In this unit students will learn about how landscapes are managed and protected by NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) and other stakeholders.

In this topic, students will:

• learn how NPWS protects landscapes

• review the principles of conservation in the National Reserve System

• explore the human and natural causes of land degradation

• understand the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples contribution to park management.

NPWS is a state government organisation that manages many large tracts of land around New South Wales (NSW). There are close to 900 national parks and reserves in NSW which is an area of over seven million hectares. That’s around nine per cent of all the land in the state!

Each year there are additions to existing parks or new parks acquired through purchase, donation or transfer. The land is acquired and reserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 but only after it has been assessed and approved. Some important factors need to be considered before any land can be added to the NSW national park estate.

These factors include:

• biodiversity value

• Aboriginal and historic cultural heritage values

• recreational value

• landscape context - whether the land is part of a larger natural area or corridor

• native vegetation, its quantity and quality

• presence of threatened species and is there significant habitat such as breeding sites

• community benefits and impacts

• presence of important landscapes and landforms

• water - catchment areas need to be protected to maintain water quality

• park management costs and benefits

Biodiversity and conservation

Conservation is a key priority for NPWS. The way national parks are assessed to become part of the National Reserve System is based on three principles of conservation.

Comprehensiveness - the amount and level of biodiversity represented. Is there a full range of ecosystems and habitats in the area?

Adequacy - refers to how much of each ecosystem should be sampled to provide ecological viability of populations, species and communities. Is the park big enough to support all the different communities?

Representativeness - each of the communities of species should be represented within the ecosystem. Is there enough of each of the individual species to breed and survive?

Legislation and enforcement

One of the important functions NPWS has is upholding legislation and enforcement of conservation laws. The National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 protects biodiversity and threatened species by giving NPWS the ability to legally enforce compliance with conservation laws.

Special conservation areas that sit within the NSW park estate are protected by pieces of legislation to keep them preserved for future generations.

That's you!

Without these laws in place there would be nothing to protect our natural areas. Therefore they could succumb to development, agricultural uses, mining, hunting or other activities that can destroy the land and its natural balance.

The following Acts provide the framework that protects our parks:

• Biodiversity and Conservation Act 2016

• Local Land Services Act 2013

• The Wilderness Act 1987

Plans of management

All individual national parks will produce a plan of management. These plans outline how NPWS will manage the land within the borders of the park as well as the biodiversity and Aboriginal cultural heritage.

Careful attention to the various pieces of legislation protecting the parks must be made throughout the process of developing these plans as they are designed to last a long time. The plans of management are used in conjunction with the fire management strategies to protect conservation areas.

These plans are large and detailed documents that are written as soon as practicable after new land is acquired and gazetted. For older, established parks they need to be updated when deemed necessary by the park planning and assessment unit. This takes into consideration, when the last plan was completed, levels of visitation, contentious issues, planned works, audits, changes in legislation etc.

Apart from management plans, plans of management contain a lot of information on the various different features of the park. Some examples include Aboriginal culture, geographical landforms, natural features, threatened species, walking tracks, historic sites, biodiversity, weeds and pests, recreational facilities such as picnic tables and more. They are first written in draft form and then made available to the public.

Members of the public like you can comment and make suggestions during this consultation phase before the plan is implemented. In this way, you can really make a difference in how the national park is managed.

Aboriginal joint management

Some areas of NSW national park estate are managed in partnership with local Aboriginal communities to ensure there is a representation by the traditional custodians of the land. NPWS is committed to collaborating with local Aboriginal groups on various issues, such as fire regimes, interpretation, pest and weed control, landform protection and more.

NPWS actively seeks input from the local Aboriginal peoples on management strategies to ensure the responsibility is shared between the government and the traditional custodians. In this way, NPWS can ensure that local Aboriginal culture is honoured and protected. It also means that the public can benefit from their experience, insight and deep knowledge of the area.

Benefits of these partnerships:

• Helps to nurture and maintain Aboriginal peoples culture and connection to Country.

• Aboriginal peoples obtain cultural, social, economic and health benefits through being involved in park management.

• Government organisations such as NPWS are able to apply Aboriginal knowledge to land management and conservation of Aboriginal values. In this way, they are better able to protect and interpret cultural heritage.

• Visitors have an enriched experience when visiting parks.

For a complete list of NSW national parks which have an Aboriginal joint management program, click here.