A River Runs Through It - Waternet · A River Runs Through It So m et i m es. Australia’s natural...
Transcript of A River Runs Through It - Waternet · A River Runs Through It So m et i m es. Australia’s natural...
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Protected Areas and freshwater conservation:lessons from Australia
Dr Stuart BlanchFreshwater Manager
Skukuza, October 2006
A River Runs Through ItSometimes
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Australia’s natural water infrastructure assets
3 M km rivers & creeks
16 M ha nationally important wetlands
1,560 estuaries
??? ha floodplains
But Australia has no national policy framework or targets for protecting high conservation value rivers, wetlands and estuaries…
64 Ramsar Wetlands
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How do Protected Areas fit in the freshwater conservation jigsaw?
Australian Heritage Rivers System*
Pollution& water quality lawsThreatened spp.
& communities,
threatening
processes
Shorebird
Netw
orkMarine Parks,
Aquatic
Reserves*
Waterways
Native
vegetation
managemen
Wetland
protection
Policies*
Estuary Management
Indigenous
Protected
Areas
Fish habitat protection,
fish passage, weir removal
National Reserve
System
Ramsar
wetlands
Natural Resource Management Program
Wild / heritage
river protection*
Development
assessment
& control
Land use
zoning
Heritage Rivers*(on NationalHeritage List)
Nationally
important
wetlandsNational Water Initiative
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KeyNational Park, Nature Res.
Wilderness Area
Indigenous Protected Area
Water supply catchment
Aquatic reserve
Wild / Heritage riverRamsar wetland overpublic & private landNationally important wetland
Vacant Crown Land
Protected forestry area
Conservation agreement
Threatened ecological community
Shorebird Network site
Accredited Property Plan
Wetland
Dam
Catchment planning &riparian zone repair
Catchment boundary
Marine Protected Area
Land use zoning &wetland protection policies
Town
Factories
GrazingCropping
Biosphere Reserve
Forest
Land clearing laws
Environmental flows
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Local
Scale of Conservation Significance
International
Australia
State / Territory
Regional
Incr
easi
ng
Retu
rns
on in
vest
men
t in
prot
ectio
n
Decr
easi
ng
Num
ber a
nd a
rea
of a
quat
ic e
cosy
stem
s
Australian, State and Territory Governments
State & Territory Governments
Lead Coordination Role2
NRM Groups and Local Government
NationalConservation Value1
High
High
High
Medium
Low
National Heritage Place*
Conservation and property agreements
Aquatic reserves*
Trans-boundary watercourse agreement
Land use zoning
Marine Protected Areas (estuarine section)
Wilderness Area
Biosphere Reserve
Indigenous Protected Area
Development assessment & control
Local government reserves
Threatened species and ecological community listing
Power boat restrictions
Leasehold land management
Forestry reserves, codes of practice
Community education & awareness raising
Riparian zone fencing and management
World Heritage
Ramsar Wetlands
Australian Heritage River System*
Wild / Heritage / Living River designation under State laws*
Wetland protection policies
National Parks
Water & Vegetation Management Plans
Natural Resource Management Plans
Rate and tax rebates for farmersCommunity education and public awareness
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Proposed Australian targets
Protect 80%* of nationally important wetlands in protected areas (now 55% of 16 M ha)
Of the 3 M km of rivers & creeks, protect 15%* inWild / Heritage / Living River laws (now 6.0% by length & 4.5% by area)Protected Areas (now 7.2%)
Protect all HCV aquatic ecosystems by 2010International, Australian and State conservation significance
Designate 100* Ramsar wetlands (now 65 of total 860 wetlands of national importance)
* thru comprehensive & representative representation in aquatic bioregions
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Key stats• 1 M km of rivers & creeks (100 licensed dams & weirs) • 65% of Australia’s freshwater (c. 78, 000 Gl, 50 Gl extracted)• 91 catchments covering 2 M km2 (< c. 2% cleared)
• c. 5% in PAs, 25% Indigenous, 55% leasehold• 1.9 M km2 of tropical savannas (area of W + S Europe)
• Most diverse, rich & intact rivers in Australia (>200 spp fish)
Major riverBoundary of tropical savannas
Legend
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Protected Areas and Indigenous Land
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59 catchmentsto date…
Wild and Living Rivers in Northern Australia
QueenslandNorthern TerritoryWestern Australia
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Victorian Heritage Rivers and Natural Catchment Areas
Natural Catchments
Heritage Rivers
Public Land
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Recommendations #1
Protected Areas for freshwater conservation should• Explicitly apply comprehensiveness, adequacy & representativeness
criteria to freshwater habitats• Catchments, river reaches, wetlands, floodplains, GDEs, estuaries
• Seek to form a contiguous network along whole length of a river• IUCN Categories I-VI• In association with, and strengthen, non-PA freshwater conservation
• Protect whole free-flowing catchments & sub-catchments if possible• Protect downstream wetlands & estuaries as leverage to drive IRBM
along whole river, with other recognition if possible• Ramsar wetlands, Shorebird sites
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Recommendations #2• Develop aquatic ecosystem asset registers per basin
• IRBM to recognise & conserve PAs, such as • CBD PoW Inland Waters Goal 1.2• EU Water Framework Directive linking to Natura 2000 sites (Art. 6) • Australia’s National Water Initiative, Living Murray Initiative’s 6 ‘Signif. Ecol Assets’
• Assess conservation value (global, regional, national, aquatic bioregion)• Develop FPA toolkit and decision support systems, aquatic bioregions
• Freshwater conservation targets• wetland area & river length within PAs & designated free-flowing rivers
• Global free-flowing river conservation framework• Develop global register of free-flowing rivers, explicit link to PAs• via CBD PoW Inland Waters, Ramsar, Watercourses Convention?• eg, US, Canada, Australia, EU Natura 2000 wild rivers, etc
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Thank you
Modified from image © Andrew Rowland and Dean Thorburn. Used with permission