State of the Environment

2001

Biodiversity Theme Report

Australia State of the Environment Report 2001 (Theme Report)
Prepared by: Dr Jann Williams, RMIT University, Authors
Published by CSIRO on behalf of the Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2001
ISBN 0 643 06749 3

Roles and Responsibilities

This section reports on the following environmental indicators, which are defined in Saunders et al. (1998).

Environmental Indicator
BD 13.3 | a | b | c | d | Number of interest groups involved in protected area planning
BD 13.4 Resources committed to protected areas
BD 18.3 Number of lending institutions considering biodiversity
BD 23.1 Number of local governments with management plans for biodiversity
BD 23.2 Number of companies with management plans for biodiversity
BD 24.7 | a | b | Percentage of budgets spent on conservation
BD 24.8 | a | b | Amount of Indigenous ethnobiological knowledge
BD 25.1 Local government management of biodiversity
BD 25.2 | a | b | c | d | Involvement of community groups in conservation
BD 26 Australia's international role in conservation

Introduction

The roles and responsibilities of those involved in biodiversity management have changed significantly in Australia in recent years, and continue to evolve. In the past, different levels of government have traditionally been involved in the conservation and management of biodiversity. Local government and the private sector are now becoming increasingly involved.

Expenditure on biodiversity

Government spending on biodiversity

From the ABS (ABS 1999b), it can be seen that governments were the largest users of services and products designed to protect Australia's biodiversity and landscape in 1995-96 and 1996-97, the latest years for which these data are available (Table 62). This provides a broad indication of the level of expenditure of Commonwealth and state governments although it was not possible to present this as a percentage of the overall level of government expenditure. However, a broad comparison can be undertaken with spending at the Commonwealth level on other programs. Budget papers for 1999-2000 indicate that $23.8 billion was spent on Health, $18 billion on Defence, $49.4 billion on Family and Community Services and $11.3 billion on Education, Training and Youth Affairs. More detailed information about spending at the Commonwealth, state and territory and local government level follows.

Table 62: National expenditure for biodiversity and landscape
Components 1995-96 ($000) 1996-97 ($000)
Final consumption
General government
Households
Total
928 643
143 800
1 072 443
1 056 942
168 700
1 225 642
Intermediate consumption
All industries
131 331
153 010
Gross capital formation
General government
Corporate
Total
305 808
34 097
339 905
115 201
19 008
134 209
National expenditureA
Current
Capital
Total
1 205 994
339 905
1 545 899
1 379 194
134 209
1 513 403

A Includes subsidies.

Source: ABS (1999b).

Natural Heritage Trust expenditure [BD Indicator 24.7]

The NHT is a public finance mechanism through which a proportion of the proceeds from the privatisation of the Commonwealth's telecommunications utility are being expended on environmental and resource management programs. Many programs within the Trust are continuation of past programs. Of the programs financed in whole or part through the Trust, some have clear relevance to biodiversity, and thus those expenditures can be identified as biodiversity expenditure (e.g. NRSP, ESP). For the bulk of programs, biodiversity may benefit from expenditure, but the focus is on other issues (e.g. Waterwatch, Landcare). Tables 63 and 64 provide details of NHT funding for several programs as an overall figure (Table 63) and at the state and territory level (Table 64). The total numbers vary because of the different periods covered.

Table 63: Natural Heritage Trust funding, 1996 to 2002
Amounts are in millions ($m). Due to rounding, some column totals may vary within overall totals.
  1996-97 $m (actual) 1997-98 $m (actual) 1998-99 $m (actual) 1999-2000$m (actual) 2000-01 $m (estimate) 2001-02 $m (estimate) Total $m
Vegetation
BushcareA 3.7 22.2 50.2 81.6 104.8 83.8 346.5
Farm Forestry Program - B 2.8 6.5 11.9 16.8 9.2 47.2
Inland Waters
Murray-Darling 2001 Program 3.8 27.5 35.0 43.0 53.8 32.6 195.6
National Rivercare ProgramC - 5.9 14.3 19.1 28.8 14.9 82.9
Riverworks TasmaniaA 1.8 2.6 0.3 4.2 0.0 - 8.8
National River Health ProgramA 0.1 1.6 1.7 2.6 7.6 1.8 15.8
WaterwatchA 0.2 2.2 2.4 3.1 2.9 2.6 13.0
National Wetlands ProgramA 0.5 1.6 1.6 3.8 5.8 3.8 17.1
Biodiversity
Endangered Species ProgramA 2.0 2.1 6.9 5.8 5.6 5.5 27.8
National Reserve System ProgramA 0.4 2.9 11.2 11.4 38.2 20.0 84.2
Land Resources
National Land & Water Resources Audit 1.3 2.4 11.8 9.8 13.7 5.4 44.4
National Feral Animal Control ProgramD 3.7 3.1 1.6 2.0 6.1 2.7 18.9
National Weeds ProgramD 2.1 1.3 1.6 0.9 17.8 4.8 28.5
National Landcare Program (including Landcare Tax measures)E 10.2 30.1 49.0 49.2 109.4 78.5 326.5
Farm Business Improvement Program: Farmbis 0.4 0.3 2.6 5.6 6.0 - 15.0
Coasts and Oceans
Oceans PolicyAF - - - 1.5 10.0 8.5 20.0
Coasts and Clean SeasA - 8.6 20.2 28.1 35.4 24.4 116.8
Fisheries Action Program - 1.7 2.2 3.2 3.8 2.1 13.0
Environment Protection
Waste Management Awareness ProgramA 0.2 0.6 0.7 1.0 2.4 1.1 6.0
Atmosphere
Air Pollution in Major CitiesA 1.3 1.5 2.4 2.9 6.3 4.1 18.5
Australian Heritage
World Heritage Area Management and UpkeepA 4.7 10.7 10.0 8.6 9.7 8.9 52.5
Total 36.3 131.4 232.1 299.4 485.0G 314.7 1 499.0

A Programs managed by Environment Australia;
B Denotes nil;
C The National Rivercare Program includes funding for Fisheries Action Program freshwater activities;
D Programs managed jointly by Environment Australia and Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry - Australia;
E The National Landcare Program also receives funding from an appropriation under the Natural Resource Management (Financial Assistance) Act 1992;
F Australia's Oceans Policy commitment includes $30 million to come from consolidated revenue funds;
G Includes $123 million carryover from 1999-2000 to 2000-2001.

Source: Natural Heritage and Parks Division, Environment Australia.

Table 64: Number and cost (in $000s) of projects funded under the Natural Heritage Trust and related Programs for each state and territory, 1996 to 2000
Program ACT External Territories NSW NT Qld
No. $000s No. $000s No. $000s No. $000s No. $000s
Advanced Property Management Planning         1 1 190 1 108 1 1 475
Air Pollution in Major Cities                    
Bushcare 17 836     543 30 931 86 6 028 216 27 454
Coastcare A         360 4 096 9 119 213 2 728
Coasts and Clean Seas     2 305 90 13 450 15 1 398 63 9 313
Endangered Species Program 2 184     53 1 739 15 1 344 42 3 323
Farm Forestry Program 1 89     39 3 328 1 273 24 3 176
Fisheries Action Program 11 184 1 11 14 589 5 352 24 686
Indigenous Management of Protected Areas         3 142 6 344 6 298
Invasive Species Program (EA) 2 48     7 116        
Landcare Tax Credits                    
Murray-Darling 2001 Program 4 407     377 39 859     67 11 288
NHT World Heritage Program         94 9 992     85 19 728
National Feral Animal Control Program         6 922 2 106 5 183
National Land & Water Resources Audit                 1 158
National Landcare Program 14 961     522 62 193 104 10 858 364 40 937
National Moorings Program         1 22     2 123
National Reserves Program         24 10 361 4 671 12 9 713
National River Health Program         2 417 5 347 1 149
National Rivercare Program 2 241     99 5 562 15 1 631 73 8 214
National Weeds Program         1 70 1 2 073 3 1 185
National Wetlands Program 4 251     29 2 084 15 894 13 574
Oceans Policy                    
Pre-Bushcare 5 18     33 492 30 206 35 315
Riverworks Tasmania                    
Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement                    
Tasmanian Strategic Natural Heritage Program                    
Waste Management Awareness Program 1 15     3 450 1 60    
Waterwatch 7 394     28 1 267 9 529 18 1 199
Totals 70 3 628 3 316 2 329 189 272 324 27 341 1 268 142 219
Program SA Tas. Vic. WA Nat. Total projects Total funding
No. $000s No. $000s No. $000s No. $000s No. $000s No. $000s
Advanced Property Management Planning 1 780 1 372 1 1 757         6 5 682
Air Pollution in Major Cities                 18 5 093 18 5 093
Bushcare 305 16 909 114 10 524 334 19 689 245 24 661 27 25 861 1887 162 893
Coastcare A 290 2 007 133 1 028 334 2 807 218 3 986     1557 16 771
Coasts and Clean Seas 33 3 223 59 7 242 44 6 144 53 5 192 15 2 261 374 48 528
Endangered Species Program 37 1 524 27 2 151 42 2 695 59 5 045 44 5 554 321 23 559
Farm Forestry Program 18 1 474 20 1 362 37 3 290 13 3 282     153 16 274
Fisheries Action Program 12 446 15 1 129 14 622 13 723     109 4 742
Indigenous Management of Protected Areas 9 562 6 324 4 146 8 593     42 2 409
Invasive Species Program (EA) 1 40     1 25 4 383 5 296 20 908
Landcare Tax Credits                 1 499 1 499
Murray-Darling 2001 173 11 732     216 51 485     2 5 907 839 120 678
NHT World Heritage Program 29 1 417 21 15 315     53 2 151     282 48 603
National Feral Animal Control Program 2 496 5 947 9 912 5 494 14 1 735 48 5 795
National Land & Water Resources Audit 2 265     1 97 2 515 6 20 967 12 22 002
National Landcare Program 240 39 778 138 12 582 338 43 289 286 45 521 1 5 700 2007 261 819
National Moorings Program 1 56 1 9     1 75 1 136 7 421
National Reserves Program 14 2 778 6 775 16 1 752 38 5 128 3 87 117 31 265
National River Health Program 2 840     1 65 2 331     13 2 149
National Rivercare Program 27 2 388 65 6 539 34 3 769 73 9 005     388 37 349
National Weeds Program             1 35 5 410 11 3 773
National Wetlands Program 23 957 21 512 23 794 21 644 25 3 552 174 10 262
Oceans Policy                 2 166 2 166
Pre-Bushcare 75 359 47 356 74 449 59 548 2 300 360 3 043
Riverworks Tasmania     37 7 916             37 7 916
Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement     27 3 164             27 3 164
Tasmanian Strategic Natural Heritage Program     5 13 357             5 13 357
Waste Management Awareness Program     1 400 1 100     11 1 459 18 2 484
Waterwatch 8 1 043 16 1 077 8 1 383 6 1 024 5 499 105 8 415
Totals 1 302 89 074 765 87 081 1 532 141 270 1 160 109 336 187 80 482 8 940 870 019

ACoastcare is jointly funded by the Commonwealth, through the Natural Heritage Trust, and the States and Northern Territory.
These total project costs are combined Commonwealth and State/NT funds

Source: Environment Australia

In 1999 to 2000, those projects under NHT funding and directly related to biodiversity conservation (the NRSP and the ESP) received a total of $17.2 million (Table 63). This amount has grown considerably since 1996 to 1997, although as a proportion of total NHT spending, has fallen to 5.7% after an outlay of 7.8% in 1998-99. Projections to 2001-02 indicate that this proportion will rise again to around 8.1% of total NHT funding.

New South Wales receives the most funding for biodiversity-related projects funded under the NHT with a total of 2329 projects receiving $189 million. Victoria and Queensland closely follow with around $142 million. Nationally, around $870 million has been spent on NHT projects with the National Landcare Program receiving the greatest funding.

Parks and conservation expenditure [BD Indicators 13.4 and 24.7]

Budget allocations to the prime nature conservation agency in each jurisdiction are one measure of expenditure. Total expenditure by parks and conservation services in each state (Table 65) shows that New South Wales has by far the largest budget at over $220 million. However, estimates of expenditure per person for each state reveals that although it has a small total budget, the Northern Territory has the largest expenditure per capita. Tasmania, with the smallest area and population, has the second highest expenditure per person on protected areas of all the states ($55.82 per head).

Table 65: Total expenditure on Protected Areas by State and Territory, 1998 to 1999
Data on spending across jurisdictions are rarely comparable, given different accounting and budget reporting formats.
  NSWA NTB SAC VicD QldE TasF WAG
Total expenditure ($000) 224 512 35 696 64 826 114 817 169 398 26 345 40 010
Population (No.) 6 342 000 190 000 1 487 000 4 661 000 3 456 000 472 000 1 831 000
Expenditure per person ($/head) 35.40 187.87 43.60 24.63 49.02 55.82 21.85

Annual Reports for:A NSW NPWS (1999); B PWC of the Northern Territory;C National Parks and Botanic Gardens (1999), Department of Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs;D Parks Victoria (1999);E Environment Protection Agency (1999) (including the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service);F Department of Primary Industries Water and Environment, National Parks and Public Land Management Services (1999);G Conservation and Land Management, Nature Conservation Division.

Source: ABS (1999c) and Annual Reports for state government agencies.

Within each jurisdiction, investment is spread across a range of activities. However, both in practice and as reflecting through reported budgets, these allocations are not comparable. For example, expenditure in some states and territories on research and law enforcement is recorded separately, while in others it is not. An example of the allocation of expenditure within a nature conservation agency is provided by the Northern Territory PWC. These data reveal that most of the expenses (42%) are incurred in park management (Table 66); scientific services account for 22% of total expenditure.

Table 66: Northern Territory Parks and Wildlife Commission expenditure by activity
Activity Expenditure ($000)
Alice Springs Desert Park 3 290
Bushfire Protection 3 645
Community Service Obligation 2 825
Corporate Management 2 823
Park Management 15 111
Scientific Services 8 002
Total 35 696

Source: PWC (1999).