Download Management Effectiveness in the NSW Reserve System

Preface
The Marine Parks Independent Audit Panel have requested information on the 2010 State of
the Parks assessment for marine parks. A workshop/ presentation to the panel is proposed as
the means of demonstrate the 2010 State of the Parks data. The following background
information on management effectiveness in the NSW reserve system is provided in advance
of the presentation.
This paper was prepared by Peter Stathis, Manager Planning and Performance, National
Parks and Wildlife Service, OEH on 29 September 2011
Management effectiveness in the NSW reserve system
The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service is responsible for the growth and management
of the protected area system and field-based wildlife management. The Service ensures the
conservation of protected native flora and fauna within the reserve system and wilderness
areas and promotes community awareness, understanding and appreciation of natural and
cultural heritage. Broadly, the Service has the following functions:
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Manages parks and reserves.
Manages the reserve acquisition process.
Manages on-park Aboriginal and historic heritage sites, and areas and buildings of
significance.
Develops, implements and reviews operational policy, programs and procedures
pertaining to the protected area system and wildlife management.
Undertakes field-based wildlife management including incident control and first response
law enforcement.
Manages on-park threatened species.
Addresses on-park pest animal and weed management issues.
Develops community partnerships, including forming co-management arrangements with
Aboriginal communities and conservation agreements with private landholders.
Delivers community educational programs, such as the Discovery program.
Provides visitor facilities and promotes tourism opportunities.
Ensures appropriate fire suppression, protection and management across the reserve
system.
Until April 2011, the NSW NPWS was also responsible for the operational management of
marine parks, on behalf of the Marine Parks Authority and for the management of aquatic
reserves.
What does the Management Effectiveness Unit do?
The Management Effectiveness Unit has a state-wide coordination function with the NSW
NPWS. MEU works across all elements of the Service to help develop and implement
programs to achieve effective and efficient management with the NSW park system. Overall,
the Unit aims to:
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Create, facilitate and evaluate programs aimed at achieving management
effectiveness - supporting continuous improvement in NPWS management
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Take a balanced approach to supporting management, aiming to implement
standardised products, tools and solutions to address priorities and optimise available
resources to enhance operations
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Actively look for ways we can integrate and align processes, systems, frameworks
and solutions to eliminate duplication and redundancies, simplify processes,
maximise impact and ‘close the adaptive management loop’
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Ensure the products and tools that are created by the Unit are used, useful, cost
effective and sustainable and that they understand their clients’ needs and limitations.
What is the State of the Parks program?
Around the world, protected area managers are seeking to monitor and evaluate the condition
of (and pressures on) protected areas, and to ascertain how effectively these areas are being
managed. This information is vital for park managers so that they can learn from past
practices and inform future management. In NSW, one of our primary ways of evaluating
effectiveness of management is through the State of the Parks program. The specific aims of
the program are to:
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Improve our understanding of the condition of and pressures on individual parks.
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Evaluate how well we manage against objectives and planned outcomes.
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Inform planning and decision-making at all levels of management including individual
parks, Regional Operation Plans and corporate strategic planning.
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Support effective communication of our management performance to internal and
external stakeholders (e.g. through the publicly available State of the Parks report).
State of the Parks assessments for all NSW parks are undertaken every three years. In 2010,
over 800 parks were assessed with these parks covering over 7 million hectares of NSW.
Each of the six NSW Marine Parks and the 12 aquatic reserves were also assessed.
Assessments are undertaken by NPWS staff who draw upon diverse information sources at
their disposal including planning documents, research and monitoring results, community and
specialist opinion, corporate data and of course their own expert experience. Information on
all key aspects of park management is collected by the State of the Parks survey. This
includes:
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Key attributes for each park (i.e. gazetted area, which bioregions and CMA’s are
represented in the park, relevant international agreements, factors affecting
management etc);
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Context information which relates to park management (i.e. what plans exist related
to the park, what are the key values being managed for and what are the threats to
those values, who are the known key stakeholders and what level of visitation is
estimated as going to the reserve);
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Assessments of management effectiveness. All key management issues are
assessed, including management of natural and cultural heritage, the provision of
opportunities for visitors, maintenance of park infrastructure, management of threats
such as pests, weeds, fire, illegal activites, etc.
When considering the management effectiveness questions, four key question types are
asked depending on the nature of the issue:
1. Is the information available for the park sufficient to support management
2. What approach is taken to managing a particular issue?
3. What was the effect of that management (responses include negative impacts negligible,
diminishing, stable or increasing)?
4. What condition is it in (from excellent to poor)?
All assessments reflect the information/management/condition of the park at the time of
assessment.
In terms of practical application, State of the Parks information is principally collected to
support strategic and operational planning within the Service and is a mandatory
consideration in annual operational planning. Through this, NPWS is ensuring that successes
can be built upon and that areas of concern can be addressed. Public reporting of the results
for the park system is also an important part of the program and demonstrates the Service’s
ongoing commitment to transparency and accountability for the management of NSW parks.
Further information about the program, including previous state-wide reporting, can be found
at http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/sop/index.htm
How can MEU help inform the Audit of Marine Parks?
As identified above, the 2010 State of the Parks survey also collected information for the six
marine parks and 12 aquatic reserves which were being managed by the NSW National
Parks and Wildlife Service at the time. This was the first year for which these parks
completed an assessment.
MEU can present the combined results of these assessments to the Marine Parks Audit Panel
to give them a further understanding of the management issues that marine park managers
are identifying for their parks. This would include an examination of the key values of marine
parks as identified by their managers, what approaches are being taken to marine park
management and how effective this management has been at minimising threats to park
values.
Overall, this presentation could cover:
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An overview of how the State of the Parks program works
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A summary of results received for the six NSW Marine Parks.
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Opportunity to explore the data in more detail.
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Other information as requested