 | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | 1 November 1971 |
| Jurisdiction | Government of Tasmania |
| Agency executive |
|
| Parent agency | Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment (Tasmania) |
| Website | parks |
Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service is the government body responsible for managing protected areas of Tasmania on public land, such as national parks, historic sites and regional reserves. Historically it has also had responsibility for managing wildlife, including game.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service was set up on 1 November 1971 after controversy surrounding the proposal to flood Lake Pedder and the unsuccessful attempts to prevent the project going ahead. [1] A Select Committee formed from the interested parties recommended the establishment of a professional park service to properly manage the natural environment in Tasmania, and to replace the former Scenery Preservation [2] and Animals & Birds Protection Boards, [3] previously responsible for scenic reserves (including national parks) and wildlife sanctuaries respectively.
The new service initially had a staff of 59 under inaugural Director Peter Murrell. [4] [5] [6] The National Parks and Wildlife Act 1970 had made new provisions for the conservation of fauna and flora and the establishment and management of national parks and reserves. Existing national parks at the time included Ben Lomond, Cradle Mountain-Lake St Clair, Freycinet, Mt Field, Rocky Cape and Southwest. Former wildlife sanctuaries Mount William, Maria Island and Narawntapu were set up as national parks and Macquarie Island designated a nature reserve.
The creation of an Archaeology Section within the service followed the passing of the Aboriginal Relics Act 1975 . In the following year Precipitous Bluff was incorporated into the Southwest National Park. Controversy in 1979 over the proposed Lower Gordon hydro-electric power scheme, which would have flooded the Franklin River, led to the creation of the Franklin-Lower Gordon Wild Rivers National Park in 1981 (construction of the dam was stopped by a Federal Court ruling in 1983). The Walls of Jerusalem National Park was also created in June 1981.
Until 1987 the service operated relatively independently and, since then, has had a chequered history within the structure of the Tasmanian bureaucracy, being initially merged in that year with the Department of Lands, to form the Department of Lands, Parks and Wildlife, [7] and relocated to new premises.
In 1989 the Department of Lands, Parks and Wildlife split to become the Department of Environment and Planning [8] and the Department of Parks, Wildlife and Heritage, [9] which managed Crown land as well as the reserves, and with duties to conserve wildlife and historic heritage sites. The Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens and the Port Arthur Historic Site Management Authority also became part of this new Department.
In the same year the Douglas-Apsley National Park, important for its dry sclerophyll forests, was established in the east of the state. The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area was expanded to include the Central Plateau Conservation Area. With other additions the World Heritage Area increased to 13,800 square kilometres (5,300 sq mi), approximately 20% of Tasmania's land area.
In 1991, Tasmania's first marine protected areas were established at Maria Island, Governor Island, Tinderbox and Ninepin Point, and the service's original Director, Peter Murrell, retired. Also in that year, an existing reserve known since 1951 as Hartz Mountains National Park was formally named as such.
On 3 February 1993, the Department once again merged, this time becoming the Department of Environment and Land Management (DELM), [10] with the Parks and Wildlife Service functioning as a separate division. [11] In that year the introduction of park fees allowed the service to fund projects aimed at visitors including visitor centres and official trails.
In 1995 several areas of land previously managed by the service were transferred to the Aboriginal Land Council of Tasmania and an Aboriginal Heritage Unit was created to provide training for Aboriginal community members, to help facilitate their advising on Aboriginal heritage management.
In 1996 the Mole Creek Karst National Park was created and South Bruny National Park followed in October 1997.
Under the 1998 Tasmanian Regional Forest Agreement (RFA) an extra 3,960 square kilometres (1,530 sq mi) of public land were added to Tasmania's reserves, expanding the amount of public land in reserves by 17%. The RFA also expanded Mount William and Freycinet National Parks, and created Tasman and Savage River National Parks. Offsetting these gains were 700 square kilometres (270 sq mi) of reserves that were made available for forestry development.
A further departmental merger occurred after the 1998 state elections with the Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, and the Government Analytical and Forensic Laboratories (GAFL) coming on board, creating the Department of Primary Industries, Water and Environment (DPIWE). The Parks and Wildlife Service was split into two separate divisions: the Resource Management and Conservation Division had responsibility for natural and cultural resources, and the Parks and Wildlife Service covered Tasmania's parks, reserves and World Heritage Areas.
In April 1999 an existing reserve on Flinders Island, known since 1967 as Strzelecki National Park, was formally named as such.
In August 2000, state waters surrounding sub-antarctic Macquarie Island were declared a marine protected area around 747 square kilometres (288 sq mi) in area.
In December 2001 three Bass Strait islands, Deal, Erith and Dover, were declared part of the Kent Group National Park and, in 2005, marine protected areas were created there and at Port Davey-Bathurst Harbour.
The Parks and Wildlife Service was separated from the DPIWE following the 2002 state elections, becoming part of the Department of Tourism, Parks, Heritage and the Arts (DTPHA), while the Resource Management and Conservation Division remained part of the DPIWE.
In April 2006 the DTPHA incorporated the Environment Division from the DPIWE, becoming the Department of Tourism, Arts and the Environment [12] and, subsequently, in March 2008, the Department of Environment, Parks, Heritage and the Arts (DEPHA). [13]
In 2007 the Tasmanian Coast Conservation Fund was established. Tour company operator Robert Pennicott, founder of Bruny Island Cruises and Tasman Island Cruises, came together with environmental group WILDCARE to establish the fund. While operating separately to the Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service, the fund is used to provide funding to the Parks and Wildlife Service to assist in environmental protection and conservation projects in Tasmania's National Parks. [14]
From July 2009, the DEPHA ceased to exist, and the Parks and Wildlife Service became part of the new Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE).
From December 2021 the name of the Parks and Wildlife Service's parent department was changed to the Department of Natural Resources and Environment.
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Protected areas of Australia include Commonwealth and off-shore protected areas managed by the Australian government, as well as protected areas within each of the six states of Australia and two self-governing territories, the Australian Capital Territory and the Northern Territory, which are managed by the eight state and territory governments.
Protected areas of Tasmania consist of protected areas located within Tasmania and its immediate onshore waters, including Macquarie Island. It includes areas of crown land managed by Tasmanian Government agencies as well as private reserves. As of 2016, 52% of Tasmania's land area has some form of reservation classification, the majority is managed by the Tasmania Parks & Wildlife Service. Marine protected areas cover about 7.9% of state waters.
Cradle Mountain–Lake St Clair National Park is located in the Central Highlands area of Tasmania (Australia), 165 kilometres (103 mi) northwest of Hobart. The park contains many walking trails, and is where hikes along the well-known Overland Track usually begin. Major features are Cradle Mountain and Barn Bluff in the northern end, Mount Pelion East, Mount Pelion West, Mount Oakleigh and Mount Ossa in the middle and Lake St Clair in the southern end of the park. The park is part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.
The South Bruny National Park is a national park located on Bruny Island, Tasmania, Australia, about 50 kilometres (31 mi) south of Hobart. The park contains the Cape Bruny Lighthouse. The highest point of the park is Mount Bruny at 504 metres (1,654 ft).
Southwest National Park is an Australian national park located in the south-west of Tasmania, bounded by the Franklin-Gordon Wild Rivers National Park to the north and the Hartz Mountains National Park to the east. It is a part of a chain of national parks and state reserves that make up the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area. Covering an area of 6,183 km2 (2,387 sq mi), it is Tasmania's largest national park.
The Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area, abbreviated to TWWHA, is a World Heritage Site in Tasmania, Australia. It is one of the largest conservation areas in Australia, covering 15,800 km2 (6,100 sq mi), or almost 25 per cent of Tasmania. It is also one of the last expanses of temperate wilderness in the world, and includes the South West Wilderness.
Bruny Island is a 362-square-kilometre (140 sq mi) island located off the southeastern coast of Tasmania, Australia. The island is separated from the Tasmanian mainland by the D'Entrecasteaux Channel, and its east coast lies within the Tasman Sea. Located to the island's northeast Storm Bay, is the river mouth to the Derwent River estuary, and serves as the main port of Hobart, Tasmania's capital city. Both the island and the channel are named after French explorer, Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux. Its traditional Aboriginal name is lunawanna-allonah, which survives as the name of two island settlements, Alonnah and Lunawanna.
The Tarkine, officially takayna / Tarkine, is an area containing the Savage River National Park in the north west Tasmania, Australia, which contains significant areas of wilderness. The Tarkine is noted for its beauty and natural values, containing the largest area of Gondwanan cool-temperate rainforest in Australia, as well as for its prominence in Tasmania's early mining history. The area's high concentration of Aboriginal sites has led to it being described by the Australian Heritage Council as "one of the world's great archaeological regions".
The Clarke Island, also known by its Indigenous name of lungtalanana, part of the Furneaux Group, is an 82-square-kilometre (32 sq mi) island in Bass Strait, south of Cape Barren Island, about 24 kilometres (15 mi) off the northeast coast of Tasmania, Australia. Banks Strait separates the island from Cape Portland on the mainland. Clarke Island is the third-largest island in the Furneaux Group, and Tasmania's eighth largest island.
Bush Heritage Australia is a non-profit organisation with headquarters in Melbourne, Australia, that operates throughout Australia. It was previously known as the Australian Bush Heritage Fund. Its vision is: Healthy Country, Protected Forever.
The National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) is a directorate of the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment and responsible for managing more than 890 national parks and reserves, covering over 7.5 million hectares of land across the state of New South Wales, Australia. Despite its name the NPWS is a state government agency rather than federal government, likewise as other states and territories National Parks agencies around Australia. However the states and territories agencies around Australia do still work closely together.
The Tasmanian Coast Conservation Fund is a non-profit charitable fund dedicated to providing funding for the preservation of national parks in Tasmania. The fund was established in 2007 by Pennicott Wilderness Journeys in partnership with WILDCARE Inc to support coastal reserve land management, marine mammal and seabird conservation.
An Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) is a class of protected area used in Australia; each is formed by voluntary agreement with Indigenous Australians, and declared by Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islander representative organisations. Each is formally recognised by the Australian Government as being part of its National Reserve System. The areas may comprise land and sea, and are managed by Indigenous groups for the conservation of biodiversity. Managing IPAs also helps to protect the cultural values of their country for future generations, and has benefits for Indigenous health, education, economic and social cohesion.
The Fitzroy Islands comprise a group of four rocky islets that lie within the upper reaches of Payne Bay in Port Davey, an oceanic inlet, located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia. The islands have a combined area of approximately 0.18 hectares and are contained with the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site and the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve.
The Department of Environment, Parks, Heritage and the Arts (DEPHA) was a government department of the Australian state of Tasmania, that included many of the agencies that manage Tasmania's natural and cultural heritage. As at 1 July 2010 it was amalgamated with the Department of Primary Industries and Water to form the Department of Primary Industries, Parks, Water and Environment (DPIPWE).
Munday Island is a small island that lies between Port Davey, an oceanic inlet, and Bathurst Channel, located in the south west region of Tasmania, Australia. The island is contained with the Southwest National Park, part of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Site and the Port Davey/Bathurst Harbour Marine Nature Reserve.
The Peter Murrell Conservation Area is located in Huntingfield, Tasmania, approximately 15 km (9.3 mi) south of the state's capital city, Hobart. The conservation area has an area of 135 ha and is one of three reserves within the Peter Murrell Reserves. Also within these reserves are the Peter Murrell State Reserve and a Public Reserve. These reserves and the Conservation Area lie at the base of the Tinderbox Peninsula, between the suburbs of Kingston, Howden and Blackman's Bay. The Peter Murrell Conservation Area surrounds the northern, western and southern sides of the Peter Murrell State Reserve.
Lake Flannigan is a natural freshwater lake on King Island, Tasmania, Australia, situated four kilometres south of the Cape Wickham Lighthouse, in the northern locality of Wickham.
Sea Spurge Remote Area Teams (SPRATS) is an environment care group founded in 2007, using a volunteer adventure conservation model. The initial primary purpose of the group, made up of a number of teams, is to remove the invasive sea spurge flowering plant.