Parliamentary Questions

(a) will the Minister please list the Priority Protection Areas (PPA) that have had area-specific management strategies, activities and opportunities for partnered investment developed to date; and
(b) will the Minister please list the PPA that have had area-specific management strategies, activities and opportunities for partnered investment developed and implemented to date?
(2) Will the Minister detail the steps involved in the prioritisation process that will be used to determine when the remaining area specific management plans will be completed?
(3) If no to (2), why not?
(4) When is the estimated date of completion of area specific management strategies for all PPA?
Answered on 13 March 2018

(1)(a)-(b) In accordance with Section 55(1) of the Conservation and Land Management Act 1984 (CALM Act), management plans contain a statement of policies and guidelines proposed to be followed and operations proposed to be undertaken. The following management plans prepared by the Conservation and Parks Commission through the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) intersect with priority protection areas (PPAs):

• Albany coast parks and reserves 2017
• Esperance and Recherche parks and reserve 2016
• Fitzgerald River National Park 1991
• Forest Management Plan 2014-2023
• Kalbarri National Park 2015
• Lane Poole Reserve and proposed reserve additions 2011
• Leeuwin-Naturaliste capes area parks and reserves 2015
• Lesueur National Park and Coomallo Nature Reserve 1995
• Perup 2012
• Shannon and D’Entrecasteaux national parks 2012
• Stirling Range and Porongurup national parks 1999
• Swan Coast Plain south 2016
• Walpole Wilderness and adjacent parks and reserves 2008
• Yanchep and Neerabup parks and reserves 2012.

The management plans cover more than 80 per cent of the area of PPAs on DBCA-managed land and include proposed operations, often called management actions, related to Phytophthora dieback and plant disease. [See Tabled Paper No. #].

(2) In consultation with the Conservation and Parks Commission, DBCA regularly reviews the management planning priorities for CALM Act lands and waters across Western Australia. The process considers:

• key values of the planning area in terms of representation of significant species, habitat value, cultural significance, tourism, recreation and commercial opportunities;
• pressure susceptibility, anticipated increase in pressures and impact of those pressures on the Key Performance Indicators;
• social and policy context, particularly Government initiatives, enabling formal joint management of conservation reserves with traditional owners, and the adequacy of current management arrangements; and
• risk and associated consequences of not preparing or reviewing a plan.

(3) Not applicable.

(4) It is not possible to provide a specific timeline as preparation of management plans will be regularly reviewed in line with the process identified in the response to question (2).