Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities Annual Report 2011–12
Protecting the environment 1.1 Protecting matters of national environmental significance
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- World and National Heritage
- Commonwealth Heritage List
- Wetlands of international importance
- Threatened species, ecological communities and migratory species
- Listed threatened species and ecological communities
- Assessment period commencing 1 October 2011
- Assessment period commencing 1 October 2012
- Listing assessment outcomes
- Managing threatened species and ecological communities
- Key threatening processes
Protecting the environment1.1 Protecting matters of national environmental significanceThis section reports on the operation of the EPBC Act in protecting matters of national environmental significance. It also reports on the work of statutory committees and the Australian Heritage Council, which advises on EPBC Act matters. Two statutory committees currently operate under the EPBC Act: the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) and the Indigenous Advisory Committee (IAC). The work of the TSSC is reported under relevant sections of this report. The IAC has a broad role in advising the minister on the wider operation of the EPBC Act, taking into account Indigenous peoples’ knowledge of land management and the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity. The IAC held two meetings in 2011–12. The IAC advised the department and the minister on issues such as Indigenous water engagement, environmental and heritage regulatory reforms, Indigenous sea country management, Indigenous management of dugongs and sea turtles, and Indigenous consultation on the World Heritage listing for the Cape York Peninsula. The Australian Heritage Council, which is established under the Australian Heritage Council Act 2003, is the Australian Government’s principal advisory body on heritage matters. The council is responsible under the EPBC Act for assessing the heritage values of places nominated for possible inclusion in the National and Commonwealth Heritage lists, and for advising the minister on heritage issues.
World Heritage ListAustralia has 19 places in the World Heritage List, which are protected under the EPBC Act and have associated management requirements. Some properties have multiple sites. Under the EPBC Act, the minister must make a written plan for managing a property lying entirely within one or more Commonwealth areas. Where a property is in a state or self-governing territory, the Commonwealth must use its best endeavours to ensure that a plan is prepared and implemented cooperatively with the relevant state or territory. The plan must be consistent with Australia’s obligations under the World Heritage Convention and the Australian World Heritage management principles for managing a World Heritage property. All Australian properties in the World Heritage List have management plans, and several plans were being reviewed in 2011–12 to ensure their continuing effectiveness.
National Heritage ListIn 2011–12 the minister added three places to the National Heritage List, bringing the total number of places in the list to 97. The additional places were:
The minister confirmed the Jordan River Levee Site as being included in the National Heritage List on 23 December 2011; this site was previously included in the List for a 12-month period under the emergency listing provisions of the EPBC Act. Commonwealth Heritage ListIn 2011–12, 59 places were either added to the Commonwealth Heritage List or had additional values added to the list. These places were:
As at 30 June 2012 there were 381 places in the Commonwealth Heritage List. Wetlands of international importanceThe EPBC Act enhances the management and protection of Australia’s Ramsar wetlands. (A ‘declared Ramsar wetland’ is an area that is designated under Article 2 of the Ramsar Convention and is declared by the minister to be a declared Ramsar wetland under the EPBC Act.) The EPBC Act also establishes a process for identifying Ramsar wetlands and encourages best practice management through nationally consistent management principles. The Ramsar Convention encourages the designation of sites containing representative, rare or unique wetlands, or wetlands that are important for conserving biological diversity. In designating a wetland as a Ramsar site, a signatory country agrees to manage the area to ensure that its ecological character is maintained. At 30 June 2012 Australia had 64 Ramsar wetlands that cover around 8.1 million hectares. No Ramsar sites were added in 2011–12. The department is working with state and territory governments to finalise ecological character descriptions for Australia’s Ramsar sites according to the National framework and guidance for describing the ecological character of Australia’s Ramsar wetlands. Ecological character descriptions will help support the operation of the EPBC Act by:
Threatened species, ecological communities and migratory speciesThe EPBC Act protects Australia’s native species and ecological communities by providing for:
Threatened fauna and flora may be listed in categories defined by the EPBC Act. Species listed as extinct in the wild, critically endangered, endangered, or vulnerable are matters of national environmental significance. Ecological communities are unique and naturally occurring groups of plants, animals and other organisms that interact in a unique habitat. Their structure, composition and distribution are determined by factors such as soil type, position in the landscape, climate, and water availability. Threatened ecological communities listed as Critically Endangered and Endangered are matters of national environmental significance. Threatened ecological communities may also be listed as Vulnerable. Listed threatened species and ecological communitiesThe TSSC advised the minister on amending and updating lists of threatened species, threatened ecological communities and key threatening processes. The TSSC also advised on the development or adoption of recovery and threat abatement plans. The TSSC had three major meetings in 2011–12 and undertook a number of assessments of the conservation status of priority species, ecological communities and key threatening processes. Assessment period commencing 1 October 2011No conservation theme was established for the assessment period commencing 1October2011. New nominations were received for 11 species, three key threatening processes and five ecological communities. Several nominations from previous years were also eligible for reconsideration for inclusion on the assessment list. In June 2011 the TSSC assessed the public nominations received and determined its proposed priority assessment list for consideration by the minister. The finalised priority assessment list was published in September 2011. Assessment period commencing 1 October 2012The minister established ‘corridors and connecting habitats (including freshwater habitats)’ as the conservation theme for the assessment period commencing 1 October 2012. For this assessment period, new nominations were received for 18 species, three key threatening processes and five ecological communities. Several nominations from the previous year were also eligible for reconsideration for inclusion on the assessment list. The finalised list is expected to be published in the first quarter of 2012–13, after the minister considers the TSSC’s recommended priorities for assessment. Listing assessment outcomesIn 2011–12 the minister made listing decisions on the assessments for 15 species and six ecological communities. Ten species were from the Finalised Priority Assessment Lists and five were assessed under arrangements to align state, territory and national lists. For species, as set out in Table 1, there were six new listings, no de-listings and seven transfers. In addition, one species proposed for listing was deemed ineligible for listing in any category, and one species proposed for up-listing was deemed ineligible for up-listing and was retained in its current listing category. Of the seven transfers between categories, two species were up-listed and five species were transferred from Extinct to Critically Endangered (down-listed) following their rediscovery in the wild. Table 5.1: Species listing assessment outcomes 2011–12
The Australian Government has partnership agreements with the states and territories to share information and align threatened species lists where appropriate. Through these agreements, species that are endemic to a particular state or territory are first assessed in the relevant jurisdiction, before national assessment by the TSSC for their eligibility for listing under the EPBC Act. Assessments for 103 species assessed through these partnership agreements were completed in 2011–12. As of 30 June 2012, the minister made no listing decisions for these species. The Australian Government continued to progress the alignment of Commonwealth, state and territory listings in 2011–12. A potential new model to further progress and improve threatened species list alignment was developed in consultation with all jurisdictions. It is planned to finalise this model in 2012–13. There were six threatened ecological community listings in 2011–12:
Assessments for three other ecological communities were also completed in 2011–12, with listing decisions to be made by the minister in 2012–13. At the time of listing, extensive information is published in listing and conservation advice on the distribution of ecological communities, and their key diagnostic characteristics, condition, relationship to state vegetation classifications, threats, and priority conservation actions. The department continued to identify ecological communities of high priority for potential listing as matters of national environmental significance under the EPBC Act. Part of the prioritisation process focuses on endemic ecological communities listed by states and territories in the Endangered and Critically Endangered categories that are likely to benefit most from additional protection under the EPBC Act. In 2011–12 assessments were completed on two state-endemic ecological communities (one in Western Australia and one in Queensland) and work progressed on two others. A strategic national ecological communities workshop was held in March 2012, with experts from across Australia, to refine prioritisation principles for national listing and identify possible gaps on the national list. Managing threatened species and ecological communitiesThe listing of species and ecological communities triggers the protection mechanisms of the EPBC Act. This makes them a priority for funding and management to assist with their recovery and conservation, such as through the Caring for our Country initiative. For example, several listed woodlands and native grasslands are key targets under the Environmental Stewardship program under Caring for our Country, which provides funds and information to support landholders in protecting threatened native vegetation on their properties. Conservation advice for all new listings of species and ecological communities was prepared and published on the department’s website. Conservation advice provides guidance on immediate recovery and threat abatement activities that can be undertaken to ensure the conservation of newly listed species or ecological communities. The minister approved conservation advice for six newly listed threatened species and six newly listed threatened ecological communities. Recovery plansThe EPBC Act provides for the making or adopting of recovery plans and conservation advice when a species is listed. Recovery plans set out the research and management actions needed to stop the decline and support the recovery of listed threatened species or threatened ecological communities. The department, together with state and territory government environment agencies, made substantial investment in the recovery of threatened species and ecological communities by developing and implementing recovery plans. Twenty-seven recovery plans covering 36 species and nine ecological communities were approved by the minister or his delegate. Substantial progress was made on a further 124 recovery plans currently in preparation. The TSSC continues to work with the department on national monitoring and reporting on significant species and ecological communities. Key threatening processesThe EPBC Act provides for the listing of key threatening processes. A threatening process is one that threatens or may threaten the survival, abundance or evolutionary development of a native species or ecological community. The TSSC advises the minister in the listing of key threatening processes and whether a threat abatement plan or other actions are needed to abate key threatening processes. There were no key threatening processes added to the list during 2011–12. A project was initiated and substantially progressed in 2011–12 to review departmental threat prioritisation and abatement processes. This project has involved significant consultation with experts and will be completed in 2012–13.
Threat abatement plansThe draft Threat abatement plan to reduce the impacts on northern Australia’s biodiversity by the five listed grasses was released for public consultation between August and November 2011. Following the Consultations the draft plan was revised and presented to the TSSC in May 2012 for review. The five listed grasses considered under this draft plan are introduced gamba grass (Andropogon gayanus), para grass (Urochloa mutica), olive hymenachne (Hymenachne amplexicaulis), mission grass (Cenchrus polystachios) and annual mission grass (Cenchrus pedicellatus). The key threatening processes and threat abatement plans listed under the EPBC Act are at Appendix D. Migratory speciesThe Memorandum of Understanding on the Conservation of Migratory Sharks (Sharks MoU) came into effect in March 2010 and on 4 February 2011, Australia became the 14th signatory to this agreement. This global memorandum of understanding is the first of its kind for sharks and aims to conserve migratory sharks throughout the world. It currently covers seven shark species: white shark, whale shark, basking shark, porbeagle, shortfin mako, longfin mako, and the northern hemisphere populations of spiny dogfish. All these species except for the spiny dogfish inhabit Australian waters. The first signatory state meeting for the Sharks MoU will be held in Bonn, Germany, in September 2012. The work of an intergovernmental joint dugong taskforce with the Queensland Government was completed in December 2011. The taskforce assessed the effectiveness of dugong conservation and management activity in Queensland and provided recommendations for improvements. The task force focused on:
A major outcome of the work of the dugong taskforce was the commitment by the Australian Government of $5 million to support sustainable dugong management and community-led compliance work by Indigenous communities in Queensland. The Sixth Meeting of Partners of the East Asian–Australasian Flyway Partnership was held in Palembang, Indonesia, from 19 to 22 March 2012. Three new partners—Mongolia, New Zealand and Rio Tinto—were welcomed, bringing the total partners to 27. Rio Tinto is the first partner from the international business sector. An important focus of the meeting was the work of Dr Richard Fuller from the University of Queensland. Dr Fuller is leading an Australian Research Council collaborative grant program, partly funded by the department, which aims to assess factors impacting on the status of Australia’s migratory shorebird populations. Directory: system -> files -> resources resources -> Environmental Best Practice Port Development: An Analysis of International Approaches resources -> The National Heritage List and Commonwealth Heritage List: 1 july 2008 30 june 2013 resources -> Reference list for water related coal seam gas and coal mining research resources -> Michigan Association of Intermediate School Administrators isd sections of Law resources -> Executive Summary 3 Background 4 Developing the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme 4 resources -> Threat abatement plan for disease in natural ecosystems caused by resources -> Sawfish and River Sharks Multispecies Issues Paper resources -> Wildlife Trade Management Plan – Queensland Crocodile Farming Download 5.6 Mb. Share with your friends:
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