Australia's National Reserve System (NRS) is a network of more than 10,000 Commonwealth plus state and territory protected areas which, in combination, on a

nation A nation is a community of people formed on the basis of a combination of shared features such as language, history, ethnicity, culture and/or society. A nation is thus the collective Identity (social science), identity of a group of people unde ...

al scale, protect more than , greater than 17% of the

continent A continent is any of several large landmasses. Generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, up to seven geographical regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas t ...

, of unique

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

and most significant ecological landscapes for

future generations Future generations are cohorts of hypothetical people not yet born. Future generations are contrasted with current and past generations, and evoked in order to encourage thinking about intergenerational equity. The moral patienthood of future g ...

.Australian Government Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts "Caring for Our Country: National Reserve System" webpage
Accessed 2 June 2010 The aim of the NRS is protect the diversity of all native landscapes,

flora Flora is all the plant life present in a particular region or time, generally the naturally occurring (indigenous (ecology), indigenous) native plant, native plants. Sometimes bacteria and fungi are also referred to as flora, as in the terms '' ...

and

fauna Fauna is all of the animal life present in a particular region or time. The corresponding term for plants is ''flora'', and for fungi, it is ''funga''. Flora, fauna, funga and other forms of life are collectively referred to as ''Biota (ecology ...

across Australia through strategic

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

protection. It consists of public, indigenous and privately protected areas of land and inland freshwaters. As part of the National Reserve System Cooperative Program, the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia framework was developed as a planning tool to assist in identifying areas of priority.

Protected areas on private lands

Privately protected areas consist of privately owned areas where owners have entered into "in perpetuity" covenants which are governed by the various legislative Act of the states, territories and commonwealth of Australia. Consequent to these laws, states, territories and commonwealth maintain registers of the lands and their covenants. See for example the NSW register.NSW Public register of private land conservation agreements

History

The move by the Australian Government to establish this National Reserve System was triggered by the international

Convention on Biological Diversity The Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), known informally as the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity); the sustainable use of its ...

, as part of the nation's commitment to fulfilling the objectives of that convention.Australian Government Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts "Caring for Our Country: History of the National Reserve System" webpage
Accessed 2 June 2010 In particular, after signing and ratifying the convention in 1992 the then Prime Minister, Paul Keating, announced Within the first 4 years (1992–1996) $11.2 million was spent establishing the system and, with the cooperation and agreement of the Australian States and territories 5,600 properties (covering almost ) were included within the system and a new

Indigenous Protected Area An Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) is a class of protected area used in Australia; each is formed by voluntary agreement with Indigenous Australians, and declared by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander representative organisations ...

(IPA) program was initiated to include some of the most valuable and rare ecological landscapes on Indigenous Australian owned lands. 17 Indigenous Protected Area were declared by 2003 which significantly added to the NRS. Within the next 10 years (1996–2007), with further substantial investment (through a National Heritage Trust) an additional were added to the National Reserve System, two thirds of which were Indigenous Protected Areas. During this time, starting in 1999,

Tasmania ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

took a lead investing in partnerships to create protected areas on other private lands; and by 2005 all the states and territories re-affirmed their joint commitment to what was to be described as a national 'flagship in biodiversity conservation'. The National Reserve System continues to be an Australian Government priority, with continuing funding "target ngareas with low levels of protection, including the sub-tropical savanna from Cape York to the Kimberley, the

Mitchell grass ''Astrebla'' is a small genus of xerophytic (adapted to survive in an environment with little liquid water) grasses found only in Australia. They are the dominant grass across much of the continent. They are commonly known as Mitchell grass aft ...

country of north-west Queensland and arid central Australia; continuing investment in indigenous protected areas; plus a new National Reserve System strategy identifying priorities and actions to be taken over the next 20 years.Australian Government Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts "Caring for Our Country: Strategy for Australia's National Reserve System 2009-2030" webpage
Accessed 2 June 2010

Appraisal

The NRS has been praised by the WWF Australia as a successful, cost-effective conservation measure. CSIRO modelling has concluded that the NRS will be an important conservation tool to combat the effects of climate change in Australia on the environment.

References

{{Australia topics Protected areas of Australia

Protected areas on private lands

History

Appraisal

See also

References