In this number

• What is the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion?
  
• Who is doing the assessments?
  
• What kinds of things will the assessments be looking at?
  
• How will the assessment help Western New South Wales?
• "What do we hope to achieve?
  
• What won't happen through this process?
  
• What about mining rights and mineral exploration?
  
• Will the assessment result in more national parks?
  
• How are forest industries affected?
  
• How are forest industries affected?
  
• How does this fit in with native vegetation management and other programs?
  
• How will private land be assessed?
  
• What about leasehold land and travelling stock reserves?
  
• How is the community involved?
  
• Is the Aboriginal community being consulted?
  
• How do I find out more?
  

Update on western regional assessments

Brigalow Belt South Stage 2 underway...

In October 1999 the NSW Government began a regional assessment of the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion, with special focus on the Pilliga and Goonoo State Forests. This was known as Stage 1 of the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion assessments. One of the main uses of the information from Stage 1 was to determine whether the Pilliga and Goonoo forests would be able to provide sufficient timber to supply charcoal to a silicon smelter being considered for Lithgow. The Government's decision was that no additional timber be taken from the forests for the specific purpose of supplying charcoal.

A more detailed Stage 2 regional assessment, which includes outcomes for public and private land, is now underway and is to be completed by June 2002.

This edition of RACAC News explains what the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion (BBSB) assessment is, why we are doing it and how it involves regional communities.

What is the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion?

A bioregion is defined by its climate, landforms and plants. The whole of Australia has been divided into bioregions. Located in the central north of New South Wales, the BBSB includes the towns of Dubbo, Merriwa, Coonabarabran, Gunnedah, Narrabri, Moree and Warialda.

In New South Wales, the BBSB covers an area of 52 400 square kilometres, which is 6.2 % of the area of the State. Eighty five per cent of the bioregion is either freehold land or Crown leasehold, which is used predominantly for agricultural purposes. Eleven percent is State forest, 2.6% is in national parks and nature reserves and 1.4% is other Crown estate.

Who is doing the assessments?

The assessment is being coordinated for the State Government by the Resource and Conservation Assessment Council (RACAC). It involves State Government agencies, local government, farmers, conservation representatives, Aboriginal groups, forest industry representatives, minerals industry, bee keepers and other community groups.

State Government agencies include the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, State Forests of NSW, the National Parks and Wildlife Service, the Department of Land and Water Conservation, the Department of Aboriginal Affairs, the Department of Mineral Resources and NSW Agriculture.

The Commonwealth Government is not involved in the Western assessments, unlike the comprehensive regional assessments for the east coast.

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What kinds of things will the assessments be looking at?

The assessments will improve our knowledge of the natural resources of the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion and will improve the way that natural resources are managed. Forest resources include timber, conservation, cultural and economic attributes. The assessments will look at ecologically sustainable forest management and economic, social, environmental, cultural heritage and timber resource attributes on all tenures of land. A list of projects can be found opposite.

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How will the assessment help Western New South Wales?

With their detailed analysis of the forests and woodlands and related natural resources of the bioregion, the assessments will help decisions about conservation, land management and regional planning for western New South Wales.

During the assessments, we will be talking to the rural community about their ideas for the best way to address forest conservation and related land management issues. We are seeking solutions which improve both biodiversity and the economic viability of land for primary producers. The environmental issues in the west of the State will not be solved by focusing on public land alone. We need to think about sustainable options for the whole region.

With this in mind, Government agencies will be working to ensure that the assessment and any consequent recommendations to the Government - are compatible with the efforts of regional vegetation committees, catchment management boards and many other groups and individuals currently pursuing related goals in the central west of the state.

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What do we hope to achieve?

Through consultation with interest groups and agencies the following outcomes for the bioregion will be pursued:

• protection, reservation and management of biodiversity and cultural values through a range of options
• ecologically sustainable forest management
• identification of areas important for mineral and energy development
• maintenance of viable cypress pine, hardwood, bee keeping and other forest industries
• involvement of Aboriginal communities in public forest land management

A NSW Forest Agreement for the BBSB is expected to be one result of the Stage 2 assessment. This is not the same as a Regional Forest Agreement, which was developed between the Commonwealth and NSW Governments following the east coast assessments. The Commonwealth Government has no direct involvement in the western assessments, which are an initiative of the NSW Government only. A NSW Forest Agreement will include details on how to achieve a sustainable cypress pine and hardwood logging industry, conservation options for management of Crown land, joint management agreements between NSW Government agencies and Aboriginal communities.

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What won't happen through this process?

• There will be no resumptions of private land.
• No one will be pressured to give up private land for a wildlife corridor or reserve.
• No inspections will occur on private land without consent.
• No changes to the title of grazing leases would occur without proper consideration of options and full consultation with permit holders.

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How does this fit in with native vegetation management and other programs?

Information collected would be available for use by other relevant programs including the NSW Salinity Strategy, Native Vegetation Conservation Strategy, Catchment Management and NSW Biodiversity Strategy and local and regional planning.

It is not RACAC's intention to duplicate the work of other programs, such as Catchment Management. The BBSB assessment will focus on the forest resources of the bioregion.

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Will the assessment result in more national parks?

An expansion of permanent reservation for high conservation value areas currently on state forest or other Crown land may be one outcome of the assessment. RACAC is also seeking a broader range of conservation and management options for the bioregion.

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How are forest industries affected?

The bioregion's forests are used for a range of purposes including timber supply, firewood collection and bee keeping. The NSW Government is committed to the long-term future of ecologically sustainable forest industries. For the regional timber industry, which is based primarily on cypress pine, a Schedule of Harvesting Operations for State forests in the bioregion is being put in place until the completion of the Stage 2 assessments.

Interim conservation protocols will be applied to forestry operations across the bioregion until the Stage 2 assessment is complete.

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How does the assessment affect private land and landholders?

Over eighty per cent of the bioregion is freehold land or privately managed leasehold, predominantly for agricultural purposes. It makes sense to study the forest resources of these areas too, so that publicly managed forests can be considered in the context of the broader bioregional landscape.

However, resumption of private land is not an option and will not happen as part of the BBSB assessment process.

Private land is not being assessed in order to compulsorily acquire it for inclusion in reserves, but to help landholders and land managers obtain more information for conservation and land management. Private land holders will be able to use the assessment information if they wish, or seek advice on land management options.

Mechanisms for conservation and management of private land which may be introduced as a result of the assessment include voluntary conservation agreements between Government and private landholders and incentive schemes for retention and re-establishment of native vegetation.

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How will private land be assessed?

A set of protocols is being developed which would govern matters such as access permission, procedures for and rights of access by landholders to information generated by the assessment of their land.

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What about leasehold land and travelling stock reserves?

As with freehold land, there will be no resumption of most forms of Crown leases, such as special, perpetual and term leases under the Crown lands legislation. Travelling stock reserves will also not be included in any formal reservations, unless the Rural Lands Protection Board agrees.

Licences to use Crown land, such as grazing licences, are not excluded from consideration for reservation. This is because these licences do not confer exclusive use of land and can be terminated at any time. However, in other regions of New South Wales where Crown land affected by licences has been selected for inclusion in a reserve system, the holders of those licences have been fully consulted during the creation of the reserves. This has led to a range of mutually acceptable solutions, such as continuation of the licence for a limited period, assistance with fencing, boundary adjustment to allow for issues such as property and water access and emergency roads.

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How is the community involved?

A number of workshops with regional stakeholders were held during 2000 to discuss proposals for consultation and community involvement. Stakeholders include NSW Farmers, representatives of catchment management committees and regional vegetation management committees, local government, forest industries representatives and conservation representatives. Stakeholder representatives are presently giving technical advice to the Government on projects. Further workshops will be held as the assessment progresses.

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Is the Aboriginal community being consulted?

RACAC is assisting dialogue with Aboriginal communities, Aboriginal Land Councils, Elder groups, and other groups within these communities. An Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Assessment and Community Consultation project includes consultation with Aboriginal communities about the cultural values and assessment process; consultation with landholders regarding cultural values; and a cultural heritage survey which uses landforms to model the potential cultural values. An Aboriginal liaison officer, based in Dubbo, is assisting consultation with the Aboriginal community.

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How do I find out more?

You are encouraged to take part in the BBSB Regional Assessment. Contact details are listed on the back page.

Project reports from Stage 1 can be seen on the RACAC website. You can also view copies of the reports at offices of NPWS, SFNSW and DLWC in the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion or in the library at the head office of the Department of Urban Affairs and Planning at 1 Farrer Place, Sydney (02) 9391 2130.

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Russell Ainley
Forest Products Association

Russell Ainley is a professional forester who joined the NSW Forest Products Association in 1994, was appointed Assistant Director in 1996 and Chief Executive in February 2001. He is the FPA's adviser on technical, forestry and resource issues. He graduated from Melbourne University with a degree in Science, Forestry and has completed a number of courses in economics and computing science. Russell has spent most of his working life working in the timber industry. He was previously employed by Boral Timber Ltd for 10 years, managing resources and contractors for their North Coast sawmills. During the east coast regional assessments, Russell was the industry representative on a number of RACAC's technical committees.

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NSW Farmers to join RACAC

The NSW Government is currently seeking a nominee from NSW Farmers to join RACAC. We expect that this representative will be on board for the next Council meeting in May. We look forward to the knowledge and experience that NSW Farmers will bring to RACAC and to the essential contribution they will make to the Western Regional Assessment.

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Jeff Angel
Nature Conservation Council

Jeff Angel is the Director of the Total Environment Centre, based in Sydney. Since 1973 he has been active in environment protection across a range of urban, natural and legal issues. He is also interested in improved environmental governance of government and private sector corporations. One of his first tasks as a young volunteer in the 1970s involved helping to protect the Border Ranges rainforest. This sparked a career-long interest in forest conservation and he has been involved in the Eden, northern and southern forest protection campaigns, including industry adjustment programs. Jeff believes that the western forests have lacked government and community attention for far too long and he considers the RACAC efforts timely.

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David Paull
Nature Conservation Council

David Paull has only recently become an advocate for conservation, having spent most of his career as a wildlife consultant and employee for the NPWS conducting scientific surveys and assessments. He is currently completing postgraduate studies in wildlife ecology at the University of New England. David has spent a great deal of his career studying and surveying the fauna of the Brigalow Belt South state forests, in particular, the Pilliga region. This experience has led him to believe in the need for increased levels of conservation effort in an area where he thinks biodiversity has been seriously compromised. David has published several papers on the status of the wildlife and habitats of the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion.

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From the Chair

The sustainable management of natural resources is a question of increasing interest and importance throughout Australia. The balance between economic development, environmental protection and social impact now is a critical issue for the community and the government. On the coast, the conservation and use of forests have been long-standing public issues. Inland, issues such as salinity, the health of river systems, the survival of woodlands and the extent of native vegetation, are now receiving a lot of attention from landholders, scientists, government and community groups.

Rural industries - including forest industries - and their management are consequently changing. RACAC recognises that these changes have economic and social impacts as well as environmental implications, and have huge ramifications for regional communities. We need to find solutions that manage our resources for the future while ensuring productive and viable regional economies and communities. These solutions, however, are not always obvious or clear-cut.

The regional assessments underway in the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion are an effort to tackle at least some of these difficult issues in an objective way. Piecemeal or kneejerk reactions will benefit neither the environment nor the community in the long-run. We are trying to achieve balanced outcomes for the region's natural resources which take into account economic, social, environmental and cultural factors.

The central west of New South Wales is predominantly agricultural, with most land privately owned. It is essential that outcomes are not imposed from "on high" but develop out of genuine input from regional communities.

I encourage and welcome your participation in the Brigalow Belt South Bioregion assessment. Acting together, we can achieve positive and useful results for your region.


Rick Farley
RACAC Chair

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Projects for stage 2
Basic data sets

• Surveys of tenure layers, geology, soil landscape, hydrology Environmental and cultural heritage assessments
• Vegetation mapping on public and private land
• Fauna surveys on public and private land
• Timber surveys of State forests, including analysis of growth stages and a history of disturbance
• Wilderness assessment
• Flora and fauna modelling
• Development of conservation criteria and principles
• Development of reserve network design principles
• Cultural heritage assessments, including Aboriginal cultural heritage Ecologically sustainable forest management
• Decision support tools
• ESFM principles
• ESFM criteria and indicators Economic and social assessments
• Assessment of wood resources
• Plantation potential
• Land management scenarios and development opportunities
• Micro-industry profiling and analysis
• Socio-economic integration tool
• Water resources
• Minerals potential

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RACAC members

Further information: RACAC News is an occasional publication. To be placed on the mailing list, contact the Resource and Conservation Division,
Department of Urban Affairs and Planning:
Sydney: phone (02) 9228 3166 fax (02) 9228 4967
Dubbo: phone (02) 6885 3200 fax (02) 6884 8483

www.racac.nsw.gov.au

DISCLAIMER

While every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that this document is correct at the time of printing, the State of New South Wales, its agents and employees, do not assume any responsibility and shall have no liability, consequential or otherwise, of any kind, arising from the use of or reliance on any of the information contained in this document.

© Crown copyright March 2001

Resource and Conservation Assessment Council
ISSN 1325-5045
Printed on recycled paper

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