Biodiversity – National Parks Association of NSW

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.

Biodiversity Offsets

Posted by NPA NSWon November 30, 2021in Summer 2021Leave a comment

Rachel Fitzhardinge, Convenor Park Management Committee

NPA recently made a statement to the Legislative Council Inquiry into Biodiversity Offsets. Rachel reviews the background and key points in NPA’s position.

The bits that didn’t burn -NSW’s unburnt parks as biodiversity arks

Posted by NPA NSWon February 28, 2020February 26, 2020in Autumn 2020, Campaigns and ConservationLeave a comment

Gary Dunnett, Executive Officer, National Parks Association of NSW

Fire has played a central role in human history, an essential part of the tool kit that enabled a naked ape to spread across the globe. We are all linked by our individual experiences of fire, from an infant’s wonder to the shared pleasure of sitting around a campfire. Fire has influenced human history far beyond our individual experiences. In Australia, more so than anywhere else in the world, fire has shaped the landscape, vegetation communities and species. The arrival of humanity on this continent coincided with a sharp increase in fire frequency and a broad trend towards more fire tolerant vegetation types.

Vegetation Mapping in NSW

Posted by NPA NSWon March 1, 2018February 27, 2018in Autumn 2018, UncategorizedLeave a comment

A description of two NSW state-wide vegetation maps and comments on their relevance to biodiversity assessment

^{Dr John Benson, Ecologist and member of National Parks Association of NSW}

The recent comment on biodiversity decline in New South Wales canvassed that unreliable vegetation mapping could compound deficiencies in recently enacted biodiversity regulations. After the change of government in New South Wales in 2011, it appears a decision was made for NSW to adopt maps in biodiversity regulations replacing previous on-ground site assessment and property planning. This transition to maps raises challenges because unlike a google street map, vegetation maps contain errors leading to significant uncertainty in site-based land-use decisions.

Read More “Vegetation Mapping in NSW”

Biodiversity is threatened in New South Wales

Posted by NPA NSWon December 1, 2017November 27, 2017in Summer 2017Leave a comment

^{Dr John Benson}

This article was published online on 19 September 2017 in the blog Pearls and Irritations

The New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) was the first of its type in Australia. Established by a Liberal government, its lyrebird emblem became world-renowned. But the Service is not valued by the present Government and now faces grave uncertainty.

Protecting NSW’s ‘Biodiversity Highway’

Posted by NPA NSWon September 1, 2017September 1, 2017in Spring 2017Leave a comment

^{Catherine Merchant, member of National Parks Association of NSW}

The controlled movement of stock across Australia via a “veritable maze”[1] of public stock routes is a uniquely Australian phenomenon. This “maze” is particularly evident in NSW where some droving continues. What remains of the Travelling Stock Routes and Reserves network (TSR network) in NSW[2] is a valuable public asset that must be preserved. Its enduring protection has been an important aspect of NPA’s 60 years of conservation advocacy work.