30by30 – National Parks Association of NSW

Falling short: can NSW meet 30by30 target for marine waters?

Posted by NPA NSWon December 7, 2023December 7, 2023in Summer 2023Leave a comment

David Booth, Professor of Marine Ecology, University of Technology, Sydney

Our report “Creating a World Class Marine Protected Area System: Getting New South Wales Back on Track” was launched in NSW Parliament last week amid bipartisan support and wide community interest. It highlighted the current science behind a marine 30 x 30 push for NSW, why no-take Sanctuaries are vital, why NSW has dropped behind, and what should be done next. You can download the Booth Report here. 

Where are we at with protected areas conservation in NSW?

Posted by NPA NSWon December 7, 2023December 7, 2023in Summer 2023Leave a comment

Danielle Ryan, Conservation Campaigner and Gary Dunnett, CEO

Back in March 2023 a new NSW Government came into office carrying a lot of expectations from the conservation movement. Labor’s election platform contained clear Protected Area commitments, notably the creation of koala-focused national parks on the mid north coast and in southwest Sydney, along with a long overdue revamp of the National Parks Establishment Plan. At a national level the Commonwealth had just signed onto the Global Biodiversity Framework including the elevated aspirations for Protected Areas under 30by30. More generally, the hope was that we would start to see serious progress on those most intractable of NSW environmental issues, the future of public native forests, bringing the disastrous rates of native vegetation clearance under control and a whole range of policies to address climate change and biodiversity loss.

Why Australia should change its Kunming-Montreal biodiversity target.

Posted by NPA NSWon December 6, 2023December 7, 2023in Summer 2023Leave a comment

Bruce Gall is a former director of the Queensland National Parks and Wildlife Service.

In 2014, during the World Parks Congress in Sydney, Greg Hunt, then environment minister, stated Australia had met its Aichi decade biodiversity target for area protected. However, a deeper dive into the data showed that Australia had failed – miserably – to meet the ‘ecosystem representativeness’ (habitat diversity) element of the target whose success minister Hunt was lauding.

Which is the more important to conserve – quantity (hectares) or quality (diversity)?

This is a crucial question as we move into the Kunming-Montreal decade. Initial results are suggesting a repeat of Aichi; a more strategic approach is needed. Read on.