A workshop for local government

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Being Aware about Biodiversity

• A workshop for local government
• outdoor officers

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About the presenter(Facilitator to insert own
information)

• Name
• Background
• Qualifications
• Current employment/business
• Connection with/ interest in the Parramatta River
  catchment

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What is today about?

• Understanding yours and councils legal
  responsibilities
• Checking your performance
• Sharing experiences with peers
• Tips for what to do - and not do
• Knowing who else to talk to in council

4
Who is here today?

• Please introduce yourself
• Name
• Where you are from
• Your job at council

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The main issues

• Looking after habitat
• Managing weeds
• Using chemicals in the workplace
• Understanding impacts on water quality
• nutrients
• erosion
• sediment control
• stormwater runoff

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Workshop organised by the Parramatta River
Catchment Group
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What is good about Sydney?

• What do you like doing in your spare time?
• What do you like most about the natural
  environment in Sydney?
• Have you had any interesting experiences with
  native wildlife or in natural areas?

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Biodiversity what is it?

• The variety of living things and their
  interactions.
• Individuals - populations of single species and
  their habitat needs
• Ecosystems - the interactions within and between
  species
• Gene pools - the coding for the variety within
  species
• Example Wollemi Pine

In Sydney there are thousands of plant and animal
species. More diverse than all of Great Britain!
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Biodiversity in the Parramatta River catchment
Many important fish breeding sites
32 Endangered Fauna Species
31 Endangered Plant Species
12 Endangered Ecological Communities
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Remember the small things we sometimes cant see..
and what lies beneath
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Interactions of living things
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Why is Biodiversity important?

• It enhances our quality of life
• Natural areas provide breeding places for native
  animals
• Greater species diversity promotes survival of
  all life forms
• Genetic diversity is valuable for science and
  medicine
• It is the right thing to do. Plants and animals
  have a right to exist.
• Its the law!

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Any good news?

• If you had to tell a visitor a good news story
• about the condition of the Parramatta River,
• what would you say?

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Some Good NewsParramatta River Catchment

• Air quality is improving
• Water quality is improving
• Community awareness and involvement is on the
  increase
• Laws have more teeth and have been applied
  strongly in some cases
• Councils in the Sydney region are world leaders
  in rehabilitating degraded natural areas
• Council funding allocations have increased

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How we damage natural areas

• Pollution of land and water
• Clearing and damaging bushland areas
• Introducing weeds or feral animals
• Domestic animals
• Over use and
  inappropriate
  recreation

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Poor work practices

• Sediment and erosion control
• Tree management
• Chemical use and disposal
• Nutrient and stormwater runoff
• Dumping
• Poor clean up procedures (sites and equipment)
• Damage to soils
  (compaction and
  disturbance)

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Who cares about the environment?

• Biodiversity is one of the top 5 issues of
  concern
• 78 of people surveyed were concerned about
  environment problems

Source Who Cares About the Environment survey
DECCW 2009
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Community Expectations of Council
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NSW Local Government Act (1993)

• Councils responsibilities fall within the
• requirement for
• Ecologically Sustainable Development
• Takes into account future generations
• Puts environmental protection measures in place
• Values biodiversity

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Your everyday actions

• Think about something that you know to do/not do
  in the workplace for environmental reasons.
• E.g. Do put waste in the bin
• Do not pour waste oil down a drain

Council staff are role models! You are visible to
the community and they watch your practices as a
benchmark for what is acceptable.
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Your councils actions

• Name one thing that you or your council does well
  in
• relation to environmental management.
• How does this protect biodiversity?
• What have been the main reasons for this action
  taking place?

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The bigger picture
Or here
Rain falls here
Flows to here
A catchment is an area where all surface runoff
collects to a common point
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Courtesy of Fisheries Ecosystems section,
Industry Investment NSW
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The Parramatta River catchment from above
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Looking closer
Connecting Bidjigal Reserve, Lake Parramatta
Reserve and Upper Toongabbie Creek
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Closer again
Duck River and Waddangali Woodlands
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Look at the aerial photos laid out

• Find an area youre familiar with
• Can you see a site you work at?
• Your home?
• Where are some of the sensitive environments in
  your vicinity?
• How are they connected to your work activities
  and the Parramatta River?

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Tea break