The State Government has classified 2.7 million hectares of largely former pastoral lands in the Gascoyne and Murchison as conservation parks and nature reserves, Environment Minister David Templeman has announced.
The State Government has classified 2.7 million hectares of largely former pastoral lands in the Gascoyne and Murchison as conservation parks and nature reserves, Environment Minister David Templeman has announced.
But Opposition Environment spokesman Steve Thomas said the announcement was a government attempt to spin itself out of embarassment
The Minister said the land would be converted into 11 new conservation parks and 14 new nature reserves, or added to existing parks and reserves.
Mr Templeman said that in determining the classification for the land, the Government had taken into consideration mineral prospectivity,
"For this reason, we have decided that the vast majority of the land will be reserved as unclassified conservation parks," he said.
"Existing mining and petroleum tenements on proposed reserves will co-exist following the change to conservation park status. Exploration and mining may also occur in conservation parks, subject to the normal environmental approvals.
"There are also advanced resource development projects on several of the former pastoral leases to be reserved. These areas will be excluded from the reservations."
Mr Thomas said the conditions placed on the land protection amounted to nothing more than a name change.
"They have not made this land National Parks, nor purchased significant new amounts of land," he said.
"The State Government might as well have called the areas 'Carpenter's Fairy Gardens' - it would offer the same level of protection."
Dr Thomas said the Minister's announcement added no significant addition to the Conservation Estate because there was no concurrent funding announcement to manage additional lands.
"The Carpenter Government cannot adequately manage the estate they have now," he said.
"It is a sick, sad joke to even pretend to add to that estate without proper resources to manage it.
The full text of an announcement from Minister Templeman's office is pasted below, followed by one from Dr Thomas.
Environment Minister David Templeman today announced the single biggest addition to Western Australia's prized collection of parks and reserves in history.
The Minister said more than 2.7 million hectares - most of it former pastoral lands in the Gascoyne and Murchison - would be converted into 11 new conservation parks and 14 new nature reserves, or added to existing parks and reserves.
The new parks and extensions will mean WA's network of national parks, nature reserves and conservation parks will extend over 20.1 million hectares, or eight per cent of the State's land area.
"This new allocation represents around one per cent of our huge State and is a significant step in the Carpenter Government's commitment to creating a world-class parks system,"
Mr Templeman said.
"While WA is enjoying an unprecedented boom under this Government, we have also seen a record amount of land set aside for conservation, including 33 new national parks and nature reserves.
"It is crucial that in times of prosperity we do not become complacent and the Carpenter Government is acting now for the future to ensure our unique biodiversity is protected."
The Minister said that managed and protected areas such as national parks, nature reserves and conservation parks were the cornerstones of biodiversity conservation.
"Without the creation of well-managed parks, we will continue to lose much of our unique flora and fauna and ecosystems," he said.
Under the latest reservations, eight new conservation parks will be created from the former pastoral leases.
The Kennedy Range National Park near Gascoyne Junction will be expanded by more than 177,000ha, a further 35,600ha will be added to King Leopold Ranges Conservation Park in the Kimberley while 180,000ha will be added to the Cane River Conservation Park, south-east of Onslow in the Pilbara.
In the South-West, the Government has acquired 7,750ha of freehold land in 26 parcels for inclusion in the reserve system.
Three new conservation parks and 14 new nature reserves will be created. Two new areas will be included in existing national parks and six new areas will be added to nature reserves.
These areas will protect a range of threatened species and threatened ecological communities, as well as retaining remnant vegetation in what is otherwise a largely cleared landscape.
"Parts of the rangelands are poorly represented in conservation reserves and setting aside these areas is an important step in developing a parks network that is comprehensive and represents all the bioregions in the State," Mr Templeman said.
Land is selected based on scientific criteria, including habitat condition and quality and the presence of threatened species and ecological communities.
Most of the former pastoral stations had been acquired by the Government over the past nine years under the Gascoyne-Murchison Strategy. Charnley, in the Kimberley was bought in 1992 and Burnerbinmah in the Gascoyne-Murchison was bought in 1995.
One parcel of land, in the Chapman Valley, was bequeathed to the Government to be set aside for conservation.
The Minister said that in determining the classification for the land, the Government had taken into consideration mineral prospectivity,
"For this reason, we have decided that the vast majority of the land will be reserved as unclassified conservation parks," he said.
"Existing mining and petroleum tenements on proposed reserves will co-exist following the change to conservation park status. Exploration and mining may also occur in conservation parks, subject to the normal environmental approvals.
"There are also advanced resource development projects on several of the former pastoral leases to be reserved. These areas will be excluded from the reservations."
Conservation park status does not preclude recreational activities such as camping and bushwalking.
Mr Templeman said the latest reservations pushed WA even further towards the international benchmark of 15 per cent.
The Minister said that the Government would preserve all existing native title rights and interests by applying the non-extinguishment principle when creating the reserves. Native title claims were registered over nearly all the proposed conservation reserves and the State would comply with the Future Act provisions of the Native Title Act.
Mr Templeman has asked the Department of Environment and Conservation, in consultation with the State Solicitor's Office and the Office of Native Title, to liaise with the native title claimants.
"Once the new reserves are created, there will be opportunities for joint management with the traditional owners," he said.
The Minister acknowledged the contribution of the Commonwealth Government through the National Reserve System program of the Natural Heritage Trust in jointly funding the land purchases with the State Government.
Dr Thomas' announcement is pasted below
The Carpenter Government has a number of regular tricks and trotted out one of them today when its Environment Minister made an announcement about nothing.
Shadow Environment Minister David Templeman's bizarre announcement of a mooted 2.7 million hectare expansion of the Conservation Estate was another pathetic attempt to spin the government out of embarrassment.
"This land, some previously purchased by the Court Liberal Government, has been offered no more protection, it has simply had a name change" Dr Thomas said.
"They have not made this land National Parks, nor purchased significant new amounts of land.
"They have just changed the name of state-held lands.
"The State Government might as well have called the areas 'Carpenter's Fairy Gardens' - it would offer the same level of protection."
Dr Thomas said the Minister's announcement added no significant addition to the Conservation Estate because there was no concurrent funding announcement to manage additional lands.
"The Carpenter Government cannot adequately manage the estate they have now," he said.
"It is a sick, sad joke to even pretend to add to that estate without proper resources to manage it.
"This pathetic political pretence is a sad reflection of the dire straits of the environment in Western Australia and Mr Templeman's idea of managing it."
