Purchase of Goldfields pastoral lease boosts sandalwood conservation

23/2/95

Western Australia's sandalwood conservation and research effort has been boosted with the purchase of a 100,000-hectare Goldfields pastoral lease.

Environment Minister Peter Foss said the Department of Conservation and Land Management had bought the Goongarrie lease, 90km north of Kalgoorlie-Boulder, under the Sandalwood Conservation and Regeneration Project.

The lease had very high conservation value, straddling an area which reflected the transition zone from eucalypt-dominated woodlands of the Southern Goldfields to the mulga of the Northern Goldfields.

Mr Foss said the lease also had quality stands of sandalwood which offered opportunities for regeneration work, research, enhanced natural regeneration and managed sustainable harvesting.

The lease adjoined the Goongarrie National Park and would be managed for multiple uses, including nature and sandalwood conservation, tourism and recreation.

The property was purchased for $200,000.

Mr Foss announced the move when he released the Goldfields Regional Management Plan in Kalgoorlie-Boulder today.

The region to be covered takes in 760,000 square km - almost 30 per cent of WA's total area - and includes the shires of Coolgardie, Leonora, Laverton, Wiluna, Menzies, Ngaanyatjarraku and the city of Kalgoorlie-Boulder.

The plan covers a variety of issues including the conservation reserve system, flora and fauna management, recreation and tourism, timber production, environmental protection, mining on reserves and community involvement.

"The plan reflects an integrated approach to the region rather than looking at specific issues in isolation," Mr Foss said.

A major recommendation of the plan is the increase of the regions conservation estate from seven million hectares to 10.6 million ha. The increase would include 11 new conservation areas and extensions to existing parks and reserves.

"The rationale for further reserves and extensions is to ensure the biological diversity of the region will be well represented in the conservation reserve system," Mr Foss said.

"This particularly applies to mulga woodlands, shrublands and claypans on the Nullarbor and Goldfields greenstone hills.  All these have been identified as potentially threatened communities with the regional plan creating a framework for their protection."

Mr Foss said that an important feature of the plan was the recommendation that Aboriginal communities in the Gibson and Great Victoria deserts had a more meaningful role in land management in surrounding nature reserves.

The plan also outlined strategies to integrate conservation initiatives in the reserve system with other lands in the region, particularly areas used for mining and pastoral pursuits.

Mr Foss said the plan had been prepared by CALM on behalf of the National Parks and Nature Conservation Agency and the Lands and Forest Commission, involving a two-year public consultation period.

Media contact: Stacey Molloy 321 2222 or 222 9595