Park Values Workshop

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Park Values Workshop

• Charmaine Pountney
• Penny Figgis
• What are the values of parks for future
  generations, in a global community? What is the
  future of parks what role do parks play for the
  community in a sustainable future?

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PARKS FORUM Melbourne 2006

• Penelope Figgis AO
• Vice Chair Australia and New Zealand
• IUCN World Commission on Protected Areas

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Where we have come from

• Save the!! just fill in the space
• Save the green, tall, wet places
• Save means a legal national park
• Parks government the conservation movement
• Indigenous people - a heritage issue, not a
  living cultural issue
• Farmers - arent they the problem ?
• Tourism - isnt it the problem?
• Isnt private a dirty word?

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Drivers of change

• The recalcitrant development paradigm
• Population growth poor governance
• Science
• Constant biodiversity decline
• Climate change
• Daunting threats feral, weeds, pathogens
• International forums
• Indigenous rights
• Retreat of government

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The way we are heading 2006

• Save the flat, beige, dry places too
• Save the blue wet bits too
• Saving - adding Resilience to CARR
• Parks many players
• Indigenous issues - an issue of living cultural
  and equity
• Farmers - arent they potential partners ?
• Tourism - isnt it a potential partner?
• Isnt private a vital word?

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Saving the flat beige land

• Individuals scientists - Pressey
• Major drivers - CAR
• Major framework - IBRA
• Good information - National Audits,
• The Australian Terrestrial Biodiversity
  Assessment
• 2025 a complete suite of 15 of every
  terrestrial bioregion in Australia

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Question 1.

• The beauty of natural land and seascapes has
  always been a great motivator for conservation.
  Can we get the community to care about the
  conservation of flat beige lands and
  non-charismatic creatures?

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Save the jewel seas too

• Global marine PAs barely 1
• Coastal environments most under stress
• Marine biodiversity - some of richest but least
  understood
• Support productive seas, major industries
• Increasingly under pressure
• IMCRA
• Regional planning

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Saving is more complex

• Islands to Networks Riverland/Gondwana/Gippsland
  /Great Escarpment/Capricornia
• PAs alone wont protect biodiversity
• All threats beyond borders
• 2050 Continental scale land and sea
• mosaics, with a shared vision, core PAS
• and cooperative management on all
• tenures

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Question 2.

• Will these multiple use corridors and multiple
  use marine parks lead to a better conservation
  future (or blur and confuse an urban public about
  parks and lead to greater development pressures
  in parks)?

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Parks in many forms

• Private parks/wildlife sanctuaries( ABHF 23 over
  670,000 ha, AWC 14 over 917,000 ha)
• Parks on private, corporate, defence land
• Parks managed by indigenous communities, local
  government, tourist interests
• 2050 The nations PA estate will comprise
• many lands and seas owned and managed by
• many entities but with the core lands still
  managed
• by governments.

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Parks need many partners

• Parks need creators/users/friends/
• workers/researchers/financiers
• People to actively contribute land/seas for all
  benefits
• People - constituencies of political and
  financial support
• 2050 Many people/groups creating and supporting
  parks for their own and future benefits

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Question 3.

• Will these new conservation entities and players
  lead to a retreat of government from seeing
  protection of the environment as a fundamental
  task for government?

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Indigenous involvement

• Acknowledgement as original custodians
• 17 of landmass, most intact areas
• Co-management, MOUs /Indigenous Land Use
  Agreements
• 19 IPAs managing 13.8m ha
• Gathering traditional knowledge
• Long term success needs capacity building,
  consistent funding, sharing benefits
• 2050 Indigenous Australians strongly involved
• in managing land and sea.

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Question 4.

• In the past parks were only considered
  protected if they were protected by law.
  Should we consider voluntary and contractual
  models part of the protected area system?

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Private landowners

• Essential to CARR, especially RR
• Essential to connectivity across the landscape
• Essential to community support
• Roll out and fund the full tool kit over time
• 2050 Private Landholders fully engaged in a
  quiet revolution of sustainable agriculture and
  biodiversity conservation

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Tourism - allies or barbarians at the gate?

• Parks are the MAJOR tourism asset of Australia
• Good proposals /good intentions
• Real cooperation for good mutual outcomes
• Regional integrated planning
• 2050 Great experiences in a healthy
• landscape, on a memorable journey,
• returning real benefits and new
• supporters

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Question 5.

• Parks have been sanctuaries from the commercial
  drive which governs most of the earth. Can
  tourism , a commercial industry really assist in
  securing our natural and cultural heritage?

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The flat beige land
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The broad community is involved
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Indigenous land and sea country/people/knowledge
play an important role