Australian Capital Territory

State of the Environment 2015

Red-Necked Wallaby – endemic to south-east Australia. This wallaby is very common in the mountains west of Canberra, but is less often seen in the drier, more open woodlands of Canberra Nature Park. This species is not considered to be endangered or threatened. Photo: Leo Berzins
Recommendations
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11.7 Biodiversity

11.7.1 Progress against 2011 recommendations

The 2011 State of the Environment Report1 recommended that the ACT Government should:

  • develop a biodiversity monitoring strategy, building on existing government and nongovernment skills, capacity and programs, and focusing on periodic reporting. This should include, where appropriate, systematic statistical methodologies that support monitoring of trends and changes to biodiversity assets in the ACT
  • identify opportunities to integrate multiple environmental assessments into monitoring projects and activities
  • publicly report decisions, activities and data collected in relation to individual species, populations and ecological communities
  • collaborate with the NSW Government and regional organisations to contribute to regional and national biodiversity datasets
  • improve the integration of biodiversity values into urban planning decisions through
    • integrating biodiversity corridors and habitat connectivity into the Territory Plan process
    • identifying appropriate clearance thresholds for ecological communities across the ACT through completion of the biodiversity offset policy
  • as part of the review of the Nature Conservation Act 1980
    • include an objects clause that protects biodiversity
    • include a definition of ‘biodiversity’
    • align all biodiversity provisions in the Environment Protection Act 1997 with those in the Nature Conservation Act 1980
    • consider whether unauthorised loss of biodiversity should be included as an offence
    • assess the effectiveness of managing threatening processes through action plans, including the listing of key threatening processes in the Nature Conservation Act 1980.

The Government has achieved significant progress since 2011 in addressing these recommendations:

  • The ACT Nature Conservation Strategy provides the framework for nature conservation in the ACT from 2013 to 2023, guiding future planning of the Territory’s open spaces, rural areas, urban areas, riverine corridors and nature reserves, including investment of funding and resources in nature conservation. The strategy is supported by Implementation Plan 1, which provides a road map of the most significant milestones required to deliver the ACT Nature Conservation Strategy actions and targets during 2013–2018.
  • The Biodiversity Research and Monitoring Program (BRAMP), July 2015 was established under the new Nature Conservation Act 2014. It sets out key biodiversity research and monitoring activities for the two-year period to 30 June 2017. BRAMP aims to improve knowledge and understanding of biodiversity, and inform its management in the ACT. It will contribute to an evidence base for future policy, program and resource allocation decisions.
  • The Conservation Effectiveness Monitoring Program has compiled a database of current biodiversity monitoring programs occurring on reserves. This has informed the development of a reserve condition monitoring framework, designed to link current biodiversity monitoring investments across government, academic institutions and community groups into a coordinated, strategic program focused on monitoring ecological values of eight broad ecological communities in ACT nature reserves.
  • There have been significant advances in integrating biodiversity values into planning and development:
    • Significant plants, animals and registered trees are now included in ACTMAPi.
    • A connectivity layer is now included in ACTMAPi, based on a study of woodland connectivity; it is also integrated into the ACT Environmental Offsets Calculator.
    • the ACT Environmental Offsets Policy came into force in April 2015, which is supported by the ACT Environmental Offsets Calculator.
    • Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cwlth) (EPBC Act) strategic approvals for Molonglo and Gungahlin were completed and endorsed in the reporting period. The approved biodiversity plans that guide development in Molonglo and Gungahlin provide the capacity to achieve better environmental outcomes and address cumulative impacts at a landscape level.
    • Work has commenced on two draft variations to the Territory Plan designed to improve biodiversity values: DV297 will ensure implementation of EPBC Act biodiversity offsets, and DV319 will ensure implementation of biodiversity outcomes pursuant to the Gungahlin Strategic Assessment.
  • Other projects include:
    • implementation of the Jerrabomberra Wetlands Concept Plan to ensure that biodiversity objectives for the wetlands are considered in planning the proposed East Lake residential development and vice versa
    • the Million Trees initiative throughout the Murrumbidgee River Corridor which has conducted weed spraying and ground preparation, and planted tube stock along multiple sites – Woodstock Nature Reserve, Lower Molonglo Nature Reserve, Pine Island and the Tharwa area
    • the Urban Treescapes project, in which approximately 2400 trees were planted throughout Canberra’s urban forest during 2014–15, and approximately 8000 trees planted as gifted assets from green and brown field developments and Roads Capital Works projects. These trees are primarily located on public unleased land, particularly nature strips and urban open space
    • establishment of new nature reserves in Canberra Nature Park, including Mulligans Flat, Goorooyarroo and Isaacs Ridge nature reserves to improve connectivity within the ACT Reserve System
    • amendments to the Nature Conservation Act 2014 to improve alignment and consistency with the Environment Protection Act 1997, and to provide penalties for offences relating to the loss of biodiversity and clearing or damaging land in nature reserves.

11.7.3 Justification for the 2015 recommendations

In compiling the data necessary to report on the biodiversity indicators, it became apparent that the ACT’s current biodiversity monitoring programs have not allowed the indicators to be populated with data that:

  • are comprehensive and cover all the ACT geographic areas that need to be covered
  • use consistent and current methods that allow trends and comparisons to be established
  • are guided by data collection and storage protocols and procedures
  • are clearly linked to conservation outcomes.

Although there are resource constraints to be considered in developing solutions to these issues, a project that the ACT Government started in 2014 should allow significant progress in addressing these issues. The Conservation Effectiveness Monitoring Program forms the basis of this project. It examines current reserve monitoring programs and proposes a framework for integrating and coordinating monitoring investments into a strategic reserve condition monitoring program for ACT nature reserves. The information contained in the program’s report details the important scientific and legislative considerations required for the development of a rigorous scientific monitoring program. The proposed reserve condition monitoring program framework was designed to make use of current monitoring investments as far as possible to limit the amount of additional resources required. Implementation of this project will:

  • ensure that the ACT monitoring program is informed by integrating current monitoring investments
  • provide the opportunity to strategically link management actions with conservation outcomes
  • enable the evaluation of management effectiveness in achieving on-ground conservation improvements.

These first phases of the Conservation Effectiveness Monitoring Program should be complemented by a project to maximise the effective use of the significant amount of technical, scientific and geospatial data contained in consultant’s reports commissioned for a range of projects, primarily associated with development and held by many ACT Government agencies. Making available this otherwise unknown or inaccessible data would:

  • improve resource efficiencies and cost effectiveness
  • improve the quantitative data sources and availability, and plug information gaps
  • help to answer management questions identified in the Conservation Effectiveness Monitoring Program.

Recommendation 8

That the ACT Government provides the necessary resources to complete the next phases of the Conservation Effectiveness Monitoring Program.

Recommendation 9

That the ACT Government formalise biodiversity conservation data collection and storage protocols and procedures, to integrate reports commissioned by different agencies with existing government data.

An Eastern Pygmy Possum on a log
Eastern Pygmy PossumPhoto: Mark Jekabsons

 

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