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Objective

Recommendation

Key issues

What has been achieved 1998-2003

Tasmania Together

Related Issue Reports

Objective

To maintain a permanent forest and non-forest estate and provide a long-term vision for native vegetation retention at the landscape scale in Tasmania.

Recommendation

The following actions are recommended.

• An integrated and long-term approach to vegetation management at the landscape scale is established for forest and non-forest vegetation. This should include provisions for the assessment of applications for clearance against bioregional priorities for conservation, for monitoring and enforcement, and for independent oversight. Instruments for implementation could include legislation, planning guidelines or a State Policy on Native Vegetation Retention (see also Recommendation 14, 1997).
   
• A Statewide information system is established to provide repeatable data on changes in the health and extent of forest and non-forest vegetation. These data should be integrated with existing vegetation mapping (TASVEG), the scientific advisory group (CARSAG)-responsible for the extension of the comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system from public to private land, and Forest Practices Board programs.
   
• Planning schemes incorporate maps from the Statewide information system to identify and protect priority native vegetation, potentially with the inclusion of a standardised schedule through the Simplifying Planning Schemes project.
   
• The principal recommendations of the RFA Review are adopted to: complete the review of the Permanent Forest Estate; increase transparency and effectiveness of the Forest Practices System; and improve forest community mapping.
   
• The strategic recommendations arising from the study of 'Landscape Change in Meander Valley' are adopted. In particular, State Government agencies should work towards monitoring and reporting reform; and regional Natural Resource Management processes should establish baselines and monitoring regimes for regional vegetation management outcomes based on a robust spatial approach.
   
• The State provide for the protection of threatened vegetation communities through an appropriate statutory framework.
   

Key issues

While there are a number of historic and contemporary economic drivers for clearing of native vegetation in Tasmania-whether for agriculture, infrastructure, settlements, or plantation development-a key issue is ensuring that the appropriate policy framework and regulatory controls are in place to manage native vegetation clearance in Tasmania.

The Resource Planning and Development Commission's Inquiry on the progress with Implementation of the Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement recommended that the State Government amends the Permanent Forest Estate Policy to increase the levels of retention of native forest, and specifically to ensure that no further forest communities become threatened, and that there is no deterioration in the status of any existing threatened forest community.

Some of the points from the 'At a glance' sections for Issue Reports within the Biodiversity Chapter relating to Vegetation Management (links are provided to the 'at a glance' pages for further detail) include the following:

• Biodiversity Health: A Tasmania-wide assessment of biodiversity health has been completed as part of the Australia-wide Assessment of Biodiversity (Audit). The Northern Midlands was assessed to be generally in a degraded condition and declining.
   
• Land Clearance: The total extent of native vegetation cleared since European settlement has been calculated to be around 23%, or 1.56 million hectares. Over a quarter of a million hectares of native vegetation were cleared in Tasmania between 1972-1999. The amount of native vegetation approved for conversion to plantation or non-forest use between 1999-2000 was 15,820 ha, between 2000-2001 was 13,450 ha, and between 2001-2002 was 9,280 ha.
   
• Urban Growth: Tasmania's larger urban centres are concentrated in areas containing vegetation types which have been substantially cleared in Tasmania, including: grasslands and grassy woodlands, coastal heathland, dry forests and wetlands. Housing completions have potentially affected 805 ha of priority forest vegetation in Greater Hobart and 291 ha of priority forest vegetation in Launceston in the period between 1992-2002. However, the proportion of a land parcel cleared of native vegetation for any housing completion is unknown.
   
• Native Forests: Seven forest communities have less than 15% of their current extent in reserves: six are dry eucalypt communities and one a wet eucalypt community. Ten communities, mainly from the dry eucalypt group, have less than 7.5% of their estimated pre-1750 extent protected in reserves. For most of these communities, the remaining extent is chiefly on private land.
   
• Reservation: While the State has about 40% of its land area in reserves, the distribution is concentrated in a few bioregions: the West and Central Highlands have 83% and 56% respectively within formal reserves. The Southern Ranges also has high levels of formal reservation, with 44% of its area reserved. However, six of the nine terrestrial bioregions in Tasmania have more than 80% of their area outside any type of reserve. The situation is particularly critical in the Northern Midlands where 97.4% of the region is outside any type of public or private reserve.
   

What has been achieved 1998-2003

The following is a summary of achievements in maintaining native vegetation cover. The Issue Reports within the Biodiversity Chapter provide further information as does the State Government's formal response to Tasmania's Nature Conservation Strategy.

• Under the 1997 Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement, Tasmania has adopted and implemented a Permanent Forest Estate Policy. The policy sets out a system of minimum threshold percentage that must be retained and below which forest vegetation cannot be cleared. The policy is designed to establish a relationship between forest areas in reserves and areas in various forms of production forest to help achieve conservation objectives across the landscape. Current thresholds in the policy are to retain a minimum of 80% of the total forest area that existed in 1996, with a minimum of 50% of each forest community to be retained in each bioregion (see Permanent Forest Estate Policy).
   
• The Permanent Forest Estate Policy is under review. The review is addressing the current vegetation retention thresholds, both the total threshold and the individual thresholds for different forest communities.
   
• A program of consultation is underway with the key stakeholders to develop mechanisms for managing native non-forest vegetation on private land. It is expected that the mechanisms will focus on a key role for local government planning schemes, the preparation and accreditation of property-based plans, and the reservation of some areas under voluntary conservation programs.
   
• The DPIWE established a Private Forest Reserves Program in July 1998 to extend the system of comprehensive, adequate and representative forest reserves on private land in Tasmania.
   
• In April 2001, land clearance was listed as a threatening process under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
   
• The Vegetation Management Framework was announced by the State Government in July 2001. Under the framework, the Forest Practices Act 1985 was amended to require permits for the clearance of forest, irrespective of the purpose of clearance. These provisions apply where the area to be cleared is more than 1 ha per year or greater than 100 tonnes per year, or where the land involved is 'vulnerable' land under the Act. The Vegetation Management Policy emphasises cooperative approaches with landholders.
   
• The Forest Practices Board introduced a moratorium on the clearing of rare and endangered forest communities in 2002. The State Government announced in May 2003 that all rare, endangered and vulnerable forest communities would now be protected using the Forest Practices System. The new measures will prevent the clearing of 107,000 hectares of threatened forest communities in Tasmania.
   
• The State Government also announced in May 2003 that the clearing of endangered, rare and vulnerable non-forest communities would also be stopped. This includes grasslands, heath and scrub. Councils would play an important role through their planning schemes by taking account of at risk non-forest vegetation communities when considering developments.
   
• Tasmania has, with Natural Heritage Trust assistance, developed a Protected Areas on Private Land Program. With landholder approval, areas of non-forest conservation significance as well as forested areas that do not meet the priorities of the Private Forest Reserve Program are covenanted. Land Tax relief and rate rebates are available in some municipalities as incentives.
   
• A program to increase levels of reservation for freshwater ecosystems has also been established. The program aims to bring reservation of these neglected ecosystems more in line with the requirements of a comprehensive, adequate and representative reserve system.
   
• Incentive programs funded by the Natural Heritage Trust to fence off and manage riparian areas have been introduced. Funds for riparian vegetation management are available under Rivercare, Bushcare and Regional Natural Resource Management strategies, primarily through devolved grant schemes.
   
• A study was completed on 'Landscape Change in the Meander Valley: A Case study for Monitoring and Reporting of Land Use Modification, Vegetation Condition and Biodiversity Loss' (Cadman 2003). A summary of the principal findings is provided in the case study on Landscape Change in the Meander Valley.
   

Tasmania Together

Relevant Tasmania Together goals and standards for 'Biodiversity' 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.

Related Issue Reports