Listed below are the key legislation and policy documents relating to biodiversity management.
NATIONAL
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999
The objectives of the EPBC Act are to:
- provide for the protection of the environment, especially matters of national environmental significance
- conserve Australian biodiversity
- provide a streamlined national environmental assessment and approvals process
- enhance the protection and management of important natural and cultural places
- control the international movement of plants and animals (wildlife), wildlife specimens and products made or derived from wildlife
- promote ecologically sustainable development through the conservation and ecologically sustainable use of natural resources
- recognise the role of Indigenous people in the conservation and ecologically sustainable use of Australia's biodiversity
- promote the use of Indigenous peoples' knowledge of biodiversity with the involvement of, and in cooperation with, the owners of the knowledge
Australia’s Native Vegetation Framework
Australia’s Native Vegetation Framework is an initiative of the COAG Standing Council on Environment and Water, which comprises representatives of each of the state and territory and Australian governments. The vision of the framework is that native vegetation is managed in an ecologically sustainable way that promotes its enduring environmental, economic, social, cultural and spiritual values. The framework is intended not only to guide the actions of governments but also to encourage and support the active involvement of the community and the private sector.
The framework sets out five goals:
- Increase the national extent and connectivity of native vegetation
- Maintain and improve the condition and function of native vegetation
- Maximise the native vegetation benefits of ecosystem service markets
- Build capacity to understand, value and manage native vegetation
- Advance the engagement and inclusion of Indigenous peoples in management of native vegetation.
STATE
Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988
The objectives of the Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act are to:
- guarantee that all taxa of Victoria's flora and fauna can survive, flourish and retain their potential for evolutionary development in the wild
- conserve Victoria's communities of flora and fauna
- manage potentially threatening processes
- ensure that any use of flora or fauna by humans is sustainable
- ensure that the genetic diversity of flora and fauna is maintained
- provide programs:
- of community education in the conservation of flora and fauna
- to encourage co-operative management of flora and fauna through, amongst other things, the entering into of land management co-operative agreements under the Conservation, Forests and Lands Act 1987
- of assisting and giving incentives to people, including landholders, to enable flora and fauna to be conserved encourage the conserving of flora and fauna through co-operative community endeavours
Victorian Biodiversity Strategy
The Victorian Government is developing a new Biodiversity Strategy to help us build a greater understanding of the complex interactions between our environment and the millions of plants and animals that call Victoria home
The Biodiversity Strategy is being developed alongside a review of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988, and the Native Vegetation Regulations in Victoria.
REGIONAL
North East Regional Catchment Strategy
The Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 specifies that each Victorian CMA must prepare a Regional Catchment Strategy for its region and coordinate and monitor its implementation.
The North East Regional Catchment Strategy:
• recognises the need to build on the achievements and lessons from the past
• provides a unifying vision for the ongoing use and management of natural resources in our region
• reinforces the clear link between natural resource management and productive agriculture
• reinforces the commitment to engage with the community.