Review of NSW Forest Agreements and IFOAs - Department of ...

the purchase of leases and another 2,045 ha of leases has been purchased and vested
in the Minister for Climate Change and the Environment, but the land is still dedicated state
forest. There is ongoing interest from DECCW in another 3,133 ha of land in which I&I NSW
still has mineral interests. The remainder of the lands (around 3,000 ha) will remain as
state forest.
In the LNE region around 42,000 ha of land was further considered and 19,117 ha has been
transferred to DECCW estate. Of the area remaining, 4,644 ha has been agreed between
DECCW, Forests NSW and I&I NSW (Mineral Resources) for transfer to DECCW, subject to
the purchase of leases. Another 962 ha of leasehold over state forests is to be vested in the
Minister for Climate Change and the Environment. There is ongoing interest from DECCW in
another 3,770 ha of land in which I&I NSW still has mineral interests. The remainder of the
lands (around 13,000 ha) will remain as state forest.
Necessary lease purchases will be considered as part of DECCW’s normal acquisition
funding and procedures. Interagency negotiations will continue as necessary over the
FURCON lands that are yet to be transferred and discussion on this land will be part of the
discussions mentioned above about reviewing mineral interests.
FMZ assessment/Northern additions
In June 2001, the NSW Government released the Environment Statement: Action for the
Environment 2001 (NSW Government 2001b), which summarised some of the Government’s
main achievements in, and plans for, the State’s most important environmental issues. It
included a number of commitments identified in the forest agreements for the UNE and LNE
regions, whereby opportunities to improve conservation outcomes in the regions could be
made by assessing areas set aside for further consideration at the end of the comprehensive
regional assessment/regional forest assessments (CRA/RFAs) in 1998, and other areas of
state forest managed for conservation.
The assessment became known as the ‘FMZ Assessment’ or ‘Northern Additions’ and began
at the end of 2001. Its outcome was the declaration of about 142,000 ha of new national
parks, nature reserves or state conservation areas (SCAs) or as additions to existing ones in
the National Park Estate (Reservation) Act 2002. This land was transferred from state forest
(including areas of unproductive state forest classified as Forest Management Zone
(FMZ) 1, 2 and 3a, lands identified in the process called FURCONs and other lands, such as
Crown reserves and freehold/Crown leasehold land voluntarily purchased by the DECCW.
The Premier also asked for the consideration of certain ‘icon’ areas of high conservation value
in state forests without impacting on timber supply. These special areas were investigated
during 2002–03 and included about 40,000 ha of state forest land being transferred to the
DECCW estate or vested in the Minister responsible for the National Parks and Wildlife
(covered by Crown leases, land required by the Roads and Traffic Authority, quarries and
other uses) and another about 19,000 ha declared as special management zones. These
outcomes were contained in the National Park Estate (Reservations) Act 2003. Some of these
icon areas were also FURCON areas.
2.4 Crown reserves and assessment of Crown land
Milestone 4.1
Management and five-year review of Crown reserves/state conservation areas
Refer to UNE, LNE and Eden Forest Agreements section 2.3.3; UNE and LNE Forest
Agreement section 2.3.3; Eden Forest Agreement section 2.2.3; Southern Forest Agreement
section 2.3.3
Progress of milestone: ongoing
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) regarding the management of Crown reserves was
signed on 26 March 2001 between the Director’s General of NPWS (now part of DECCW)
and the then Department of Mineral Resources (now part of I&I NSW).
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