Nature NSW – Page 67 – National Parks Association of NSW

Ecosystem accounting – helping make an informed decision on the future of logging

Posted by NPA NSWon December 2, 2016February 28, 2017in Summer 2016Leave a comment

^{Dr Oisín Sweeney, Senior Ecologist, National Parks Association of NSW}

A case study on the Victorian Central Highlands

Back in June, scientists and economists from the Australian National University produced a ground-breaking piece of work. They published a set of experimental ‘ecosystem accounts’ for the Central Highlands region of Victoria. NPA Senior Ecologist, Dr Oisín Sweeney, explains the relevance of this approach.

A Plan To Protect Kosciuszko’s Water Catchments

Posted by NPA NSWon December 2, 2016February 28, 2017in Featured Post, Summer 2016Leave a comment

^{Graeme L. Worboys, Adjunct Fellow, Fenner School of Society and Environment, Australian National University}

Large numbers of the Wild Horse, a farm-animal escapee, are severely impacting the water catchment wetlands of the Australian Alps, including right across Kosciuszko National Park. In 2014, 35% of the Alps wetlands had been damaged. These high mountain wetlands are the very heart of the headwater catchment sources for our mightiest rivers, the Murray, Murrumbidgee and the Snowy and regrettably they are also a preferred grazing area for these heavy stock animals. Numbers of Wild Horses have grown from about 2,000 to more than 6,000 in just 11 years and they are causing great damage to the catchments. The NSW Government, in response to these threats has launched, in May 2016, a draft Wild Horse Management Plan for consultation … a plan, amongst other things, to protect the water catchments.