2
June 2009 - Environment Minister Peter Garrett
today released a national blueprint to underpin
better protection of Australia's biodiversity.
Australia's National
Reserve System Strategy 2009-2030 has been
developed by the Commonwealth, states and
territories, who have all agreed to work
towards clear targets to secure long-term
protection for our terrestrial biodiversity.
"Despite come very
real environmental challenges, from feral
pests to climate change, we are determined
to safeguard our landscapes and native species
for future generations," Mr Garrett
said.
"One of our most
effective tools in securing this natural
life support system is Australia's National
Reserve System (NRS) – the nation-wide network
of parks, reserves and private protected
areas.
"Sixteen years
after Paul Keating first championed the
concept of a National Reserve System, our
country has a vital and evolving network
of 9,000 protected areas covering over 90
million hectares – that's more than 11 per
cent of the continent.
"This strategy
now formally recognises the work of governments
at all levels and the investment and effort
by farmers, Indigenous Australians and conservation
groups whose support ensures that by working
together we protect some of our most important
areas for biodiversity.
"This truly national
partnership is envied around the world –
and we hope this strategy will drive that
partnership to a new level.
"Through this strategy
all States and Territories are now recognising
the importance of Indigenous Protected Areas
in protecting biodiversity and including
IPA areas in the nation's NRS."
Mr Garret said the strategy
has identified clear national targets for
the National Reserve System, including the
protection of critical refuge areas for
climate change resilience.
"The Rudd Government
has made the National Reserve System a priority
under Caring for our Country, significantly
increasing investment in the system to $180
million over five years to expand the protected
area network," Mr Garrett said.
"But we can't do
it alone, so this strategy identifies how
all our partners will work together to protect
examples of at least 80 per cent of Australia's
native ecosystems by 2030.
"It adopts the
latest guidelines from the International
Union for Conservation of Nature to ensure
world's best practice in the way we manage
our protected areas.
"To support implementation
across the country, I've asked the states
and territories to prepare five-year plans,
taking into account the regional differences
in areas needing protection and the conservation
challenges they raise.
"And in recognition
of the growing role of private landholders
and conservation organisations, who have
already protected nearly 2000 properties
with more than 2.6 million hectares of habitat,
I've asked my department to establish a
National Reserve System Partners' Forum,"
Mr Garrett said.
The report is available
at: http://environment.gov.au/parks/publications/nrs/nrsstrat.html
+ More
Historic purchase of
water for the environment
28 May 2009 - The Rudd
Government today completed the single largest
purchase of water for the environment in
Australia's history.
The Government is buying
almost 240 gigalitres of water entitlements
for $303 million from Twynam Agricultural
Group.
That is equivalent to
one half of all of the water used in Sydney
each year.
The water purchased
today will be used to restore the rivers
and wetlands of the Murray-Darling Basin
to health, with the water used exclusively
for environmental flows.
This brings the total
amount of water purchased by the Rudd Government
to 297 gigalitres of water entitlements.
The previous Government failed to directly
purchase a single litre of water for the
environment during its 12 years in office.
Historical over-allocation
and climate change are having a devastating
impact on the Murray-Darling Basin's unique
environmental assets, and this purchase
represents a major advance in tackling this
challenge.
A crucial aspect of
the Government's accelerated water purchase
program is to smooth the transition to new,
lower limits on water use that will start
to take effect with the new Basin Plan.
If we don't start to
make this adjustment now, irrigators and
the communities who depend on them face
a far tougher and more abrupt cut in the
future.
The Twynam Agricultural
Group currently operates farming properties
in NSW with a total land area of approximately
285,000 hectares located on the Murrumbidgee,
Lachlan, Macquarie and Gwydir River systems.
Twynam's rural enterprises include cattle
and sheep production, dryland and irrigated
cropping and horticulture.
The family company has
been realigning its agricultural enterprises
over the past four years to diversify its
Australian business operations. As a consequence
of the drought, Twynam has been progressively
changing its production mix from summer
irrigated crops to winter dryland cereals.
The water sale will help to progress the
business transition.
Twynam will maintain
its involvement in agriculture, with on-going
farming enterprises, and we are advised
by Twynam that the sale of the water is
not expected to have any significant impact
on the number of full-time and part-time
employees.
Irrigated agriculture
in the Murray-Darling Basin will benefit
from the Government's unprecedented commitment
to invest in improved water use efficiency
and productivity in irrigation communities.
These major investments
in irrigation efficiency will also provide
a welcome boost to the economic and employment
outlook for these irrigation communities
as projects get underway.
The Commonwealth Environmental
Water Holder will manage the water entitlements
purchased from Twynam and will determine
where allocations will be used, drawing
on the best available scientific advice
and collaborative input from Basin States.
The water entitlements will be exclusively
used for environmental flows.
A number of high-value
aquatic ecosystems can be expected to specifically
benefit from the water entitlements purchased
from Twynam, for example, the Macquarie
Marshes, Fivebough and Tuckerbil Swamps
in the Murrumbidgee, the Gwydir Wetlands,
the Booligal Wetlands in the Lachlan, and
Menindee Lakes in the Darling.
+ More
CASUARINA SANDS
28 MAY 2009 - Iconic
species get National protection World Environment
Day
Media Release - 5 June
2009 - PG/286 - A number of iconic species
including the forest red-tailed black cockatoo
and the woylie will receive a greater level
of protection under federal environment
legislation, Environment Minister Peter
Garrett said today.
On World Environment
Day, Mr Garrett announced nine new Western
Australian additions to the national threatened
species list, along with the transfer of
two Western Australian species to higher
categories and the delisting of another.
In addition to the forest
red-tailed black cockatoo and the woylie,
the new listings include several flowering
plants, trees and shrubs endemic to Western
Australia, as well as the Jurien Bay skink.
Mr Garrett said the
listings will help conserve the species
for the future. "By placing these species
on the national threatened list, I am ensuring
their increased protection, with projects
or activities which could significantly
impact upon them now needing to be thoroughly
assessed and approved before they can proceed,”
Mr Garrett said.
"Listing also increases
public awareness of their threatened status
and encourages communities and natural resource
management groups to implement conservation
activities and projects to protect them
for future generations."
Mr Garrett said the
forest red-tailed black cockatoo and the
woylie (also known as the brush-tailed bettong
or brush-tailed rat kangaroo) were iconic
species and that initiating recovery plans
along with their listing would hopefully
save them from heading closer to extinction.
“The forest red-tailed
black cockatoo is an example of the striking
birdlife found in Australia. Endemic to
Western Australia, the listing of the cockatoo
will help increase awareness of its plight
– most notably increased competition for
nesting hollows from other species and encroachment
upon its habitat – and will ensure it is
protected by national environmental law.
“The woylie has unfortunately
suffered a massive decline in recent years.
It is hoped through the development of a
recovery plan and other continued efforts
to save this marsupial, a reversal in its
decline can begin,” he said.
For more information
on threatened species visit:
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/index.html
The conservation advice
for all listings can be found on the department's
web site at:
http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/threatened/conservation-advices.html
Western Australian Species
Critically endangered
Muchea bell (shrub)
Bodallin poison (shrub)
Branched hemigenia (shrub)
Hibbertia priceana (shrub)
Robust coneflower
Boscabel conostylis (herb)
Endangered
Woylie
Eucalyptus recta (tree)
Diels' daviesia (shrub)
Vulnerable
Forest red-tailed black cockatoo
Jurien Bay skink
Delisted
Western whipbird (western mallee)
+ More
$1.3 million for Greater
Blue Mountains conservation project on World
Environment Day
Joint Media Release
- 5 June 2009 - A funding injection of $1.3
million will contribute to important conservation
work in the Greater Blue Mountains World
Heritage Area.
The funding was announced
on World Environment Day by the Federal
Minister for the Environment, Heritage and
the Arts, Peter Garrett and the New South
Wales Minister for Climate Change and the
Environment, Carmel Tebbutt.
Mr Garrett said the
funding is part of the Australian Government's
$650 million Jobs Fund initiative.
“The Greater Blue Mountains
is one of Australia's most spectacular landscapes
and one of our 17 World Heritage areas.
This investment of $1.3 million will ensure
that vital heritage restoration works can
begin on the popular and historically significant
Grand Canyon Walking Track,” Mr Garrett
said.
“This new work will
restore and protect the heritage elements
to ensure the track will continue to provide
an enjoyable and memorable visitor experience.”
Mr Garrett said activities
funded through the project include:
Engaging skilled heritage
contractors for significant stone masonry
works;
Track stabilisation, restoration and upgrades
to three priority sections of the track;
and,
Sourcing of local materials through local
businesses.
“As a result of this investment by the Australian
Government the local community will benefit
in terms of employment and building specialist
trade skills. This is also a great opportunity
for businesses to supply the necessary materials
and services for these vital works,” Mr
Garrett said.
““The project will provide
an enhanced visitor experience of the environment
through interpretive signs and improved
visitor safety. It will also reduce visitor
impact on the environment, especially erosion
associated with the high numbers of visitors
to the area.
“The Jobs Fund is an
important part of the Government's commitment
to provide targeted funding for projects
that not only protect and conserve some
of our most important heritage places, but
also help to generate jobs and provide economic
stimulus around the country,” Mr Garrett
said.
Ms Tebbutt welcomed
the funding as an important investment in
the Blue Mountains region and announced
the release of the Strategic Plan for the
ongoing management of the Greater Blue Mountains
World Heritage Area.
“This significant funding
is a tremendous boost to local employment
and local business confidence,” Ms Tebbutt
said.
“It will help to support
much of the work already undertaken in the
Blue Mountains in recent years, including
the $1.5million upgrade to the historic
National Pass track, which has already won
numerous national and international awards.
“This good news goes
hand-in-hand with the release today of the
Strategic Plan for the future management
of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage
Area.
“The Plan maps out the
broad management principles, strategic objectives
and key issues for the area.
“More than six years
of planning, research and consultation has
produced this document which will help us
to better manage and protect the World Heritage
and other values of the area into the future,”
Minister Tebbutt said.
“With more than a million
hectares of spectacular eucalypt and mountain
landscapes, much of it wilderness, it is
great that the Grand Canyon Walking Track
upgrade will ensure that visitors can continue
to access this magnificent place and support
the region's tourism economy.”
Mr Garrett welcomed
the publication of the plan and congratulated
everyone who has been involved in its preparation.
“This Strategic Plan
highlights the Australian Government's commitment
to working with the NSW government to maintain
and improve the values of the area that
make it special to so many Australians.”
The $650 million Jobs
Fund includes $60 million for projects related
to Australia's historic, Indigenous and
natural heritage places.
The $60 million for
community heritage projects has been developed
in consultation with Senator Bob Brown as
part of the Government's $42 billion Nation
Building - Economic Stimulus Plan.
Funding previously announced
for heritage projects includes $2.5 million
for four Tasmanian convict sites and more
than $550,000 will protect and conserve
the Cottesloe home of World War II Prime
Minister John Curtin. In addition, $2 million
has also been announced for conservation
works to Old Government House in Parramatta
and more than $360,000 has been provided
for walking and bike trails at Budj Bim
in Victoria, one of the world’s oldest known
traditional aquaculture systems.
The Greater Blue Mountains
is included in both the World and National
Heritage Lists, is one of Australia's iconic
National Landscapes and is protected through
the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999.
For more information
on Australia’s heritage projects visit www.heritage.gov.au
+ More
$700,000 Funding for
Uluru-Kata Tjuta and Kakadu National Parks
Joint Media Release
5 June 2009 - More than
$700,000 will be provided for three heritage
projects at two of Australia's most treasured
World Heritage Sites – Uluru- Kata Tjuta
and Kakadu National Parks. Funding was announced
today by the Federal Minister for the Environment,
Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett, and
the Member for Lingiari, Warren Snowdon,
as part of the Australian Government's $650
million Jobs Fund initiative.
“It gives me great pleasure
to announce funding, through the Australian
Government's Jobs Fund, for work to commence
on three Northern Territory heritage areas
with outstanding natural and Indigenous
values,” Mr Garrett said.
“As we celebrate World
Environment Day it is timely that we announce
funding that will help protect and conserve
these natural wonders by making them more
accessible to the public and also help manage
the impact of tourism.”
Mr Garrett said funding
for these World Heritage-listed places includes:
$227,500 Renovation
of Access Path, Uluru- Kata Tjuta National
Park
Funding will be used to upgrade and replace
the existing access pathways at the Uluru
Cultural Centre complex
$236,500 for the Access Track and Viewing
Area - Lower Gunlom Plunge Pool, Kakadu
National Park
This project will replace the existing track
with a new tracks, bridge and viewing area
providing people in wheelchairs access to
views of the plunge pool and Gunlom waterfall
$236,500 for the Catfish Creek Walkway Bridge
Refurbishment, Kakadu National Park
This will allow park visitors better access
to the Catfish Creek area with visitors
able to access the Sandstone and River bushwalk
which is part of the Bardedjiligji walk
Mr Snowdon welcomed the funding as important
to the future of the Northern Territory
community.
“As a result of this
investment there will be local jobs for
local people to improve paths, tracks and
walkways that will ensure that the visitor
experience will be a memorable one,” Mr
Snowdon said.
“The $60 million set
aside for heritage projects under the Jobs
Fund is one of the largest investments in
heritage conservation ever to be undertaken
in Australia. It is designed to support
and create jobs and develop skills that
build both community and social infrastructure.
“This major investment
in Australia's historic, Indigenous and
natural heritage provides real economic
stimulus by focusing on projects that have
an immediate employment impact, as well
as ongoing economic benefits.”
The $60 million for
community heritage projects has been developed
in consultation with Senator Bob Brown as
part of the Government's $42 billion Nation
Building - Economic Stimulus Plan.
Funding previously announced
for heritage projects includes $2.5 million
for four Tasmanian convict sites and more
than $550,000 to protect and conserve the
Cottesloe home of World War II Prime Minister
John Curtin. In addition, $2 million has
also been announced for conservation works
to Old Government House in Parramatta and
more than $360,000 has been provided for
walking and bike trails at Budj Bim in Victoria,
one of the world's oldest known traditional
aquaculture systems.
Uluru- Kata Tjuta and
Kakadu National Parks are included in both
the World and National Heritage Lists and
are protected through the Environment Protection
and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
For more information on Australia's heritage
projects visit www.heritage.gov.au
