Download Draft Wildlife Corridors Plan Submission

To: The Director
Conservation Incentives and Design Section
Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities
PO Box 787
Canberra, ACT, 2601
National Wildlife Corridor Draft Plan Comments
Dear Director,
This is a submission prepared in my private capacity in response to the Draft National Wildlife
Corridors (NWC) Plan. It is one of two submissions I have submitted for the draft plan. The other
responds specifically to the proposed Wildlife Corridors Act identified by the draft plan.
My qualifications to provide the comments herein are based on my international expert advisory role
on connectivity conservation management; my role as lead author and editor of IUCN’s 2010
Connectivity Conservation Management book; my lead author work of a “background report” on
connectivity conservation for Australia’s 2011 State of the Environment Report; and, my role as cochair for the Social and Institutional Working Group of the National Wildlife Corridors Plan Advisory
Group.
I am very supportive of the broad proposals made by the draft NWC plan and I have prepared some
overview response comments in this submission. There are a number of minor editorial matters of
substance in the text which I have noted in a copy of the plan and I have returned this to you attached
to this submission by post. I would be pleased to discuss any points I have made with you.
Yours faithfully
Dr Graeme Worboys
16th April 2012
Comments on the Draft National Wildlife Corridors Plan
Overview
1. The draft National Wildlife Corridors plan has my very firm support. It is of the greatest
importance that it be finessed, finalised, approved by the Minister and systematically
implemented as early as possible. It is a critical investment in Australia’s future.
2. I believe the draft plan to be a basis for facilitating, at a time of worsening climate change,
an improvement in the conservation of Australia’s outstanding regional landscapes, unique
biodiversity and ecological processes that contribute to the health and economic well-being of
Australians. It will help conserve many of our unique species and it is an essential contribution
to the long term conservation of the National Reserve System.
3. It is also my view that the draft plan (and the process of its development) is a credit to the
National Wildlife Corridors Advisory Group, its Chair Bob Debus AM and the hard-working and
highly professional DSEWPAC policy and support staff.
An introduction
4. I have prepared notes in response to the draft using a Strengths, Weaknesses,
Opportunities and Threats approach to identify planning proposals that I support and planning
areas where I am recommending opportunities for improvement. I have also made some
observations for weaknesses and threats.
Strengths
5. The draft plan recognises and formalises connectivity conservation and corridors as a
positive, 21st Century conservation landuse for the Australian continent. I support the
following strengths of the draft.

Primary objectives; Guiding Principles and the Five Point Plan: These sections of the draft
provide clear foundational statements, direction and connectivity conservation leadership.

Climate change response: The draft introduces strategic responses to climate change
threats through a national network of wildlife corridors and strategic National Wildlife
Corridors

Shared responsibility for conservation with the community: It empowers individuals and
communities to actively contribute to a shared vision for strategic conservation and
climate change responses through corridors. It is a 21st Century response to the reality
that conservation of Australia’s biodiversity cannot be achieved solely through protected
areas and it is not possible for governments to achieve biodiversity conservation on their
own. It recognises that the community wants to participate in connectivity conservation.

Active management: It facilitates, through a shared corridor vision, active management of
threats and restoration of natural landscapes site by site by individuals, private and
government organisations and communities. In its greatest development, this voluntary
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investment in conservation management of corridors has potential to be a whole-ofcontinent scale response.

Support to the National Reserve System: The network of wildlife corridors and National
Wildlife Corridors complement Australia’s National Reserve System and will directly
contribute to the conservation success of protected areas.

Implementation of Australia’s Biodiversity Conservation Strategy: The draft implements
provisions of the 2010-2030 Biodiversity Conservation Strategy

Longevity and legal surety: The draft proposes a Wildlife Conservation Act which formally
recognises National Wildlife Corridors and provides legal security to corridors as a landuse
concept. This will be important for organisations seeking to invest in “green” initiatives
and for governments providing prioritised conservation management resources. I have
provided further comments on the proposed Wildlife Conservation Act in a separate
submission.
Weaknesses
The draft plan:
6. Was overly cautious about the introduction of a Wildlife Corridors Act. The Act’s
importance for confirming an enduring land use concept is most important;
7. Did not adequately emphasise the critical need for active conservation management of
corridors;
8. Did not adequately deal with whole-of-continent connectivity ecological considerations
which may be the responsibility of more than one NWC; and
9. Was too brief in providing management guidance for NWC’s and other corridors.
Opportunities
The final plan should provide more direction than the draft and:
10. It should recognise the introduction of a Wildlife Corridors Act
11. It should list some of the existing established large corridors as National Wildlife Corridors;
or, give immediate priority to their listing in order to expedite the establishment and
management of NWC’s in Australia. This could include at least:
 Gondwana Link
 Great Eastern Ranges
 Habitat 141
 Tasmania Midlandscapes
 Trans-Australia Eco-Link
12. It should identify priority financial investment for the post-listing and management of
these five (or more) new NWC’s including (as appropriate):
 Establishment costs
 Governance support
 Strategic planning support
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

GIS development and mapping support
Research investment
13. It should provide far greater guidance for the active management of individual NWC’s and
other corridors including generic concepts such as:
 A shared vision for the corridor
 Defining the corridors’ spatial extent
 Establishing governance
 Establishing a support secretariat
 Using a corridor management framework such as the IUCN Framework for systematic
management
 Preparing a science based corridor plan to identify connectivity conservation management
needs and threats and to prioritise actions
 Establishing partnerships and networks
Threats
Aspects of the draft plan may be threatened by:
14. A too cautious approach to implementation in the final plan when a firm leadership
document is otherwise needed to facilitate the concept of a national network of wildlife
corridors including National Wildlife Corridors in Australia.
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