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Objective

Recommendation

Key issues

What has been achieved 1998-2003

Tasmania Together

Related Issue Reports

Objective

To protect wetlands of conservation significance on private and Crown Land.

Recommendation

It is recommended that:

• the 'Wetlands Strategy for Tasmania - Draft Discussion Paper' (DPIWE 2000) is finalised and implemented;
   
• wetlands of international, national and state significance on private land and Crown Land are reviewed with a view to assessing reservation and management options to improve their conservation status (priority would be given to wetlands identified as threatened or requiring rehabilitation); and
   
• a Planning Directive is prepared under the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993 to ensure that wetlands are identified in, and protected through, planning schemes.
   

Key issues

Supporting information for this recommendation is contained in Wetlands. Only a small proportion of wetlands across the State have been comprehensively assessed in relation to their condition, trend and conservation significance.

One quarter of the 281 proposed sites for DIWA listing are declining in condition or have suffered extinctions across six of the nine bioregions in the State.

The degradation and loss of wetland areas has, in turn, affected the biodiversity and landform values reliant on these systems.

Only a small number of sites listed for their conservation significance across the State currently have any sort of short- or long-term security (e.g. through reservation).

Much of the knowledge available for Tasmania's wetlands (in terms of their condition, status and extent) has been patchy, outdated and/or biased toward flora or bird values alone, and largely limited to coastal and small lentic wetlands.

What has been achieved 1998-2003

Key initiatives since the previous SoE Report in relation to the protection of wetlands include the following.

• The Protection of Freshwater Ecosystem Values project (DPIWE) will audit and prioritise conservation effort based on comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve principles. It will identify those aquatic systems such as wetlands with high conservation values.
   
• DPIWE released A Wetlands Strategy for Tasmania - Draft Discussion Paper (DPIWE 2000). The paper considers a range of mechanisms for protecting and managing wetlands, including the role of reserves. It identified the need for the specific management needs of wetlands to be given special consideration in the planning decisions of councils, which are made under the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993. It noted that very few planning schemes contain provisions with respect to wetlands. It also suggested strategies to ensure that high conservation wetlands are protected through zoning and the development application process.
   
• The Protected Areas on Private Land Project aims to identify and conserve key non-forest vegetation priorities on private land. A brief summary of this program is provided in the background content of the report (see PAPL).
   
• Information on the condition and status of some of Tasmania's wetlands, and the various issues related to the identification, classification and special values of wetlands, has been made available through the Nature Conservation Branch Technical Report 02/09 (Dunn 2002), and through the National Land and Water Resources Audit. Information is also available on the internationally significant Ramsar wetlands within Tasmania.
   

Tasmania Together

Relevant Tasmania Together goals and standards for 'Inland Waters and Wetlands' are listed in the linked file. The Tasmania Together Progress Board reported on progress toward targets for benchmarks set (Tasmania Together Progress Board 2003). Indicators, targets and baseline data are available in the latest Progress Report June 2003. Further information, including progress report updates, is available from Tasmania Together.

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