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At a glance 
The issue Riparian vegetation includes the diverse native vegetation species and communities on land that borders waterways and water bodies. Riparian vegetation has significant environmental, social and economic values. It performs critical functions at local and catchment scales, and contributes significantly to estuarine health. Tasmania's native riparian vegetation has undergone significant alteration and continues to be impacted by past and present land use, and water management practices across the State. Action is needed to ensure that this valuable, but little understood, feature of the landscape can be conserved for future generations. This 'At a glance' section provides an overview of the issue of native riparian vegetation health and extent based on the doctorate studies undertaken by Elizabeth Daley and on the National Land and Water Resources Audit assessment for Tasmania. More information is available in the Health and Extent of Native Riparian Vegetation Issue Report. Two indicators are provided within this report (see indicators). A recommendation is presented on Riparian Vegetation. Favourable news - Native riparian vegetation in Tasmania has high species richness and structural diversity.
- There are around 900 unnamed, informal river reserves across Tasmania, but only three formal reserves.
- Streamside buffers are required under the Forest Practices Code 2000 and are effectively streamside protection areas, which allows for a level of protection for riparian vegetation. Buffer width and the level of protection vary for different stream types.
- The National Heritage Trust has funded river rehabilitation projects in Tasmania as part of the National Rivercare Program. These have been coordinated through The Rivercare Team at DPIWE.
- The Private Forest Reserves Program has contributed to the protection of riparian vegetation on private lands. As at March 2003, 60% of the comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR) reserves (under 97 covenants covering 17,379 ha) supported some form of riparian vegetation, along with another 80 or so other areas of private land being assessed for further reservation (Steven Smith pers. comm.).
Unfavourable news - In 1998, an estimated 1,668 km2 (53%) of riparian vegetation found along major water courses in Tasmania was categorised as moderately to substantially disturbed, and a further 29% had experienced minor disturbance.
- The current list of riparian communities is not complete and there has been no Statewide mapping of these communities.
- From the available information on riparian vegetation, it appears many communities are poorly reserved and inadequately represent the diversity of communities across the State.
- Only 30% of the length of major streams in Tasmania, including their native riparian vegetation, is found in reserves.
- There is no State policy that covers the riparian zone for all Tasmanian waterbodies and waterways.
- The condition, maintenance and management of native riparian vegetation varies considerably across the State.
Uncertain news - The riparian vegetation category that currently exists within the DPIWE's TASVEG database lacks any differentiation of riparian vegetation communities. This results in uncertainty about the extent of riparian vegetation communities that are poorly reserved or unreserved in Tasmania.
- The riparian vegetation assessment conducted for the National Land and Water Audit at the bioregional level provides a general indication of the condition and trends in riparian vegetation across Tasmania. Because of the broad scale at which the assessment was conducted, it is uncertain how useful the information is for riparian vegetation management at the local scale.
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