Attachment F

Summarised history of the Northern National Park proposal

Date / Activity / Summary of issues raised
2008 / ACT Environment Commissioner’s State of the Environment Report 2007/08 / Under the Conserving Biodiversity recommendations:
Strengthen the nature conservation estate by
3. Considering Goorooyarroo and Mulligans Flat nature reserves (Yellow Box–Red Gum Grassy Woodlands) for designation as a national park. It may be that Goorooyarroo–Mulligans Flat should be part of a network of areas considered for designation as a national park or be given additional protection and recognition by some other overarching designation.
Supporting argument
A decision on this issue will require consideration of the overall designation of all existing (and proposed) urban nature reserves that are part of CNP. While areas in CNP were selected for various reasons, such as regional landscape character, local amenity or ecological qualities, there seems to be an expectation that all areas in Canberra Nature Park can be used, and managed, in a similar manner. This often creates conflict between various user groups. Demarcating use according to ecological values may address this issue.
Feb 2010 / National Parks Association submission to the Commissioner for the Environment re investigation into CNP.
Conservation Council and Friends of Grasslandssupportedthe proposal / The NPA called for a new national park to protect areas of Yellow-Box-Red Gum grassy woodland. Key reserves are: Mulligans Flat, Goorooyarroo, Mt Majuraand Mt Ainslie and in the south Red Hill, Mt Mugga Mugga and Callum Brae. This would potentially create the largest single reservation of yellow box red gum grassy woodland in Australia.
They note that inappropriate development on the ACT’s Gungahlin Rim is threatening to reduce connectivity.
NPA recognise that CNP protects areas of lowland grassy woodlands, but think there is need to consider how best to achieve connectivity on a broad perspective.
It would be necessary to engage rural leaseholders to manage their leases for conservation and connectivity purposes until the potential for the areas to be incorporated into the new national park arises.
Creation of a single national park would assist the adoption of consistent management practices in line with the requirements of the ACT’s lowland grassy woodland strategy.
The national park would be one of Australia’s most urban national park and help build on extensive environmental community engagement that is occurring in Canberra’s northern suburbs.
The term ‘national park’ describes the epitome of a conservation reserve for many people, and a new national park will raise the ecological standing of grassy woodlands in the eyes of the community.
Creation of a national park ensures land is protected in perpetuity and removes burden of conservation for individual landholders.
Good for the leading edge ecological work of the sanctuary project to be in a national park.
A new national park (including southern components) could be created immediately at relatively little cost, it should be seen as a starting point for the reservation of other relevant areas and as a tool for working in conjunction with other conservation land management strategies.
NPA observe that Schedule 3 of Planning and Development Act to ‘conserve the natural environment’ is most aligned with either Category II National Park or Category IV Habitat/species management area. Though IUCN’s definition for national park seems to give equal weighting to promoting education and research.
Could establish a visitors centre promoting ecological values of the park at one of the key entry points to the ACT.
Conservation Council accepts and supports moves towards an additional national park (as per the NPA submission).
Friends of Grasslands need management on a landscape basis for grasslands and grassy woodlands. Include Kinlyside and Dunlop in proposal.
March 2011 / Report by Ian Pulsford for Commissioner’s investigation: Should Goorooyarroo, Mulligans Flat, Mount Majura and Mount Ainslie become a National Park or remain as discrete Nature Reserves as part of Canberra Nature Park? / Report commissioned by the Commissioner for the Environment recommended that:
(1) the proposal appears to offer no additional statutory protection for an amalgamated national park than is available to the existing reserves
(2) amalgamating the reserves meets the management objectives for a national park under ACT legislation
(3) national park status is unlikely to increase legal protection
(4) seek guarantee from ACT Government that CNP reserves outside proposed national park are not neglected/starved of resources
(5) the national park would need increased resourcing for the new park which has potential to showcase world class science
(6) community cannot afford proposal to be at expense of reduced management in other CNP reserves
(7) an amalgamated national park needs to be managed as part of a whole of landscape/ecosystem approach
(8) encourage ACT Government to review and clarify management objectives and legislative protection, and bring into line with the IUCN’s guidelines for protected area management categories.
June 2011 / NPA submission to Commissioner on Pulsford report / NPA’s proposal for a NNP(subsequent toearlier NPA submission on Commissioner’s investigation).
The key points of the proposal now incorporate that the new national park should:
•be used to address the requirements of the ACT’s LowlandWoodland Strategy (ACT Action Plan No 27).
•incorporate key woodland reserves south of LakeBurley Griffin, e.g. the Red Hill, Mt Mugga Mugga, Callum Brae units of Canberra Naturepark as a minimum.
•drive connectivity measures. In particular it is a keycomponent in ensuring that other high value lowland woodland areas in the ACT areconserved through reservation or other conservation land tenures. For example, theproposed reserve at Kinlyside would appear to be an obvious addition to a newnational park. This would then highlight the need for connectivity between Kinlyside and Mulligan’s Flat.
July 2011 / Commissioner for the Environment Report on Canberra NaturePark; Molonglo River Corridor and Googong Foreshores Investigation / Better direct and inform the management of nature reserves by:
Recommendation 3.4. Categorising nature reserves to:
  • define the goals and objectives for each nature reserve using criteria that include their environmental, recreational, health and cultural values and draw upon the protected area categories adopted by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. These goals and objectives should then be used to inform and guide the priorities in each Nature Reserve Operational Plan (Recommendation 3.1); and
  • guide decisions regarding a northern ACT national park, especially its boundaries.
Government Response: Agreed in Principle
Defining the key goals and objectives for each reserve, will undertaken as part of the review of the Canberra Nature Park management plan and the production of operation plans.
The review of the management plan will also consider the IUCN categorisation. (It would appear that most of the areas within Canberra Nature Park would fall within the Species/Habitat Management area (Category IV).
The application of IUCN categories for reserve areas to ACT legislation would require a change tothe Planning and Development Act Schedule 3. Such changes are not likely to be achievable within a short time frame.
Recommendation 3.5: Advance the consideration of a northern ACT national park via a discussion paper which details areas for inclusion, management structure, costs and funding etc. If Recommendation 3.4 is not pursued this paper should be progressed based on existing information.
(The Commissioner described the proposed northern ACT National Park as comprising Mulligans Flat, Goorooyarroo, Mt Majura and Mt Ainslie nature reserves, but said that future likely nature reserves need also to be considered. The proposed Majura Valley Reserve was mentioned in this context, as were lands along the ACT/NSW border.)
Government response: Agreed in Principle
Further consideration will be given to a northern ACT national park, including through canvassing all the relevant issues such as legislation, biodiversity values, review of the IUCN categories, management implications and planning. Implementation arrangements and likely resourcing needs will require further consideration and examination.
Feb 2012 / NPA submission on the ACT budget 2012 - 2013 / One of the NPA’s specific financial requests for the 2012-13 Budget was:
Funding for the development of a new national park for the ACT thatrecognises the ACT’s role in the management of key lowland grassy woodlandecosystems, particularly YellowBox – RedGum grassy woodlands which are ofnational significance.
May 2012 / NPA Submission to the Inquiry into Current and Potential Ecotourism of the ACT and
Region / The NPA ACT believes that there is significant ecotourism potential associated with itsproposal for a new northern national park for the ACT. The NPA ACT’s vision is thatultimately this national park would encompass the areas identified in Attachment A bringingtogether areas of lowland grassy woodlands which are of national significance. The fullextent of the vision is currently not possible due to existing land tenures but a first stagecould be achieved through the amalgamation of existing reserves. This would establish asingle management regime for these reserves based on the specific requirements of lowlandgrassy woodlands and be the basis for future expansions.
The ACT’s lowland grassy woodlands contain the majority of the remaining high qualityareas of yellow box red gum grassy woodlands which are nationally threatened and a listedecosystem. The establishment of a new national park would raise the national profile of thisecosystem. Due to the positioning of the reserves it would also be an appropriate location fora new national park visitors centre focussing on the excellent work occurring at theMulligan’s Flat sanctuary and the national importance of the ACT’s lowland grassywoodlands. The visitors centre would be close to the main northern entrance to the ACT andthe major accommodation centres in Canberra.
May 2012 / Minister for the Environment wrote to the NRMAC / Provided terms of reference (see below) and stated: I would appreciate receiving the views of the NRMAC on this proposal which I am inclined to support.
2012 / NPA Vision for NNP, including potential future expansion to Majura, Ainslie, Red Hill, Mugga, Callum Brae, Isaacs Ridge, Wanniassa Hills and Farrer Ridge / NPA document was provided as background to NRMAC workshop on 22 June 2012.
Issues:
•How best to achieve connectivity of YBRGGW
•Viability enhanced through ensuring remnants are connected (requirement of Action Plan)
•National significance of largest YBRG reserve in Australia
•Adoption of consistent management practices
•“national park” describes epitome of a conservation reserve and raises ecological standing.
•Protects land in perpetuity
•Further promotes Mulligans Flat sanctuary and Wetlands and Woodlands Trust
•IUCN category of 2 or 4 (objectives) but called national park.
June 2012 / NRMAC workshop on 22 June 2012 / Participants included the NPA, Conservation Council, Ginninderra Falls Association, Mulligans Flat Sanctuary and Nature Reserve Board of Management, Ginninderra Catchment Group, Office of the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment and relevant ACT Government officers.
27 June 2012 / NRMAC advice to Minister for Environment (based on Terms of Reference) / Term of Reference 1: Development of a new national park for the ACT that recognises the ACT’s role in the management of key lowland grass woodland ecosystems, particularly Yellow Box-Red Gum grassy woodlands which are of national significance:
  • key issue is not nomenclature, but the change from separate management prescriptions for each unit of CNP, to recognition and management of a coherent unit defined by habitat (particularly lowland grassy woodlandswhose conservation is of greatest national significance)
  • fully support concept of coherent management of the lowland grassy woodlands of the northern ACT, but believe that a ‘Northern ACT Grassy Woodland Reserve’ comprising the current woodland reserves is only part of the answer in managing the ecosystem
  • the most effective conservation system will involve a supplemented reserve system (i.e. with identified areas added to the existing grassy woodland reserve estate) and negotiated and monitored off-reserve conservation e.g. a system of conservation covenants. Coherent management of the current reserves would be of value in its own right, but the value would be relatively limited without supplementation and inclusion of off-reserve components
  • meaningful additions to the current reserves should be based on a comprehensive assessment and mapping of the biological values of the entire northern ACT (all land tenures) and include buffer and connectivity values. Consistent with the existing biosphere model of conservation. Efforts should be made to ensure that management of relevant off-reserve vegetation should be complementary
  • understand that the Conservation Council is currently undertaking a biodiversity assessment of all remnant areas of vegetation in the northern part of the Territory
  • an essential implication of this approach would be the redrafting of the Canberra Nature Park Management Plan to extract from it the units incorporated into the new reserve, and to then develop a single plan to address that reserve. In addition an overall multi-tenure plan would be required to coordinate management requirements.

Term of Reference 2
How a change of current reserves to national park would assist or detract from the conservation of box-gum woodland including through increased understanding of its values, enhanced connectivity and increased pressures from recreation, etc:
  • this is of less importance than the core issue addressed by clause 1 above
  • changing the name to National Park will not of itself offer any greater protection or enhanced management procedures
  • it is likely use of ‘National Park’ could change public perception of the reserve, and perhaps give it an enhanced status in the community, or could raise expectations which might be hard to meet, causing negative outcomes e.g. increase facilities for recreation
  • in general – though not universally – Australian national parks are considerably larger than this reserve would be
  • unless management prescriptions change from current practice, they will differ in some important aspects from those in place in Namadgi National Park. For example, currently dogs are permitted (on a leash) in Mt Ainslie and Mt Majura reserves
  • we are not advising against use of ‘National Park’, but do stress that the step should not be taken lightly.

Term of Reference 3
The feasibility and value of linking into proposals for Murrumbidgee-Ginninderra Gorges National Park and to undeveloped areas of northern Belconnen/southern Gungahlin, noting that this would need cooperation with NSW and Commonwealth governments for implementation:
  • we note that the proposed park in NSW would apparently be some distance from the border
  • the proposed Murrumbidgee-Ginninderra Gorges National Parkwould not be a grassy woodlands reserve and would have no connection (thematic or physical) with the ACT woodlands reserves. We do not see a current value in pursuing this line of enquiry.

2012/2013 / Email from NRMAC Secretariat (Serena Farrelly - dated 13 September 2013) / Nature Conservation Policy advised the NRMAC that the Northern National Park Proposal needs to be considered after the Gungahlin Strategic Assessment has been finalised.
18 April 2013 / NPA submission on the Gungahlin Strategic Assessment / Support for:
•Enhance connectivity in North Gungahlin
•Addition of reserves
•Rationalisation of boundaries reduces edge effect and makes management easier.
Issues of concern
  • Environmental impacts of Throsby development on Superb Parrot
  • Impacts of bushfire protection zones on reserves and Hills Ridges and Buffer zones (HRB)
  • Lack of transparency of land management agreements re. conservation outcomes.
Connectivity
“Ideally, the HRB areas stretching from Kinlyside to Mulligans Flat should be recognised for their important grassy woodlands and connectivity values. The NPA ACT would argue that these areas plus existing grassy woodland reserves should be managed as a single entity. This would facilitate management in accordance with the requirements of Action Plan 27 on lowland grassy woodlands. Ultimately, the NPA ACT believes such areas should be amalgamated into a new national park for the ACT focussed on the enhancing of environmental values of the ACT’s lowland grassy woodlands”.
March 2014 / NPA Bulletin / Return to campaign after Gungahlin SEA.
“The creation of a new national park will highlight for the ACT and Australian community the importance of the ACT lowland grassy woodlands”.
Mentioned citizen engagement and BOB, Centenary Trail and Landcare groups and that creation of NNP would build on community engagement.
NNP would raise profile of research project – Mulligans Flat sanctuary.
NNP including conservation agreements with rural lessees would focus management of grassy woodlands ecosystems...”currently the relevant reserves are administered under the Canberra Nature Park management plan, which has to identify management strategies for a wide range of ecosystems. Having a single national park with its own plan of management means that tailored strategies can be adopted to the ACT’s lowland grassy woodlands. This offers benefits to the environment and can improve the administrative costs of managing these areas”.
“National parks should protect ecosystems of national importance...The ACT’s lowland grassy woodlands also easily meet this criterion and their national importance should be recognised”.
“So where to now”?
-Need to build community support
-Engage the neighbouring rural lessees
-Convince decision makers of the proposal’s importance.
Work with rural lessees particularly important as the ACT lacks the conservation covenant tools in place in the states.
2014 is World Parks Congress in Australia, a new national park in the Act would be a significant announcement.
9 June 2014 / NPA submission
ACT2014Budget / While supporting the funding for the environment in the Molonglo Valley the NPA ACT was surprised that no additional funding was identified for the outcomes of the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) process in Gungahlin.TheSEAprocesshasidentifiedarangeofextensionstoconservationreservesinGungahlinanditwouldbeexpectedthat,asaminimum, additionalplanningfortheseextensionswouldberequiredpriortothembeingaddedtotheACT’sconservationestate.
TheextensionsproposedwillenhancetheviabilityofoneoftheACT’smostimportantecosystems,itslowlandgrassywoodlands.TheseecosystemsareofsuchnationalimportancethattheNPAACThasbeenconsistentlycallingforthistoberecognisedthroughthecreationofanewnationalparkbasedontheACT’sexamplesoflowlandgrassywoodlands.
31 August 2014 / NPA letter and proposalto the Minister for the Environment and to the Minister for Planning / ‘Vision for a New National Park’ — the establishment of a national park based on the ACT’s lowland grassy woodlands:
•will facilitate a consolidated management approach for the ACT’s lowland grassy woodlands
•help the ACT meet the objectives of its lowland grassy woodland strategy
•would utilise an internationally recognised ‘brand’ to help increase community awareness of the importance of the ACT’s lowland grassy woodlands
•will build on the important work at Mulligans Flat Sanctuary
•will add to the funding potential of the Woodlands Trust
•can be initially achieved at a very low cost
•would be seen as important recognition of Australia hosting the 2014 World Park congress
1 Sept 2016 / NPA letter and proposal to the Chief Minister, the Minister for Planning and Land Management and the Minister for the Environment and Climate Change / In addition to the benefits outlined in the 2014 proposal, ‘A National Park for the ACT’s National Treasure’ identifies that new national park will enhance the existing eco-tourism market in the ACT.
The NPA proposes that the national park be initially created from existing reserves of: Mulligan Flat, Goorooyarroo, Mt Majura, Mt Ainslie, Mt Pleasant, Kinlyside, Red Hill, Mt Mugga Mugga, Callum Brae, Isaacs Ridge, Wanniassa Hills and Farrer Ridge and could ultimately expand to other important lowland grassy woodland sites, such as those found in Majura.
The NPA believes that the term ‘national park’ is highly recognisable and describes for many members of the public the epitome of a conservation reserve. The creation of a new national park will therefore raise the ecological standing of the land incorporated in it in the eyes of the community.

1