Project status: Closed
What's happening now:
The ACT Government has developed an ACT Native Woodland Conservation Strategy to guide the protection, restoration and management of our precious woodlands—and the plants and animals that live in them—for the next 10 years.
You can see the final strategy, along with a summary and the listening report from the consultation in the document library.
Thank you to all those people and organisations who made submissions to the draft strategy. Your submissions informed the development of the final strategy and will help us better protect the ACT woodlands.
About the strategy:
The ACT’s woodlands are exceptional in terms of their size, connectivity, diversity and habitat for threatened species. They cover more than 79,000 hectares and have significant biodiversity, recreation and cultural values. About 70% of all woodlands are within the ACT’s reserve system, where they are managed and protected by the ACT Parks and Conservation Service and community groups.
Woodlands are important not only for their conservation value and importance to the environment, but to the many Canberrans who visit them for recreation, exercise and wellbeing.
This strategy will guide their protection, restoration and management. It includes action plans for five threatened woodland species to guide their preservation too (Canberra Spider Orchid, Tarengo Leek Orchid, Small Purple Pea, Superb Parrot and Scarlet Robin) and the threatened Yellow Box-Blakelys Gum Woodland community.
- See the strategy
- See the summary
- See the threatened species action plans
- See fact sheets about the action plans
The strategy identifies how the ACT Government intends to:
- manage threats
- work with the community and other partners
- safeguard threatened species
- enhance woodlands’ resilience, ecosystem function and connectivity
- undertake monitoring and research.
The strategy has four key goals:
Protect. Commonwealth and ACT statutory requirements and ACT Government policies protect threatened species and other fauna and flora associated with woodlands within and outside formal reserves.
Maintain. Ongoing intervention is required to mitigate the impacts of a range of threats to woodland communities and associated flora and fauna. Management practices must adhere to best practice and be informed by an adaptive management system.
Improve. Management activities must, wherever appropriate, aim to enhance ecosystem function of woodlands by improving the condition and connectivity of woodlands. Enhancing ecosystem function improves a community’s resilience to existing and emerging threats, including climate change.
Collaborate. Successful protection and management of woodlands requires collaboration between the ACT Government, non-government entities and the broader community. This includes promoting and managing the sustainable use of woodland reserves.
The new strategy replaces the current Lowland Woodland Conservation Strategy. A review of the 2004 strategy shows that it guided significant progress in the protection, restoration and management of lowland woodlands.
Survey
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