functions that occur in healthy ecosystems. These functions are supported by biodiversity and its attributes, including the number of individuals and species, and their relative abundance, composition and interactions (see Figure 2, page 19). Ecosystem services can be divided into four groups:
provisioning services (e. g. food, fibre, fuel, fresh water) cultural services (e. g. spiritual values, recreation and aesthetic values, knowledge systems) supporting services (e. g. primary production, habitat provision, nutrient cycling, atmospheric oxygen production, soil formation and retention) regulating services (e. g. pollination, seed dispersal, climate regulation, pest and disease regulation, water purification).
Ecosystem resilience is the capacity of an ecosystem to respond to changes and disturbances, yet retain its basic functions and structures. The resilience of ecosystems in Australia is currently being reduced by a number of threats, including:
habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation invasive species unsustainable use and management of natural resources changes to the aquatic environment and water flows changing fire regimes climate change.
For ecosystems to be resilient to these and other threats, they need a healthy diversity of individuals, species and populations.
The Strategy is a guiding framework for biodiversity conservation over the coming decades for all sectors - government, business and the community. The Strategy sets out priorities which will direct our efforts to achieve healthy and resilient biodiversity and provide us with a basis for living sustainably.
This Strategy is divided into three sections:
Setting the context Priorities for action Implementation and action.
The Setting the context section describes the crisis of biodiversity decline that we face, and outlines why we must change our current practices and adopt more sustainable economies and lifestyles. It also outlines developments from Australia's first biodiversity conservation strategy in 1996, The National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biological Diversity (DEST 1996), to the present.
The Priorities for action section identifies three national priorities for action to help stop the decline in Australia's biodiversity. These priorities for action are:
Engaging all Australians in biodiversity conservation through: mainstreaming biodiversity increasing Indigenous engagement enhancing strategic investments and partnerships. Building ecosystem resilience in a changing climate by: protecting diversity maintaining and re. establishing ecosystem functions reducing threats to biodiversity. Getting measurable results through: improving and sharing knowledge delivering conservation initiatives efficiently implementing robust national monitoring, reporting and evaluation.
Each of the priorities for action is supported by subpriorities, outcomes, measurable targets and actions which collectively provide a strategic focus for our efforts.
The Implementation and action section provides detail on implementation and identifies a series of actions that will help to achieve our outcomes and targets. These actions will be variously carried out at national, state, regional and local levels. The actions are an indicative set, acknowledging that as we progress our biodiversity conservation efforts, we will need to adapt our approaches and develop new actions to help achieve our outcomes and targets. The section also sets out arrangements for monitoring and reporting on implementation of the Strategy, and evaluating the effectiveness of our efforts.
The Strategy functions as a policy 'umbrella' over other more specific national frameworks. وتشمل هذه:
Australia's Native Vegetation Framework (SCEW 2018) The Australian Weeds Strategy (NRMMC 2007a) Australian Pest Animal Strategy (NRMMC 2007b) Australia's Strategy for the National Reserve System 2009-2030 (National Reserve System Task Group 2009).
It is also a guiding policy framework for the diverse mix of Australian, state, territory and local government and private sector approaches to biodiversity conservation.
Implementing this Strategy will involve updating existing programs and setting clear priorities for new investment to fill gaps and address emerging issues. Success will require increased integration of efforts within and between governments and between the public and private sectors. With this in mind, the first priority for action highlights the importance of engaging the private sector in conserving biodiversity and working with stakeholders who may be adversely affected by change.
The Strategy contains 10 interim national targets for the first five years. All governments will continue to work in the early years of the Strategy to evaluate the suitability of these targets for progressing implementation to meet the three priorities for action.
The 10 national targets are as follows:
By 2018, achieve a 25% increase in the number of Australians and public and private organisations who participate in biodiversity conservation activities. By 2018, achieve a 25% increase in employment and participation of Indigenous peoples in biodiversity conservation. By 2018, achieve a doubling of the value of complementary markets for ecosystem services. By 2018, achieve a national increase of 600,000 km 2 of native habitat managed primarily for biodiversity conservation across terrestrial, aquatic and marine environments. By 2018, 1,000 km 2 of fragmented landscapes and aquatic systems are being restored to improve ecological connectivity. By 2018, four collaborative continental-scale linkages are established and managed to improve ecological connectivity. By 2018, reduce by at least 10% the impacts of invasive species on threatened species and ecological communities in terrestrial, aquatic and marine environments. By 2018, nationally agreed science and knowledge priorities for biodiversity conservation are guiding research activities. By 2018, all jurisdictions will review relevant legislation, policies and programs to maximise alignment with Australia's Biodiversity Conservation Strategy. By 2018, establish a national long-term biodiversity monitoring and reporting system.
Photo credits: Yirralka Ranger, Dukpirri Marawili removing a ghost net at Yilpara Beach, Laynhapuy Indigenous Protected Area, Arnhem Land, NT (Photo: Jenifer Rahmoy 2006); View from Castle Hill in Townsville with burn off north of city; Orange-thighed frogs in the Wet Tropics of Queensland (Photo: Mike Trenerry); Bore site near Jimbour, Qld.
Scientists call for radical overhaul of Australia's Biodiversity Conservation Strategy.
Updated September 04, 2018 13:30:46.
Scientists have called for a radical overhaul of a government strategy intended to protect Australian plants and animals, after at least three animals became extinct in the five years since it was drafted.
An Environmental Department spokesperson said Australia's Biodiversity Conservation Strategy, which is currently under review, was written in 2018 with the aim of "provid[ing] an agreed framework for the conservation and sustainable use of all of Australia's biodiversity".
The Christmas Island skink, Christmas Island pipstrelle and Bramble Cay melomys are amongst the animals known to have disappeared forever.
Charles Darwin University conservation biologist John Woinarski said Australia's extinction record for mammals and plants was worse than any other country.
"The Biodiversity Strategy should be about redressing the loss of our heritage and clearly it's failing to do that. It needs a substantial overhaul," he said.
Professor Woinarski said there were many reasons the current Biodiversity Conservation Strategy had not lived up to expectations.
"There's no commitment in the strategy to try to prevent extinction, which, to me, should be a fundamental of what should be in our conservation strategy," he said.
A review of the strategy published in April by environmental group Humane Society International (HSI) found just one target — concerning Indigenous employment on conservation initiatives — of 10 had met the 2018 deadline.
HSI senior program manager Evan Quartermain described the targets as "general and wishy-washy".
"By lacking that specificity it was next to impossible to really measure them," he said.
'Resources are nowhere near enough'
The 10th target in the strategy was to: "By 2018, establish a national long-term biodiversity monitoring and reporting system."
The Terrestrial Ecosystems Research Network (TERN) was nominated as the government-funded program closest to meeting target number 10.
Director Tim Clancy said a lack of resources meant his organisation did not have a good sense of the trends in Australian biodiversity "by a long shot".
"The resources we've got are nowhere near enough to provide a comprehensive monitoring capability across all of Australia," he said.
Professor Clancy said TERN, which receives $6 million in government funding a year, would need at least five times that to cover the breadth of Australia.
"To put that in context, the NEON project in the US; they're running on about $US60 million to $US70 million ($85 million to $100 million) per year for covering a not-too-different variety of ecosystems and landscapes," Professor Clancy said.
"We spend, I think, nearly $100 million just rehabilitating mine sites every year."
'We cannot tell whether it's working or not'
Scientists said monitoring was one of the most important areas for Australia to work on but that little progress had been made.
Forest ecologist at Australian National University's Fenner School of Environment and Society David Lindenmayer said a lack of monitoring meant it was hard to tell whether conservation activities were working in Australia.
"At the moment we do a whole lot of environmental management and we simply can't tell whether it's working or not because we're not doing the monitoring," he said.
Professor Woinarski said better monitoring would ensure sensible future investments.
"It's not only about whether we've spent money wisely it's also about making sure we can prioritise ongoing investment in conservation," he said.
Professor Lindenmayer said monitoring would mean investments to be targeted and taxpayers shown where their money was going.
"The taxpayer needs to know, if they invest millions of dollars in the environment, which is what they do; they need to see how effective it is," he said.
Professor Lindenmayer said he believed the Environment Department would miss the 2018 target to establish a national approach to ecosystem monitoring.
The department did not respond to further questions.
Submissions to the review of the Biodiversity Conservation Strategy close on September 11, 2018.
First posted September 04, 2018 12:42:34.