Natural Heritage - Number 17
The Journal of the Natural Heritage Trust
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry Australia
Environment Australia, Spring 2003
ISSN 1440-7256
PDF file
About this document
The focus of this issue of Natural Heritage is habitat - with a special emphasis on Natural Heritage Trust projects that are identifying, protecting, conserving, or enhancing the habitat of Australia's flora and fauna.
Australia's isolation led to the development of unique and distinctive flora and fauna. In recognition of the need to responsibly manage and protect Australia's plant and animal life, the Howard/Anderson Government has worked with communities and land managers since 1996 to counter threats to biodiversity such as salinity, land clearing, poor water quality and introduced pests.
The Australian Government's $2.7 billion Natural Heritage Trust and $1.4 billion National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality represent the largest environmental rescue effort ever delivered by an Australian Government. The two programs are working to counter the threats to Australia's biodiversity by putting into action plans to protect, manage, and sustainably utilise Australia's natural resources.
Through the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act), the Australian Government has made further major progress in strengthening protection for biodiversity. The EPBC Act has delivered substantially greater protection for six matters of national environmental significance – world heritage properties, Ramsar wetlands, nationally threatened species, internationally protected migratory species, the Commonwealth marine area and nuclear activities.
Under the second phase of the Natural Heritage Trust which commenced in July 2002, regional communities have been empowered to identify their own environmental challenges and take direct action to meet them. Even in drought, farmers and communities in country areas are continuing works to preserve the natural resource base underpinning Australian agriculture.
Through the popular Australian Government Envirofund, the community component of the Trust, community groups and individuals can apply for grants of up to $30,000 to carry out on-ground environmental work. To date 2200 projects have been funded for $30,000,000 including repairing and conserving agricultural lands, coastal areas, rivers, native bushland and wildlife habitat. Applications for the next round are expected to be invited towards the end of the year.
The Government has also strengthened protection of our 15 World Heritage listed sites, adding four new areas to the World Heritage List since 1996. The latest listing, in July this year, was for the Purnululu National Park, in Western Australia's isolated East Kimberley region. Protection for the Great Barrier Reef and its marine life and ecosystems has also been a special priority.
Since 1996 more than 18 million hectares of land has been added to our national reserve system – an increase of nearly a third; and millions of Australians have been involved in the push for a better, cleaner environment through campaigns to reduce and recycle the 6.9 billion plastic bags we use each year, in national rubbish clean-up days and in efforts to reduce household energy use.
It is important to remember that the environment really is everybody's business, and that together we can and are making a real difference.
Dr David Kemp
Australian Minister for the Environment and Heritage
Warren Truss
Australian Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry
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