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Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resources Native Vegetation Management Unit

Email: nvc@sa.gov.au
Phone: (08) 8303 9777 www.environment.sa.gov.au

Thursday 7 May 2015

NATIVE VEGETATION HERITAGE AGREEMENTS MILESTONE

Viewing native grasses at a potential Heritage Agreement site

Staff of the Native Vegetation Management Unit of DEWNR recently visited the property of Lyndall Beck (centre in the above image) at Bull Creek to assess the site for placing under a voluntary Heritage Agreement.  Tanya Milne (left), Alicia Wieczorek (far right) and Sybille Thorpe (second from right) heard that Lyndall belongs to the Prospect Hill Conservation Cluster Bushland Restoration Project supported by the Goolwa to Wellington Local Action Planning Association.  "My primary reason for placing the site under a Heritage Agreement is to preserve the biodiversity conservation I have begun" Lyndall said.  The area under consideration is close to 20 hectares of Stringybark and pink gum forest. 

Native Vegetation Heritage Agreements are a Statewide private conservation covenant mechanism unique to South Australia.  The scheme was introduced in 1980 because of concern over excessive native vegetation clearance in the agricultural region of the State. 

There are currently 2,831 properties under Heritage Agreements in SA, ensuring the long term protection of over 985,913ha of the States original vegetation.  The Native Vegetation Council is hoping to reach one million hectares of private land under conservation this year. 

How does this compare with conservation overall?

In the agricultural regions 1,713,673ha of land is conserved under the National Parks and Wildlife Act.  Native Vegetation Heritage Agreements add substantially to the conservation estate of SA.

The number of hectares under these Heritage Agreements captures 73 million tonnes of carbon per year.  This is the equivalent of the average greenhouse gas emissions from 14 million cars for a year.  In 2014 Australia had just over 17 million cars. 

For information on joining the Heritage Agreement scheme, resources can be found here

CALL CENTRE ESTABLISHED

Currently we are transferring first point of contact for native vegetation enquiries to offices of regional Natural Resource Management. This is expected to be completed by June 2015. During the transition, a temporary answering service has been established to process enquiries.

Any native vegetation related phone enquiries to the general number for the Native Vegetation Management Unit (8303 9777) are being directed to a message centre that records the nature of the enquiry and immediately emails the Unit.

If you have any questions regarding this process, please contact Russell Seaman, Manager of the Native Vegetation Management Unit on 8303 9636.

NATIVE VEGETATION & HEALTHY PRODUCTION SYSTEMS

The substantial benefits of healthy native vegetation to agricultural production systems have again been revealed - this time in a report to the Kangaroo Island Natural Resources Management Board.

Scientist Richard Glatz recently presented his findings to the Management Board from a search of the published literature on the subject..  Dr Glatz found that environmental systems supply 'ecosystem services' such as fresh air, clean water and a natural balance.  On the island, native vegetation near paddocks gives several significant benefits that would otherwise need to be supplied by costly measures.

He reported that native plants support high numbers of invertebrates beneficial to primary production and help support biological control agents. He said that recent grower advice from the Grains Research and Development Corporation supports this.

In another project, Dr Glatz and others in the horticultural area of the northern Adelaide plains reduced viral attack and introduced beneficial insects by planting native vegetation around crops.

According to Dr Glatz, the integrated pest management approach is markedly reducing the frequency of spraying and thus costs, along with improving the yield and quality of fruit.

Dr Glatz's full report is available here or phone for a copy to be emailed; 08 8303 9679.

REGISTER FOR BIODIVERSITY CARBON INCENTIVE PROGRAM

Under an initiative to provide ongoing, long term support for landholders caring for biodiverse vegetation on their land, Greening Australia and its partners are offering small annual grants under the Biodiverse Carbon Conservation (BCC) program.

If your land is deemed suitable, BCC will bear the cost of assessing your property, registration with the Government’s Clean Energy Regulator, managing risk and providing agreements.

Initial enquiries and provisional registration are risk and cost free for landholders. Full participation in the program also has no cost.

The program applies to biodiverse revegetation projects totalling at least 50ha or more on one property.  Multiple properties can qualify.  If you control or manage land like this, you may qualify for an assessment of your land’s suitability for BCC’s Biodiversity Stewardship Funding if:

a) The revegetation was created after 2007 and mainly involves trees planted for biodiversity outcomes

b) There are limited or no encumbrances over the planted area

c) There is a clear intention to keep the vegetation permanently

d) The land was planted voluntarily.

An offer of access to funding may be made if your property meets the assessment criteria and is provisionally registered with the Clean Energy Regulator before 30th June 2015.

Registrations need to be collated by 29th May.  Telephone Canopy on 08 8374 2369 or email info@canopy.org.au by 18 May for further information.