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Objective

Recommendation

Key issues

What has been achieved 1998-2003

Tasmania Together

Related Issue Reports

Objective

To manage catchments, coastal waters, and estuaries in an integrated manner, which recognises the inter-dependence of the environment and the needs of downstream users and ecosystems.

Recommendation

It is recommended that:

• Water Management Plans take into consideration the environmental flow requirements for coastal wetlands and estuaries as required in the Water Management Act 1999;
   
• the dependence of coastal wetlands and estuaries on the maintenance of freshwater systems, water quality and environmental flow requirements is recognised in regional and catchment-based Natural Resource Management plans;
   
• the successful partnership approach between local councils and the State Government established for the Derwent Estuary Program is applied as a model for other estuaries;
   
• Protected Environmental Values and Water Quality Objectives are defined for estuarine and coastal waters;
   
• local government environmental strategies and planning schemes take into consideration the requirements of the coastal and marine environment;
   
• building on the existing programs by the Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute, monitoring of water quality and habitat is undertaken for coasts and estuaries to support integrated management;
   
• integration of monitoring and reporting mechanisms is promoted where practicable (e.g. the Tasmanian Node of the Australian Coastal Atlas and Seamap Tasmania) as means to disseminate natural resource management data on the coastal and marine environment; and
   
• a marine planning system, potentially similar to that covering land, is established to ensure that resource management planning and conservation planning take place in an integrated and transparent manner within the Resource Management and Planning System.
   

Key issues

Integrated catchment management has been a long-standing principle and framework for managing land in a way that takes into account the requirements of the downstream environment and users. 'Integrated' management means having regard for the whole, considering downstream consequences, considering relationships (social, economic and environmental), and identifying opportunities for actions to be mutually supporting rather than conflicting.

The recommendation relates to how catchments and coasts and estuaries are managed so that actions on the land take into account the receiving environment. Integrated management also relates to how the community manages programs and activities within the coastal, estuarine and marine environment.

There are many links and relationships between the condition of coastal and estuarine environments and the management of land and freshwater resources, as outlined in the Land Chapter and Inland Waters and Wetlands Chapter.

The consequences for the receiving environment in Tasmania's coastal, estuarine and marine environments, and supporting information for the recommendation, is provided in the following Issue Reports within the Coastal, Estuarine and Marine Chapter:

• Water Quality in Tasmanian Estuaries
   
• Ecological Condition of Coastal, Estuarine and Marine Habitats
   
• Algal Blooms
   

What has been achieved 1998-2003

• Significant strategic and coordinated management is being achieved to protect the Derwent Estuary through the Derwent Estuary Program, established in 1999. A Management Plan was endorsed in 2001. Environmental monitoring and reporting are two of the key aspects of the Plan.
   
• There is much improved understanding of estuarine systems upon which integrated management and conservation can be based. This follows work undertaken by Edgar (et al. 1999) on the type, condition and conservation significance of Tasmania's estuaries, which identified 10 estuaries of critical conservation significance within Tasmania.
   
• The Tasmanian Aquaculture and Fisheries Institute Seamap Tasmania marine habitat mapping program is also enhancing natural resource information to support integrated management, and to identify conservation priorities. The Seamap Tasmania program produces maps showing the seabed in about nine categories of habitat type with supporting images and video. So far, the program has covered over 1,800 km, including the entire Bruny Bioregion, the Tasmanian portion of the Twofold Bioregion and part of the Freycinet Bioregion. Some limited mapping has also been conducted within the Davey Bioregion. While the maps can only provide a snapshot for this time - and therefore cannot show historical trends - they are the basis for detecting changes in the future.
   

Tasmania Together

Relevant Tasmania Together goals and standards for 'Coastal, Estuarine and Marine' 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