More than 1.9 million hectares of land added to WA's conservation estate

22/11/99
More than 1.9 million hectares of freehold and pastoral lease land has been added to Western Australia's conservation estate in the last 18 months under a partnership between the State and Federal Governments.
Western Australian Environment Minister Cheryl Edwardes and Federal Environment Minister Robert Hill today announced that 1,987,533ha of freehold and pastoral lease land had been purchased with State and Commonwealth funds for additions to the State's conservation estate.
The land acquisitions were partly funded under the Federal Government's National Reserve System Program, one of the programs established under the Natural Heritage Trust. The goal of the National Reserve System Program (NRSP) is to establish a comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR) conservation reserve system for Australia.
Mrs Edwardes said the focus of the NRSP in WA was the purchase of properties of high biodiveristy value that were not currently in conservation areas and the protection of these areas in the national reserve system.
"Under the CAR system of reserves, a significant proportion of the landscape or region needs to be included to ensure the conservation and protection of native fauna and flora specific to the region," she said.
"While this has been the case in much of the south-west of the State, large parts of the rest of the WA are relatively poor in their reserve coverage.

"Of the 1.9 million hectares added to the system in the last 18 months, 1.5 million is in the 34 million-hectare Gascoyne Murchison region - more than doubling the representation of this region from three per cent to over six per cent," Mrs Edwardes said.
"This has added 39 vegetation types to the reserve system, of which 19 are unrepresented and 16 poorly represented."
Mr Hill said that up to two thirds of the funding for these land acquisitions was provided under the National Reserve System Program of the Natural Heritage Trust, with funding in some cases matched by the State on a dollar-for-dollar basis.
"The NRSP is one of the Natural Heritage Trust programs that has been created to support and deliver environmental management of the nation's diverse ecosystems and landscapes," he said.
"Over $3 million in National Reserve System Program funding has been granted to the WA Government since July 1997, to purchase the necessary additions to the State's conservation estate.
"The funding is part of the Federal Government's commitment of more than $30 million to natural resource management in WA through the NHT in 1999-2000.
"It has addressed the conservation of WA's natural heritage in a more positive and integrated way and ensured the NHT goal of achieving a balance between biodiversity conservation and sustainable agriculture."
Mrs Edwardes said the State Government had contributed around $1.8 million, through the Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM), in funding for the land purchases.
"Funding support for many of the pastoral lease purchases in the State's Mid-West was provided by the State through funds allocated to CALM under the Gascoyne-Murchison Strategy."
Mrs Edwardes said a key part of the NRSP was the involvement and co-operation of landholders and indigenous people.
"The NRSP has been structured to also provide incentives for indigenous people to get involved through voluntary declaration of protected areas on their land and support for greater involvement by them in the management of existing statutory protected areas," she said.
In addition to the Gascoyne Murchison purchases, other conservation land acquisitions were made in the South-West, Swan Coastal Plain, Pilbara, Avon and Wheatbelt regions.
This included parcels of land supporting threatened ecological communities and endangered flora and fauna. Some purchases were situated next to existing conservation reserves and will increase the viability of these important areas. Purchases in agricultural areas will contribute to the State Salinity Action Plan by permanently protecting important remnant vegetation.
Areas purchased for conservation will be reserved either as national park, conservation park or nature reserve and will managed by CALM.
Land acquisitions in the last 18 months include:

• Sussex Location 5114 , Busselton 12.5ha;
• Melbourne Location 4168, Moora 160ha;
• Swan Location 12987, Gingin 75.4ha;
• Meentheena Pastoral Lease, East Pilbara 225 700ha;
• Part Williams Location 15435, Lake Grace 726ha;
• Avon Location 29252, Nungarin 400ha;
• Part Barnong Pastoral Lease, Mullewa 22,482ha;
• Part Swan Location 1371, Lot 24, Chittering 163.5ha;
• Swan Location 2585, Gingin 64.7ha;
• Sussex Location 5259, Busselton 24ha;
• Mt Minnie Pastoral Lease, Ashburton 110,921ha;
• Part Nanutarra Pastoral Lease, Ashburton 68,250ha;
• Pimbee Pastoral Lease, Gascoyne/Carnarvon 99,620ha;
• Muggon Pastoral Lease, Murchison 182,743ha;
• Earaheedy Pastoral Lease, Wiluna 321,500ha;
• Mooloogool Pastoral Lease, Meekathara 402,467ha;
• Waldburg Pastoral Lease, Gascoyne 246,830ha;
• Part Avon Location 23456, Kondinin 535ha;
• Additions to Kennedy Range NP 89,733ha;
• Part Dalgety Downs Pastoral lease 100,608ha; and -
• Part Mt Phillip Pastoral Lease 114,000ha.

Media contact: WA Environment Minister - Carole Cowling on 9421 7777