Assessing e Values and Management of the NSW Travelling ... - Land

ASSESSING THE VALUES AND MANAGEMENT OF THE NSW TRAVELLING STOCK RESERVE
development of a memorandum of understanding with the LHPA (RLPB) enabling
that authority to cede back TSRs whilst still retaining an interest in their use. We are
exploring ways to encourage tenures for environmental stewardship over high
conservation value sites, such as minimising fee’s and partnership arrangements
with stakeholders.
The assessment identified those parcels that may meet CMA Catchment Action Plan
targets. These parcels can be ranked by importance, e.g. number of targets met, size
of site, relation to priority areas, etc... and forwarded these sites on to the CMA. The
development of CLASS allows the LPMA to assess TSRs more strategically, provide
the CMA with timely responses to calls for funding and delivers an assessment report
that is consistent in many ways to the biometric assessment used by the CMA. For
state-wide implementation the CLASS system could be modified to include the 13
targets for natural resource management as adopted in the NSW State Plan.
Through the use of Property Vegetation Plans on targeted high conservation value
TSRs the LPMA (Lands) is able to access additional funds to improve land
management practices through fencing, weed management, implementation of
sustainable grazing, and water reticulation. The monitoring and reporting
requirements built into the PVP include the establishment and maintenance of photo
points and the annual reporting of management activities and vegetation condition.
The PVP process allows for the strategic investment of limited resources based on
the Natural Resource Commission recommended state-wide targets and provides a
framework for effective monitoring, evaluation of reporting.
The project demonstrates that the CMAs are willing to grant incentive funds to protect
and enhance the ecological values of TSRs. Other alternative sources of funding are
also being considered, including Federal and State government grants. The DECCW
BioBanking scheme, for example, is an emerging source of land management
funding that could be applied to TSRs in the future.
The pilot project also identified some significant challenges ahead, including the
importance of wide scale stakeholder consultation and information gathering and
sharing. Through the implementation of the Stakeholder Reference Group endorsed
communication and consultation strategy the LPMA (Lands) will advise the
community of the results of this study through publication of the project report (both
hardcopy and web-based); providing media releases at a regional and state level;
providing presentations to stakeholder group and advising the LHPA (RLPB) State
Council on consultation issues. The draft survey produced as part of the project could
provide a basis for a state-wide survey of TSR users.
The LPMA envisages that the assessment methodology will be rolled out State-wide
prior to the bulk hand back of reserves. The desktop assessment process could be
completed at a processing centre with regional staff providing local knowledge, field
validation and further investigation where required. Training would be provided to
appropriate LPMA Land Management staff. Many of these staff are already
experienced in using the similar methodology for Crown lease assessment. The
CLASS database has been developed to run as a network based system that can be
loaded onto any LPMA (Lands) PC or laptop and will be integrated with other LPMA
(Lands) programs.
Through the Stakeholder Reference Group, the pilot also exposed the value of
consultation with the various interest groups in the assessment of values and
proposed management regimes. Experience in indigenous consultation within the
central west trial component at Molong, also provides direction regarding the full
REPORT ON METHODOLOGY AND FINDINGS AUGUST 2009 Page 51 of 88