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8. Reserves

Summary

Australia's protected areas are central to the conservation of biodiversity. As of June 2001, a total of 9.2% of the continent was in protected areas. Data on native ecosytems was only available for 68 of 85 bioregions and in these regions approximately 67% of the regional ecosystem diversity is protected by national parks and formal reserves (IUCN categories I - IV). An additional 5% of ecosystems occur in other protected areas that include covenants on private land (IUCN categories V - VI). Seventy-one subregions have no protected areas. These figures are a measure of the Comprehensiveness of the reserve system and demonstrate that the reserve system is incomplete or biased in terms of ecosystems reserved.

Analysis of the Comprehensiveness, Adequacy and Representativeness of protected areas and the degree of threatening processes suggests the following:

• 42 bioregions are of high priority to consolidate Australia's protected area system;
• 20 bioregions are of intermediate priority; and
• 23 bioregions are of lower priority.

The high priorities are predominantly more fertile lands, particularly in the semi-arid woodland, shrubland and grassland regions of Australia. At an ecosystem scale, 1500 ecosystems have been specifically identified as a priority for reservation.

The standard of protected area management is classed as fair for 53% of the 57 bioregions assessed. Whilst improved management is needed, there is not irretrievable resource degradation occurring in most protected areas. Systematic ecological monitoring of protected areas should be a component of enhanced management to improve management standards.

The status of biodiversity and extent of threatening processes detailed elsewhere in this report (particularly the large number of terrestrial ecosystems regarded as being threatened and the 57 subregions with less than 30% remnant vegetation) implies that there is an urgent need to implement a strategic plan for consolidating Australia's protected areas.

Introduction

The development of a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative reserve system is the central strategy to conserve biodiversity in the National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia's Biodiversity (ANZECC 1996). To maintain ecosystem services and the conservation of the full range of biodiversity, reserves need to be complemented by ecologically sustainable management of other lands and waters. This chapter concentrates on the protected areas component of biodiversity conservation.

Protected areas such as nature reserves and national parks are cost-effective in terms of biodiversity conservation compared with the cost of maintaining biodiversity in developed landscapes (James et al. 1999). This is particularly relevant as large parts of Australia continue to become extensively modified.

The Commonwealth, State and Territory governments have successfully collaborated to expand protected areas in each State and Territory through a policy framework developed by ANZECC that is known as the National Reserve System. The goal of the National Reserve System is to establish a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative system of protected areas.

More specifically, its priorities are to:

• sample all ecosystems identified at an appropriate regional scale;
• consider the requirements of rare and threatened species and ecosystems; and
• consider the conservation needs of special groups of organisms such as species with specialised habitat requirements (Environment Australia in prep.).

The biogeographic framework adopted for planning the expansion of the National Reserve System has been the Interim Biogeograhic Regionalisation of Australia (IBRA) (Thackway & Cresswell 1995). Since its inception, the regionalisation was updated and Version 5.1 developed. It now has 85 biogeographic regions or bioregions (Environment Australia 2000) and 384 subregions. Subregions represent a finer, more homogenous landscape unit that is closely associated with geomorphology and other environmental factors. Reservation across subregions provides a means of capturing any variation that might occur within ecosystems that have broad distributions.

Previously, there has not been a quantitative assessment of the completeness of Australia's reserve system in terms of Comprehensiveness, Adequacy and Representativeness criteria. The only metric available was the macro-scale analysis of area reserved per bioregion and subregion together with additional contextual information derived from the extent of remnant vegetation using the Audit's Landscape Health Assessment data (Cummings & Hardy 2001). An earlier review, using the best available data at the time, was undertaken by Specht et al. (1974).

Comprehensiveness, Adequacy and Representativeness criteria in this assessment are defined as:

• Comprehensiveness: the degree to which ecosystems identified at an appropriate regional scale are captured in the reserve system across each bioregion. This is recorded as the percent reserved.
• Adequacy: the area (hectares and percent of the area of the bioregion) reserved in each bioregion, recognising that this does not address the complex issues of viability particularly for rare and threatened species and ecosystems, and other special organisms.
• Representativeness: the degree that the inherent variation within an ecosystem is reserved. This is assessed by the degree to which ecosystems are captured in protected areas across their geographic range as measured by their representation across subregions. This information is presented as a proportion of ecosystems that are represented across their whole subregional range (ie. 100% of their subregional range) and the proportion of regional ecosystems that are represented across 50% or more of their subregional range.

The Assessment

This assessment has provided a review of the Comprehensiveness of Australia's reserves. This includes both national parks and formal reserves (IUCN reserve categories I - IV) and other protected areas including covenants on private lands (IUCN reserve categories V - VI).

The priority ecosystems for reservation have been identified in each bioregion within the constraints of available information. These chiefly represent those unreserved or poorly reserved ecosystems (< 5% of their pre-European extent) that are also threatened or have special values.

Representativeness information is only available for some parts of Australia, as the coarse scale or inadequate mapping of vegetation or ecosystems does not allow for meaningful analysis within some subregions (eg. in northern South Australia) and in Tasmania subregions are not identified.

These criteria, together with the extent of threatening processes, have been used by the States and the Northern Territory to determine the priority bioregions for consolidating the National Reserve System and to assess the relative subregional priorities within each bioregion. This prioritisation builds upon an earlier analysis of the National Reserve System program priorities by Environment Australia (Cummings & Hardy 2001).

This prioritization, based on relative area reserved per bioregion, categorized:

• Priority 1 as <2% reserved
• Priority 2 as <5% reserved
• Priority 3 as <10% reserved
• Priority 4 as <15% reserved
• Priority 5 as >15% reserved

The priorities assigned to bioregions have been reviewed and increased if significant threatening processes exist or if the protected area system was biased in terms of Comprehensiveness, Adequacy or Representativeness criteria.

Reserve management is a critical factor for biodiversity conservation. In addition to the above gap analysis, the States and the Northern Territory, using the criteria shown in Figure 8.1, have assessed the standard of management of protected areas across bioregions.

Findings

Current Reservation Levels

Approximately 9.2% or 71,390,486 hectares of the Australian continent is gazetted as protected areas as at June 2001 (Figure 8.2). This includes 50,650,860 hectares (6.6 %) in IUCN reserves I - IV and 20,191, 011 hectares (2.6 %) in IUCN reserves V - VI. Information collated on protected areas in this assessment includes gazettals since the Collaborative Australian Protected Area Data Base (CAPAD) 2000 as well as private protected areas, such as South Australian heritage agreement areas that were not included in CAPAD 2000 (Hardy 2001).

The bioregional framework was used to assess the broad distribution of protected areas. Forty-six bioregions have less than 10% of their area in reserves, 16 bioregions have less than 2%, and two have no protected areas.

Only 67% of Australia's ecosystems are sampled within national parks and formal reserves. An additional 5% are sampled in other protected areas or protected by covenants on private lands.

This analysis of Comprehensiveness is constrained as it is based on an assessment of 68 of the 85 bioregions. Those bioregions not assessed contain a similiar proportion of reserved land but it can not be assessed how representative the protected area system is in these bioregions. The availability of only a broad scale description of ecosystems in many parts of the continent means that a finer classification is likely to show additional gaps and a more conservative estimate of Comprehensiveness.

Each State and the Northern Territory has determined the priority ecosystems in each bioregion for reservation. These amounted to over 1500 ecosystems Australia-wide requiring reservation. A number of these are identified at a broader scale than the ecosystems identified as threatened in Chapter 4.

Representativeness values are not available Australia-wide to ascertain the degree to which ecosystems are sampled across their subregional range.

In terms of a macro-scale analysis, 71 of the 384 subregions have no reserves. Specific information on Representativeness is available for some bioregions and this is presented on the Australian Natural Resources Atlas.

Setting Priorities for the Further Consolidation of Australia's Protected Areas

Figure 8.3 and Table 8.1 show the bioregional priorities for consolidating Australia's protected area system on a 1 to 5 priority scale (1 being the highest priority). Forty-two bioregions are poorly reserved (less than 5%) and/or are under significant threat leading to the irreversible loss of opportunities for a fully Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative reserve system (priorities 1 and 2). Twenty-one bioregions are identified as priority 3 where there is either some level of reservation (5 - 10%) or where the level of existing degradation or threatening processes are not yet as extensive as for priority 1 and 2. Twenty-three bioregions are classed as priority 4 or 5 where reasonable levels of reservation occur (>10%).

Within these bioregions, some subregions may have particular reservation needs owing to the disproportionate level of threat or the number of ecosystems or species requiring protection through reservation.

Table 8.1: Bioregional priorities to consolidate Australia's protected area system.

Reservation Priority 1 (Highest)	Reservation Priority 2	Reservation Priority 3	Reservation Priority 4	Reservation Priority 5 (Lowest)
Avon Wheatbelt	Arnhem Coast	Ben Lomond	Arnhem Plateau	Australian Alps
Brigalow Belt North	Central Arnhem	Broken Hill Complex	Cape York Peninsula	Esperance Plains
Brigalow Belt South	Carnarvon	Central Mackay Coast	Darwin Coastal	Great Victoria Desert
Burt Plain	Channel Country	Coolgardie	Flinders	NSW North Coast
Central Ranges	Central Kimberley	Eyre Yorke Block	Gibson Desert	Pine Creek
Daly Basin	Cobar Peneplain	Gawler	Geraldton Sandplains	Sydney Basin
Dampierland	Desert Uplands	Gulf Fall and Uplands	Hampton	South East Corner
Darling Riverine Plains	Davenport Murchison Ranges	Jarrah Forest	New England Tableland	South Eastern Highlands
Finke	Einasleigh Uplands	Kanmantoo	Tasmanian Central Highlands	Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields
Gulf Coastal	Flinders Lofty Block	King	Tasmanian Southern Ranges	Warren
Mitchell Grass Downs	Gascoyne	MacDonnell Ranges	Tasmanian West
Murchison	Great Sandy Desert	Mallee	Wet Tropics
Nandewar	Gulf Plains	Northern Kimberley
NSW South Western Slopes	Little Sandy Desert	Nullarbor
Riverina	Murray Darling Depression	Ord Victoria Plain
Sturt Plateau	Mount Isa Inlier	South Eastern Queensland
Tasmanian Northern Midlands	Mulga Lands	Swan Coastal Plain
Victorian Volcanic Plain	Naracoorte Coastal Plain	Tasmanian Northern Slopes
	Pilbara	Victoria Bonaparte
	South East Coastal Plain	Victorian Midlands
	Stony Plains	Yalgoo
	Tanami
	Tiwi Cobourg
	Tasmanian South East

Figure 8.4 shows the subregional priorities which should be considered within their bioregional priority context. They are classed as high, medium and low priority.

An example is the Wet Tropics biroregion which is classed overall as having a bioregional priority of 4. This bioregion contains extensive national parks and the World Heritage Area occuring over the upland subregions. However, the limited reservation, number of threatened species and ecosystems and degree of threatening processes throughout the lowlands identity these subregions as high priority for expanded reservation compared with low priority for a number of the upland subregions. Additional reservation of lowland alluvial ecosystems also will contribute significantly to the protection of wetlands and fisheries.

In parts of Australia, the opportunity to implement a Comprehensive reserve system has been lost or is rapidly diminishing. An indication of this is given by the findings of the Landscape Health Assessment (NLWRA 2001a) which found that within the intensive land use zone 57 subregions (31%) had less than 30% remnant vegetation and in 88 subregions (48%), connectivity of vegetation remnants had broken down.

As an example of the assessment made for each bioregion, the Brigalow Belt South (extending across Queensland and New South Wales) has 2.8% of its area reserved (Table 8.2). In terms of Comprehensiveness, only 54% of its ecosystems are reserved. As an indication of Representativeness, 27% of its ecosystems are fully reserved across their subregional range with 39% reserved across half of their subregional range. This reflects that the largest areas reserved within the bioregion are located within only a few subregions on its northern extremity around the Carnarvon Range.

The limited area reserved, the bias in ecosystems sampled and the degree of threatening processes means that this region is classified as priority 1 for consolidation of the protected area system.

Regional priorities for reservation in this bioregion must now focus on those poorly reserved ecosystems associated with the clay and alluvial plains. Unfortunately, the extensive clearing of these fertile areas means that the opportunities for a fully Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative reserve system in this bioregion no longer exists.

An example of the detailed information on the priorities for reservation that is available on the Atlas is shown for the Gawler bioregion in South Australia. Table 8.3 shows the subregional and ecosystem priorities for reservation together with the constraints for reservation.

Table 8.2: Comprehensiveness, Adequacy and Representativeness (CAR) of protected areas within the Brigalow Belt South bioregion and a ranking of reserve management standard.

Bioregional priority	1
Area of bioregion	26,926,569 ha
Comprehensiveness	54 %
Adequacy (I-VI)	2.8 %
Representativeness (all subregions)	27 %
Representativeness (>50% subregions)	39 %
Reserve management standard rank	Fair

Table 8.3: Bioregional, subregional and ecosystem priorities to consolidate the protected area system and associated constraints: Gawler bioregion.

BIOREGIONAL PRIORITY	SUBREGION PRIORITIES	ECOSYSTEM PRIORITIES	ECOSYSTEM PRIORITY NOTES	CONSTRAINTS
4	GAW1 (medium) GAW2 (medium) GAW3 (low) GAW4 (high) GAW5 (high)	Acacia aneura Low Woodland on sand plains (SA0034)	Poorly conserved. Regeneration threatened by grazing	Competing land use
		Acacia calcicola Low Woodland on calcareous soils of breakaway tablelands (SA0036)	Threatened by camel and rabbit grazing. Occurrences few, small, thinly spread and widely scattered.	Competing land use
		Alectryon oleifolius spp. canescens Tall Shrubland on alluvial soils of plains (SA0040)	Very little regeneration occurring due to rabbit and stock grazing, and understorey severely degraded.	Competing land use
Note: Bioregional priorities are based on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 is the highest) and subregional priorities based on high, medium and low.

Reserve Management

Australia's national parks and other protected areas are its premier investment in biodiversity conservation. Adequate management of these areas (and adjoining lands) is essential. The assessment of protected area management standards (Table 8.4) has indicated that reserves across 12% of assessed bioregions have a very good standard of management where a high proportion of reserves have management plans and ecological monitoring programs in place. However, the standard of management of most of Australia's protected areas indicates that more can be done. In most bioregions (53%), the standard of management is only fair though any resource degradation is retrievable, and in 14% it is poor where permanent resource degradation is occurring. In 21% of bioregions reserve management is good and the major biodiversity issues are being addressed, though not necessarily in a structured context where systematic ecological monitoring programs are in place.

In Canada, the monitoring of parks' natural integrity is a legislated requirement. This represents a desirable precedent to ensure park management incorporates the protection of biodiversity values as part of the enhanced effort required to improve overall park management standards.

Table 8.4: Protected area management standards within Australia's bioregions (based on 67% of bioregions assessed).

Management standard	Very good	Good	Fair	Poor
Number of bioregions	7 (12%)	12 (21%)	30 (53%)	8 (14%)

Conclusions

The incompleteness of Australia's protected area system in reserving the full range of biota, as indicated by 42 bioregions being of high priority (priorities 1 and 2) for reservation and Comprehensiveness assessed at 67% for IUCN reserves I - IV, means that a major commitment is required to consolidate the reserve system. Such action should build on the work of the successful National Reserve System initiative and other efforts to achieve secure protective status on private lands. Additional effort is also required in terms of reserve management to protect Australia's premier investment in biodiversity conservation.

The degree of threatening processes as indicated by 57 subregions now having less than 30% remnant native vegetation, means that action to consolidate the reserve system is urgent. In many parts of Australia the opportunities for a fully Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative reserve system no longer exist and elsewhere, particularly associated with areas being rapidly cleared, the options are rapidly diminishing.

Consolidation of the reserve system is an integral component of any bioregional conservation strategy together with off-reserve conservation and integrated natural resource management. This is demonstrated through the case studies carried out for this Biodiversity Assessment (Chapter 10) where reserve consolidation is identified as a key part of the mix of the required conservation actions in all studies.

Reporting on the improvement in the Comprehensiveness of Australia's protected area system and the reduction in number of priority bioregions should be undertaken as part of Australia's State of the Environment reporting every five years.

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