Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities Annual Report 2011–12

Objectives

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  Through the Caring for our Country initiative, promote an environment that is healthy, better protected, well managed, resilient and provides essential ecosystem services in a changing climate.
  
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  Through the Land Sector Package (an element of the Clean Energy Future plan), assist the transition to a lower carbon economy while improving the resilience of Australia’s landscapes to the impacts of climate change, improving the environmental outcomes of carbon farming projects, and helping landholders protect carbon and biodiversity values on their land.
  
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  Conserve Australia’s biodiversity at the landscape scale, in particular by linking landscapes through the establishment of wildlife corridors.
  
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  Establish and manage a regulatory framework which maximises social, economic and environmental returns from investment in biodiscovery in Australia.
  
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  Through the National Environmental Research Program, deliver public good focused environmental research designed to engage with end users and support evidence based decision making by environmental managers and policy makers.
  
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  Develop and implement a National Plan for Environmental Information in conjunction with the Bureau of Meteorology.
  
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  Finalise the Australia State of the Environment 2011 report.
  
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  Build Australia’s taxonomic knowledge and capacity.
  
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  Progress Australia’s international efforts to stop commercial whaling, including scientific whaling.
  
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  Identify a proposed national network of new Commonwealth marine reserves to become part of the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas.
  
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  Develop and implement national policies to support the ecologically sustainable management of the marine and coastal environment.
  
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  Identify key conservation priorities for marine biodiversity and ecosystems through the marine bioregional planning program.
  
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  Conserve Australia’s biodiversity within our protected area estate.
  
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  Contribute to the development of consistent national approaches to reversing biodiversity decline in important ecosystems and ecologically significant communities.
  
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  Improve the quality and availability of environmental information for decision makers through the marine bioregional planning program.
  
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  Improve conservation outcomes for marine biodiversity, including for listed marine and migratory species.
  
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  Contribute to effective environmental biosecurity for the nation.
  
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  Contribute to the implementation of the Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement to facilitate the protection of additional areas of native forest with significant conservation values and contribute to the management of these additional reserve areas.