National Parks Policy

Principles

1. Current National Parks (NP) and Nature Reserves (NR) are precious environmental jewels, as intact natural resources, but they do not protect the full range of biological diversity and natural heritage.
2. Major additions are required to the parks system if the network of protected areas is to achieve the survival of significant components of the State's natural heritage and bio-diversity. Current land management practices are destroying large tracts of native vegetation and associated habitats for native fauna.
3. A comprehensive conservation assessment process is required to identify all areas which would require reservation and protection in order to meet the objective of a 'comprehensive, adequate and representative' reserve system. Such an assessment must employ proper consultation with Indigenous Australians and other key stakeholders, public participation and scientifically valid and publicly accepted methodologies.
4. The management of our protected areas is often confused due to the failure to recognise and resolve competing interests for nature conservation, heritage of Indigenous Australians, historic heritage and recreation and tourism. The NPWS should focus its attention on its principal role as a nature conservation agency which will have elements of heritage of Indigenous Australians and historic heritage as well as recreational/tourist opportunities.
   
   

   Goals

   The Greens NSW support:
5. Recognition of the rights of Indigenous Australians and their unique role in developing appropriate management systems for National Parks;
6. A major overhaul of the National Parks and Wildlife Act to relinquish the care, control and management of Aboriginal cultural sites and items to the custodians and communities of Indigenous Australians;
7. The establishment of a proper system of Aboriginal protected areas transferred to Indigenous Australians where traditional use is demonstrated and their separate administration and funding through the Minister for the Environment;
8. Increased public participation in the decision-making processes involved in national parks estate management;
9. Increased funding for the acquisition and management of new national parks estate;
10. Expansion of the resourcing, personnel and expertise of the NPWS, so that it becomes the primary conservation body across all landscapes and land tenures throughout NSW;
11. The establishment of a separate Regional Parks Authority under the Minister for the Environment to identify, establish, and have care, control and management of regional parks across the State focused on recreation and tourism in a natural setting;
12. Reversal of the trend towards commercialisation of the NPWS;
13. The consolidation of the protection and management of our historic heritage, including historic sites within the Environment portfolio;
14. The introduction of meaningful incentives to encourage Voluntary Conservation Agreements on private land;
15. All national parks having an identified and maintained buffer zone; and
16. Consideration being given when assessing new national parks to:
• 16.1 Minimum size based on ecological viability
• 16.2 Location in terms of links with, and wildlife corridors associated with, with other national parks.
  
  

  Detail

  The Greens NSW will work towards:
17. Securing the creation of a greatly expanded system of protected areas over public and private lands which is comprehensive, adequate & representative such that it is capable of ensuring the long-term protection and conservation of the State's biological diversity and natural heritage, and maintaining the ecological unit in perpetuity;
18. Guaranteeing adequate funding, through the NSW Treasury Consolidated Fund, for the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) so that it can meet its current responsibilities and an expanded role as the primary conservation agency across all landscapes and land tenures throughout NSW;
19. Ensuring effective management and accountability in the spending of the NSW NPWS budget;
20. Preventing the further commercialisation of the national parks estate, especially the granting of additional 'concessions' or 'inholdings' within the national parks estate;
21. The prevention of grazing, horses, bee keeping, logging and mining within national parks estate and restrict vehicles to designated roads only;
22. Legislation which provides for the public nomination of national park estate proposals, and a public and transparent assessment process for proposals by NPWS, consistent with similar provisions in the Wilderness Act 1987;
23. Having areas of national park assessed for National Estate and World Heritage values and, where appropriate, nominated;
24. Amending the NPW Act to remove the responsibilities for the cultural heritage of Indigenous Australians from the NPWS and facilitating greater participation by Indigenous Australians in overall park management;
25. Drafting, in consultation with Aboriginal people and other relevant experts and stakeholders, a Bill, including an adequate budget, for Aboriginal cultural heritage protection and management, to be undertaken by appropriate Aboriginal people and/or groups;
26. Ongoing biological surveys of the entire State of NSW to enable better protection of ecosystems and to integrate and not duplicate other studies;
27. Amending existing marine park legislation, to include the protection of all marine organisms within protected areas and administered solely by the NPWS;
28. Banning mining under national parks;
29. Adequate funding for NPWS for weed and feral animal control;
30. Lower-impact, natural management controls and a move away from dependence on chemical pest control and burning;
31. Ensuring that management advisory committees include adequate representation from environment groups;
32. Removing all deer, horses and other non-indigenous vertebrate pests from national parks estate;
33. The identification systematically across all bioregions and all tenures of reserve priorities based on the existing representation of conservation values in the reserve system and levels of threat;
34. The immediate reservation of the public lands of the highest conservation value areas identified by this process;
35. Adequate funding for a voluntary acquisition program to purchase private lands of the highest conservation value and support for Voluntary Conservation Agreements over those lands, where purchase is not possible;
36. The immediate reservation of the following areas of public land as national parks estate:
• 36.1 Western NSW: Areas identified by the Western Conservation Alliance in the Brigalow Belt South and surrounds, especially Goonoo, Bebo and Pilliga as well as Terrie Hie Hie, Biddon, Leard, Trinkey, Warialda, Severn and the Monkey Scrub forests, River Red Gum NPs, Cobar Peneplain NPs, Black Andrew NR, Nombinnie and Yathong additions
• 36.2 Coastal Forests: Whian Whian, Wollumbin, Chaelundi, Butterleaf, Bungawalbyn, Pine Creek, Sherwood, Little Wonder, Queens Lake, Tuggolo, Sheas Nob, Myall River, Copeland Tops, Black Bulga Range and Jilliby in the north-east. Upper Deua, Badja and the completion of the Community Reserve Proposals in the south-east
• 36.3 The forests that comprise the Brisbane-Melbourne Conservation Link with forest corridors to the coast to include all remaining areas of unprotected old growth forest and wilderness on public land
• 36.4 Areas identified as wilderness in north-east and south-east NSW, and in particular the Pilliga, BeBo, Mt Kaputar additions, Cataract, Timbarra, Yengo, Tabletop, Brindabella and two core areas of the Deua - Central Deua and Donalds Creek, Big Dubbo Hill in the Tumut Region, Giro, Carracabundi, Murruin and Tantawangalo
• 36.5 Coastal areas: Warrell Ck, East Ballina, Dunbogan and Old Bar/ Farquhar’s Inlet NR proposals and additions to Broken Head and Darawank NRs; additions to the Yuragir, Myall Lakes and Seven Mile Beach, NPs. Connect Wallarah Peninsula with Munmorah SRA
• 36.6 Sydney surrounds: ADI Woodlands St Marys, O’Hares Creek NP, additions to Agnes Banks, Muogamarra, Marangaroo NRs, Crescent Reach NR, Calangara NR, Bargo River Reserve, Wheeler Creek NR, additions to Garigal, Yengo, Blue Mountains (north-western), and Heathcote NPs, Conservation covenants over natural areas on University Campuses (UWS Hawkesbury and Macquarie Uni Lane Cove Valley)and Gardens of Stone proposed NP
• 36.7 Catchment protection areas: Sydney (eg Woronora and Metropolitan) Hunter Water (eg Tomago sandbeds) Central Coast catchment (Watagan mountains), Ballina/Lismore/Byron Bay (Whian Whian forest) and the Clyde River and its catchments
• 36.8 Marine Parks: Cook Is., Smokey Cape, Curracurrong, Broulee Is., Towra Point and Montague Is., with 20% of all habitat types to be protected in marine sanctuary areas within all marine parks (including Cape Byron and Lord Howe Is.)
• 36.9 Intertidal zones: all intertidal areas adjoining protected coastal lands and
• 36.10 Wetlands: Tweed Estuary NR, Colungra NR proposals, Wingecarribee Swamp.