Sub-Plan A: Conservation Program and Implementation
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series/program name (insert space if not needed) Sub-Plan A: Conservation Program and Implementation June 2020 NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment | industry.nsw.gov.au Published by NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment dpie.nsw.gov.au Title: Sub-Plan A: Conservation Program and Implementation Cover: A family enjoying the Australian Botanic Garden at Mount Annan, DPIE First published: August 2020 © State of New South Wales through Department of Planning, Industry and Environment 2020. You may copy, distribute, display, download and otherwise freely deal with this publication for any purpose, provided that you attribute the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment as the owner. However, you must obtain permission if you wish to charge others for access to the publication (other than at cost); include the publication in advertising or a product for sale; modify the publication; or republish the publication on a website. You may freely link to the publication on a departmental website. Disclaimer: The information contained in this publication is based on knowledge and understanding at the time of writing (June 2020) and may not be accurate, current or complete. The State of New South Wales (including the NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment), the author and the publisher take no responsibility, and will accept no liability, for the accuracy, currency, reliability or correctness of any information included in the document (including material provided by third parties). Readers should make their own inquiries and rely on their own advice when making decisions related to material contained in this publication. Sub-Plan A: Conservation Program and Implementation Contents Executive summary ........................................................................................................................ 1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 5 Strategic conservation planning in Western Sydney ..................................................................... 5 Purpose of Sub-Plan A .................................................................................................................. 6 Community and stakeholder engagement ..................................................................................... 7 Structure of Sub-Plan A ................................................................................................................. 9 Conservation framework .............................................................................................................. 11 The Plan Area ............................................................................................................................. 11 Conservation values .................................................................................................................... 13 Meeting the Plan’s vision ............................................................................................................. 14 Avoiding and minimising impacts on biodiversity ........................................................................ 17 Impacts on biodiversity ................................................................................................................ 18 Addressing impacts ..................................................................................................................... 20 Conservation program ................................................................................................................. 23 Commitments .............................................................................................................................. 25 The conservation priorities method ............................................................................................. 27 Avoiding and minimising impacts ................................................................................................ 30 Mitigating indirect and prescribed impacts .................................................................................. 37 Conserving flora, fauna and associated habitat .......................................................................... 41 Implementation through planning controls .................................................................................. 63 Managing landscape threats ....................................................................................................... 65 Building knowledge and capacity ................................................................................................ 73 Implementation and assurance ................................................................................................... 79 Implementation and Assurance Framework ................................................................................ 79 Governance ................................................................................................................................. 80 Funding ....................................................................................................................................... 83 Establishing conservation lands as offsets .................................................................................. 83 Delivery partners ......................................................................................................................... 93 Compliance ................................................................................................................................. 95 Evaluation program ...................................................................................................................... 98 About the evaluation program ..................................................................................................... 98 Monitoring .................................................................................................................................... 99 Evaluation .................................................................................................................................... 99 Reporting ................................................................................................................................... 100 Adaptive management for the Plan ........................................................................................... 100 Appendix A. Commitments and actions ................................................................................... 103 Appendix B. Avoidance criteria ................................................................................................. 132 Appendix C. Biodiversity values to be offset through the conservation program ............... 136 Appendix D. Conservation Priorities Method ........................................................................... 141 NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment | i Sub-Plan A: Conservation Program and Implementation Appendix E. Species and TEC-specific mitigation measures................................................. 172 Appendix F. Draft evaluation questions ................................................................................... 192 References ................................................................................................................................... 195 NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment | ii Sub-Plan A: Conservation Program and Implementation Executive summary The Cumberland Plain Conservation Plan (the Plan) has been developed to meet requirements for strategic biodiversity certification under the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 (NSW) (BC Act) and strategic assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (Cth) (EPBC Act). The Plan identifies strategically important biodiversity areas within the Cumberland subregion to offset the biodiversity impacts of future urban development, while ensuring the Western Parkland City is a vibrant and liveable city. Sub-Plan A: Conservation Program and Implementation (Sub-Plan A) supports the Plan by providing the framework for implementing the Plan’s conservation program. Sub-Plan A details the conservation program including its commitments and actions that will be required to realise the Plan’s vision to ‘support Western Sydney’s biodiversity and growth’ to 2056 and beyond. Significant conservation planning work has been undertaken to develop the Plan. This has involved identifying the biodiversity values of the area, understanding and assessing the potential impacts of future growth on these values, and developing a conservation program that can achieve biodiversity outcomes now and into the future. This is one of the largest conservation planning exercises ever undertaken in Australia. The conservation program is focused on establishing an enhanced network of conservation lands in the Plan Area to improve ecological resilience and function at a landscape scale and in perpetuity. The conservation program will meet commitments for five core categories: • avoiding and minimising biodiversity impacts as the critical first step for strategic conservation planning in Western Sydney • mitigating indirect and prescribed impacts from future development on biodiversity values through planning controls and environmental management systems • establishing new conservation lands as offsets in regionally strategic locations to protect the