Directions for the National Reserve System - A Partnership Approach
Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council 2005
Commonwealth of Australia 2005
ISBN 0642551367
PDF file
About the document
The National Reserve System (NRS) represents the collective efforts of the States, Territories, the Australian Government, and non-government organisations to achieve an Australian system of protected areas as a major contribution to the conservation of our native biodiversity.
Directions for the National Reserve System - A Partnership Approach ( the Directions Statement) has been prepared to assist government agencies, non-government organisations and the community in the ongoing development of the National Reserve System, and to assist stakeholders in the understanding of this process. The Directions Statement will also guide the delivery of the National Reserve System program (NRSP), an activity of the Australian Government's Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) of Australia.
The Directions Statement was developed from work by the National Reserve System Action Plan Taskforce of the Natural Resource Management Ministerial Council, and formerly under the Australian and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council (ANZECC). It builds upon the framework provided by the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation for Australia (Thackway and Cresswell 1995), otherwise known as IBRA, and should be read in conjunction with that document and the Australian Guidelines for Establishing the National Reserve System endorsed by ANZECC in July 1999.
In developing this Directions Statement the Taskforce has drawn upon the approach used for the Strategic Plan of Action for the National Representative System of Marine Protected Areas (ANZECC 1999) to promote consistency in approach for terrestrial and marine environments as well as experience with other such plans both in Australia and overseas.
The Directions Statement outlines a strategic national approach for making quantifiable progress towards the establishment and management of a comprehensive, adequate and representative terrestrial protected area system. It provides background information to assist in the understanding of the national reserve system and the processes and actions required for its development. It is not intended to replicate or override existing government processes.
