A new Nature Conservation Bill introduced into the Legislative Assembly today forms a key part of the ACT Government’s commitment to a sustainable future for Canberra, Minister for the Environment, Simon Corbell, said today.
The Bill is a result of a review of the Nature Conservation Act 1980. The review has benefitted from several years’ work and input from a wide range of community organisations, stakeholders and interest groups.
“The new Nature Conservation Bill will strengthen the ACT’s existing nature conservation framework and complement the Nature Conservation Strategy, finalised in 2013, which outlines the principal strategies and actions for nature conservation in the ACT over the next decade,” Mr Corbell said.
“The Bill aims to update nature conservation processes and procedures to allow more efficient, flexible and effective application of nature conservation policy and importantly to make processes more accountable and transparent.
“This builds on the strong framework that the 1980 Act created by improving alignment of ACT law with those of other jurisdictions and strengthening consideration of climate change in the protection of threatened species and building resilient landscapes.
“The 1980 Act contained enforcement power provisions in three parts. These provisions have been consolidated to signal to the community a renewed commitment to enforcement and to simplify the administration of the new Act.”
Key aspects of the Bill include:
- an enhanced role for the Conservator of Flora and Fauna in monitoring and management for nature conservation
- an increased alignment between the ACT legislation and the Commonwealth Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999
- facilitation of more flexible and innovative approaches to management of species and ecosystems
- the addition of resource protection areas that will allow restricted access to parts of reserves to enhance rehabilitation efforts or protect sensitive breeding habitat of threatened species
For more information, visit www.environment.act.gov.au
(Simon Corbell Media Release)
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