WetlandCare Australia -Projects Archive
Crown Land Conservation Partnerships
The WetlandCare Australia project, Crown Land Conservation Partnership, was funded by the NSW Government through the Natural Resources Advisory Council and operated throughout 2009. The project assessed Crown land grazing licence tenures, provided information to licensees in the Clarence catchment, and developed options to improve their environmental management. Other project partners were the Land and Property Management Authority, Department of Investment and Industry, and Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority.
Property assessment research
WetlandCare Australia completed field assessments of 10 grazing licence tenures in the Clarence catchment and would like to thank all licensees who assisted. The aim was to investigate land management practices and environmental management issues on-site. These sites complement further sites assessed by the Department of Industry and Investment. The findings include:
- Most properties are very well managed and a few are managed reasonably well
- 10% of properties assessed were poorly managed
- Some properties had problems that originate upstream or off-site (eg sediment and erosion problems)
- Some properties have very difficult problems, for example severe weed outbreaks in difficult locations such as on steep, forested, riparian banks
- Most properties would benefit from extra help to improve management
- Some properties have sensitive environments (eg creeks) that cannot be easily fenced for stock control as a result of terrain or flood damage risk
- Improved management practices that better protect endangered ecological communities, waterways, wetlands, riparian areas, and other sensitive environments may be costly to implement on some properties
Grazing licences research
The research involved a desktop review of existing licence conditions and options to improve them, and a site assessment of property management practices. Some findings of the research include:
- The existing licence conditions on most grazing tenures were developed many decades ago, and some do not reflect current standards of land management
- Some existing licence conditions are rather vague and difficult to interpret accurately
- 70% of properties comply with their licence conditions and 30% of properties are probably not fully compliant
- Some environmental issues are not addressed by existing licence conditions
- New licence conditions that better protect sensitive natural environments may be expensive to comply with in some situations (eg stock control fencing in difficult terrain; off-creek watering)
- Licence conditions would best be compiled to suit the needs of each property, however this is probably not practical at the present time
- Many licence conditions would be easier to understand if they were re-worded to remove ambiguities and so the intent of the condition was clearer
Assistance for licensees
Land owners have generally been able to obtain funding help to improve environmental management through not-for-profit organisations, government agencies, and the Northern Rivers Catchment Management Authority (NRCMA). Many, but not all, of the funding programs now require the landowner to enter into a maintenance contract or landowner management agreement to ensure the promised environmental gains are delivered for a specified period of time.
Many of these "incentive" programs have been difficult to apply to Crown land grazing licences, and so we examined options to increase the participation of licensees. Some solutions appear feasible, and as a result we are seeking funding so that Crown land licensees may obtain more assistance to improve land management practices that also benefit the environment. Obvious examples include for � weed control, feral animal control, stock control fencing, off-creek watering. Where possible, we will also seek to introduce improved licence conditions linked to this funding assistance, so that participating licensees can more easily make the transition.
The proposed new licence conditions generally reflect the current management practices of the majority of licensees, and are not intended as an unnecessary burden. Most reflect existing legislation (eg to protect endangered ecological communities), or current best practices (eg weed control and maintenance, controlled grazing or stock exclusion on sensitive environments such as waterways, riparian strips, and wetlands). Only a small number of licensees are expected to need to change their existing management practices as a result of new conditions. In addition, the proposed new conditions remove ambiguities in the wording of the earlier conditions while retaining and clarifying the intent of the condition.
Best Practice fact sheets developed for licensees are available from WetlandCare Australia:
- Livestock and waterways
- Riparian vegetation management
- Aquatic weed control
- Pest control
- Coastal floodplain wetland management
For more information, download the Newsletters which were distributed to landholders as part of the project;
Crown Lands Conservation Partnerships formed - January 2009
WetlandCare Australia (WCA), Department of Lands (DoL), Northern Rivers CMA (NRCMA), and Department of Primary Industries (DPI), are working together on a pilot program in the Clarence Catchment to identify and map the intersection of crown land grazing licences with priority wetland and key fish habitat areas. The Clarence catchment has a great diversity of vegetation types and wildlife habitats, as well as being home to many rare and threatened species.
Targeted licences are those that contain at least one of: Endangered Ecological Communities (wetlands), priority wetlands (from the NRCMA wetland database), SEPP 14 coastal wetlands, key fish habitats (such as mangroves, seagrasses, habitat of threatened fish species protected under the NSW Fisheries Management Act 1994), and wetlands (including rivers and creeks) adjoining identified HCV vegetation.
The program will improve the overall conservation outcomes of lands subject to grazing licenses by:
- Reviewing and updating the current grazing license conditions in light of the latest best management practice information.
- Provision of best practice management guidelines to licensees. These will cover weed control, stock control, feral animal control and wetland and waterway management.
- Provision of a biannual newsletter that provides up to date information on natural resource management issues
- Securing long term conservation agreements on crown lands such as Incentive Property Vegetation Plans
The license review process is underway along with the dissemination of the best practice management guidelines and newsletter. The project is due for completion in August of this year. A seminar will be conducted upon completion which will discuss the achievements, methods and outcomes with which to inform future projects of this nature.
This project has been funded by the Natural Resources Advisory Council, an integrated stakeholder advisory council that was established in NSW in 2004 in order to provide advice to Government on sustainable natural resource management.
For more information on this project please contact Adam Gosling, WetlandCare Australia on (02) 66816 169.
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Photo: Licence holder at Lower Southgate tours property with project officers from DoL and DPI (Adam Gosling) |
Photo: Grazing license wetland adjacent to Everlasting Swamp State Conservation Area (Adam Gosling) |
Project Partners:
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