Freshwater Protected Area Resourcbook

Appendix 10. Tasmania:
Conservation of Freshwater Ecosystem Values Project

Jessemy Long

Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment, Tasmania

July 30, 2003.
The Conservation of Freshwater Ecosystem Values (CFEV) Project has been initiated by the Tasmanian Government as part of the Water Development Plan for Tasmania. The Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment (DPIWE) is responsible for the Plan. The development and implementation of a strategic framework for the management and conservation of the State’s streams, waterways, and wetlands is identified as an integral part of the Water Development Plan.
The project will consider in its scope the following ecosystem types: rivers, lakes and wetlands, saltmarshes, estuaries, and groundwater dependent ecosystems.
The project aims to develop a Freshwater Conservation System for Tasmania, based on the reserve-design principles of comprehensive, adequate and representative protection (CAR Principles), in order to achieve the following outcomes:

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  a coordinated system for the recognition and conservation of freshwater ecosystem values that can be used for water management planning;
  
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  increased conservation of high priority freshwater ecosystem values in areas under both Crown control and private land;
  
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  increased confidence on behalf of government, industry and the community that high priority freshwater ecosystem values are appropriately considered in the development and management of the State’s water resources; and
  
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  increased ability for Tasmania to meet national obligations for protection of freshwater ecosystems.
  

Primary goal

The project aims to develop a Freshwater Conservation System for Tasmania that will:

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  identify areas of significant conservation value and prioritise the implementation of their protection through a range of management tools;
  
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  promote an active conservation ethic within the full range of management mechanisms for the State's freshwater dependent ecosystems;
  
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  provide a strategic framework for the conservation of freshwater dependent values that integrates with existing planning and regulatory instruments (eg water management and NRM planning);
  
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  recommend a range of management tools to conserve a full range of natural aquatic plant and animal species, physical features and ecological processes; and
  
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  be utilised by Tasmania's water management decision-making bodies to enable future water developments to proceed with confidence that significant freshwater values are not being degraded.
  

(Ref: DPIWE website 16/9/03)
Currently protected areas occupy 40% of the land area of Tasmania. The extent that management of existing protected areas conserves Tasmania’s freshwater ecosystem values is not well understood. High priority freshwater ecosystem values also occur outside existing protected areas and on private lands. While the design of the project’s Freshwater Conservation System will be based on CAR Principles, the establishment of reserves will only be one management component of conservation. Implementation of the Freshwater Conservation System will be achieved using a full range of management prescriptions on both Crown and private land. This includes, for example, the integration with existing planning and regulatory instruments such as water management and natural resource management (NRM) planning; the creation of formal reserves; and the negotiation of voluntary conservation agreements with private landowners through covenanting of titles.
The conservation of freshwater dependent ecosystem values will require consideration of local activities, upstream activities and catchment management. An analysis of threats will identify the appropriate scale and type of management required for the protection of individual and grouped freshwater dependent ecosystem values.
The CFEV Project commenced in late 2002 and has received funding from both the State Government and the Commonwealth through the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality. This funding will enable the project to:

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  undertake a statewide audit of freshwater dependent values through the development of a GIS database;
  
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  to identify areas of significant conservation value; and
  
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  to recommend appropriate management tools.
  

Implementation is expected to commence in mid-2004. Further funding will need to be sought post-2004 to enable full-scale implementation, in particular, the continuation of the negotiation of voluntary conservation agreements with private landowners, as this will be the most resource-consuming form of implementation.

Additional goals

The development of a Freshwater Conservation System is guided by a series of environmental, social and economic goals, which include:

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  to provide a Freshwater Conservation System that takes into account a broad spectrum of activities, including recreation, tourism and the use of resources;
  
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  to protect threatened, rare or endangered species, ecological communities, and the habitats critical for their survival;
  
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  to provide for special biological and physical values;
  
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  to protect areas of special significance including:
  1. High species diversity;
  2. Natural refugia for flora and fauna;
  3. Centres of endemism;
  4. Geomorphic diversity; and
  
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  to facilitate the restoration of degraded ecosystems of high conservation value.
  

(Ref: DPIWE website 16/9/03)
There are three phases in the establishment of a Freshwater Conservation System for Tasmania: Identification, Selection and Implementation. The project is currently progressing along the first phase.
Identification will largely involve the statewide audit of freshwater dependent values and the establishment of a GIS database. This includes the development of a robust scientific classification of the State's freshwater dependent ecosystems based on information about the biology, hydrology and geomorphology. The project will be using existing environmental data where practical to undertake this classification and will undertake data modeling where sufficient data is not available. Any significant gaps in available data will be identified by the project and recommended for future inclusion.
As part of the audit, the project will then undertake the assessment of freshwater values based on the assessment criteria of Naturalness, Representativeness and Distinctiveness. These criteria were derived from Dunn (2000) and developed in consultation with the project’s Reference Group, whose membership includes scientific consultants and stakeholder representatives from Hydro Tasmania, Forestry Tasmania, Tasmania’s Farmers and Grazier’s Association, Tasmanian Conservation Trust, Tasmanian Fishing Industry Council, Tasmanian Aquaculture Council and Inland Fisheries Service. The project is currently in the process of conducting the statewide audit and in the assessment of current protection and threats to the State’s freshwater values. From this information and from the statewide audit the project can then identify appropriate protection tools and identify targets for conservation.
The second phase of Selection will involve the selection of appropriate management prescriptions for a full-range of freshwater values (from degraded to pristine systems) identified by the statewide audit, and the selection of areas of significant conservation value. The Freshwater Conservation System will therefore identify where freshwater ecosystem values exist and highlight appropriate management prescriptions for a range of values, thereby allowing future developments to proceed with confidence that significant freshwater values will not be degraded. Conservation of significant freshwater values can be achieved through different levels of protection, from joint management that recognises existing uses to formal reservation.
The final stage of Implementation will involve the development of a staged implementation strategy that prioritises the implementation of management prescriptions for areas of significant conservation value. The project will also be required to develop a process for ongoing management and review of the Freshwater Conservation System and GIS database. Representatives of key stakeholder groups will provide input into the prioritisation of implementation and have been actively involved in the design of the Freshwater Conservation Systems since the beginning of the project through their attendance at regular meetings of the project’s Reference Groups.
The project team has made a number of partnerships within the Tasmanian Government framework. For example, GIS support needed to undertake the statewide audit of freshwater ecosystem values is to be provided by the GIS & Information Management Unit (DPIWE). Technical advice from specialists, from both within and outside Government, is regularly provided to the project through their involvement in a number of Scientific Working Groups and through meetings of the project's Departmental Working Group. The project has also formed a partnership with the Protected Areas on Private Land Program (operated by the DPIWE) to assist with the negotiation of voluntary conservation agreements with private landowners. It is anticipated that implementation will also be undertaken in partnerships Tasmania’s newly created NRM Regional Committees.