Conservation Guidelines for the Management of Wild River Values
Australian Heritage Commission, 1998
ISBN 0 6425 4590 1
Foreword
The Conservation Management Guidelines for Wild River Values have been developed by the Wild Rivers Project, which the Australian Heritage Commission began in 1993. A Wild Rivers Committee has been responsible for the overall guidance of the Project. It includes representatives from the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments covering water resource management and nature conservation agencies, local government, landowners (the National Farmers Federation), conservation groups, Indigenous people and the scientific community.
To assist with the identification of wild rivers, the Centre for Resource and Environmental Studies (CRES) at the Australian National University was contracted by the Project to determine, at a national scale, which rivers could be potentially classified as 'wild' through the development of a national database. State and Territory studies which improved the data and re-assessed the methodology used in the national study were then undertaken to complete the task of identifying Australia's wild rivers.
Maps showing the location of wild rivers are available on request from the Wilderness and Wild Rivers Section, Australian and World Heritage Group, Environment Australia.
The Wild Rivers Project contracted environmental consultant, Carol Kunert, and Context Pty Ltd to produce Draft Conservation Management Guidelines to assist with the conservation of wild rivers. The draft Guidelines were developed in close consultation with the Wild Rivers Committee and released for public comment in February 1996. Forty-seven submissions were received, after which further consultation was undertaken to finalise this document.
The Guidelines outline wild river values, discuss the impacts of human activities and present draft principles and a draft Code for wild river management.
The Wild Rivers Committee has developed the Guidelines as a voluntary tool which government and non-government land managers can consider adopting.
Sharon Sullivan
First Assistant Secretary
Australian and World Heritage Group
Environment Australia