27 April, 2017
Retain Travelling Stock Routes in public ownership and invest more in protecting their biodiversity and cultural heritage values
The state’s network of Travelling Stock Routes (TSRs) must remain in public hands and be better managed to preserve its priceless biodiversity and cultural heritage values, says Nature Conservation Council CEO Kate Smolski.
The NSW Government today announced a review of TSRs, which is the next stage in its overhaul of Crown lands ownership and management. [1]
“TSRs cover about 700,000 hectares, an area equivalent to about 10% of the whole national parks system in NSW,” NCC CEO Kate Smolski said.
“Stock routes and reserves include some of the last remnants of bushland in the heavily cleared agricultural districts west of the ranges. These are the last refuges for threatened woodland species including koalas and the regent honeyeater.
“TSRs are a priceless network of connected bushland corridors linking larger remnants that have become isolated by 200 years of land clearing.
“Maintaining and improving the health of these green ribbons has never been more important.
"As climate change tightens its grip, it will force many species to move south to cooler climates or face local extinction.
"Without TSRs, many species won’t be able find a way to way to escape the rising temperatures.
“It is critical these lands remain public and are more actively managed to protect our native wildlife for generations to come.”
The NSW Government has already taken steps to privatise other Crown lands or transfer them to local councils that lack the resources to maintain their important ecological values.
“The government has decided the fate of much of the Crown lands estate without knowing what these parcels of land contain, whether they are habitat for threatened species or important sites of Aboriginal and European cultural heritage,” she said.
“Before the government moves to flog off more public land, it must conduct a comprehensive audit of ecological and cultural values.”
The review should identify for each region:
- Local threatened species, important climate refuges, and key regional threats to biodiversity;
- Potential cumulative impacts and early indicators of degraded TSR networks;
- Environmental data gaps, and strategies to fill them; and
- What role TSRs can play in maintaining, recovering and restoring biodiversity.
[1] https://www.nsw.gov.au/improving-nsw/have-your-say/nsw-travelling-stock-reserve-review/
Tags
Forests and wildlifePlanning and DevelopmentRivers and wetlandsGreat Eastern Ranges Initiative
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