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Objective

Recommendation

Key issues

Actions taken

Objective

To protect wetlands of conservation significance on Crown land.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Department of Environment and Land Management, in conjunction with any other relevant land management agency, reviews all Tasmanian wetlands on Crown land that are listed as sites of national and state significance by the Australian Nature Conservation Agency with a view to reserving those sites securely under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1970 or other legislation, such as forestry and marine resources legislation, that provides for the establishment of secure reserves.

Key issues

This information is available from Volume 2 of the last SoE Report (SDAC 1997), which can be downloaded. The final objective, final recommendation, and a summary of key management actions are detailed below.

Actions taken

Since the previous SoE Report (1997), the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1970 has been split into the National Parks and Reserves Management Act 2002 and the Nature Conservation Act 2002. There has also been some progress in addressing the recommendation on the review and reservation of wetlands on Crown land, including the following.

• The Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment released 'A Wetlands Strategy for Tasmania - Draft Discussion Paper' (DPIWE 2000). The paper considered many mechanisms for the protection and management of wetlands, including the role of reserves. The suggested reserve strategies include that private owners of high conservation value wetlands will be encouraged to enter into management agreements, preferably conservation covenants, with the Parks and Wildlife Service. This paper noted that very few planning schemes contain provisions with respect to wetlands.
   
• A strategic framework for improved identification, conservation and management of freshwater ecosystem values including wetlands-the Conservation of Freshwater Ecosystem Values (CFEV) project-has commenced in Tasmania as part of the Water Development Plan 2001.
   
• Progress has been made in collating information on the condition and status of some of Tasmania's wetlands, including internationally significant Ramsar wetlands, through a Nature Conservation Technical Report 02/09 (Dunn 2002), which is also available through the National Land and Water Resources Audit.
   
• A Nature Conservation Strategy has also been prepared and the State Government has now responded formally to this Strategy.