Features

With the protection of the Monga-Buckenbowra area in southern NSW, there is now almost a complete link from the South-East Forest National Park to Morton NP in the Southern Highlands. Some of the links between parks could be made more robust by widening narrow strips such as those between the Deua and Wadbilliga national parks and in the Brown Mountain area, west of Bega.

To the north there are large gaps between the parks. Some of this land is vegetated whilst other sections have been cleared and used for agriculture.

NPA’s approach to building the Great Dividing Range Park should include pressing the Government to acquire land with high nature conservation value for inclusion in the national park estate. There needs to be complementary action to promote nature conservation on private land, as well as our ongoing work to ensure ecologically sustainable management of other government-controlled lands such as State forests and Crown land.

Whalania Creek, Kanangra Boyd NP
Photo: Tom Sinclair

The efforts to achieve conservation on private land will involve building networks with responsible landholders and Landcare groups, and developing new approaches to off-park conservation.

The NSW Biodiversity Strategy provides some guidance in this regard. The Strategy places high emphasis on community involvement in biodiversity conservation. In relation to off-park conservation, the Strategy seeks to develop and introduce a range of opportunities and incentives to promote the conservation of biodiversity to landholders, the community and local government in both urban and rural areas. Voluntary Conservation Agreements and Farming for the Future are mentioned as existing programs which meet this objective. The Strategy states that emphasis will be given to developing incentive options that reflect the varied needs and preferences of landholders, as well as building on successful initiatives that foster partnerships with landholders.

The need for a diversity in approaches to off-park conservation will be important.

Many landholders are happy to conserve remnant vegetation and wildlife on their properties without government incentives or the need to enter into formal and legalistic voluntary conservation agreements. Examples include landholders on the Razorback Range, south-west of Sydney, who have been protecting and regenerating dry rainforest on their properties; and farmers in the Bathurst and Orange areas who have retained and managed remnant woodlands on their properties for decades.

A certification system which recognises and promotes these efforts could be part of a diverse approach to achieving landscape-scale conservation, an objective which is inherent in the Great Dividing Range Park concept.

Thought also needs to be given to the development of structures which link individual efforts to those of landcare groups, regional and State-wide conservation groups, local government, the NPWS and other State Government agencies.

The Great Dividing Range Park can be achieved. We will need to increase funding for the core acquisition budget for the NPWS; promote and support nature conservation on private land; influence local government planning; and work with local and regional communities and our colleagues in the conservation movement for it to become a reality.