Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve
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Plan of Management Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve © 2019 State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage With the exception of photographs, the State of NSW and Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH) are pleased to allow this material to be reproduced in whole or in part for educational and non-commercial use, provided the meaning is unchanged and its source, publisher and authorship are acknowledged. Specific permission is required for the reproduction of photographs. OEH has compiled this publication in good faith, exercising all due care and attention. No representation is made about the accuracy, completeness or suitability of the information in this publication for any particular purpose. OEH shall not be liable for any damage that may occur to any person or organisation taking action or not on the basis of this publication. Readers should seek appropriate advice when applying the information to their specific needs. All content in this publication is owned by OEH and is protected by Crown Copyright, unless credited otherwise. It is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0), subject to the exemptions contained in the licence. The legal code for the licence is available at Creative Commons. OEH asserts the right to be attributed as author of the original material in the following manner: © State of New South Wales and Office of Environment and Heritage 2019. This plan of management was adopted by the Minister for the Environment on 21 February 2019. Acknowledgments This plan of management was prepared by staff of the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), part of the Office of Environment and Heritage (OEH). NPWS acknowledges that the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve is in the traditional Country of the Gundungurra and Wiradjuri peoples. For additional information about this reserve or this plan of management contact: Jenolan Caves, 4655 Jenolan Caves Road NSW 2790, telephone 1300 76 33 11; or NPWS Kanangra Area, PO Box 330 Oberon NSW 2787, telephone +61 2 6336 1972. Front cover photographs: Left, Pool of Reflections in the River Cave (Jenolan Caves Reserve Trust/OEH). Centre, Brush-tailed rock-wallaby, Petrogale penicillata (Rosie Nicolai/OEH). Right, Historic Jenolan Caves House (Rosie Nicolai/OEH). Published by: Office of Environment and Heritage 59–61 Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW 2000 PO Box A290, Sydney South NSW 1232 Phone: +61 2 9995 5000 (switchboard) Phone: 1300 361 967 (OEH and national parks enquiries) Fax: +61 2 9995 5999 TTY users: phone 133 677 then ask for 1300 361 967 Email: [email protected] Website: www.environment.nsw.gov.au Report pollution and environmental incidents Environment Line: 131 555 (NSW only) or [email protected] See also www.environment.nsw.gov.au/pollution ISBN 978-1-925755-56-5 OEH2019/0099 Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve Plan of Management, February 2019 Printed on environmentally sustainable paper ii Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve Plan of Management Foreword The Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve is part of the Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area and located in the south-east highlands of New South Wales, near Oberon and south-west of Katoomba. The reserve covers an area of 3,085 hectares and is part of the traditional Country of the Gundungurra and Wiradjuri Aboriginal People. The reserve protects important and iconic caves, State heritage-listed buildings, the upper reaches of Sydney’s drinking water catchment, threatened plant and animal species, as well as a wide range of cave-dependent plants and animals. The reserve also protects several Aboriginal sites and provides the opportunity to study landscape formation processes. The NSW National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 requires that a plan of management be prepared for each karst conservation reserve. A draft plan of management for the reserve was placed on exhibition from 25 October 2013 until 23 January 2014. The submissions received on the draft plan were carefully considered before adopting this plan. The plan contains several actions to protect our natural environment, including actions to monitor the karst system’s health, assist the recovery of threatened species and to control weeds and pest animals. The plan also provides for a range of sustainable recreation opportunities, including camping, bushwalking, caving, cycling and horse riding. This plan of management establishes the scheme of operations for the Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve. In accordance with section 73B of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, this plan is hereby adopted. Gabrielle Upton MP Minister for the Environment iii Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve Plan of Management Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Location, reservation and regional setting ....................................................................... 1 1.2 Statement of significance ................................................................................................ 2 2. Management context ........................................................................................................ 5 2.1 Legislative and policy framework ..................................................................................... 5 2.2 Management purposes and principles ............................................................................. 9 2.3 Specific management directions .................................................................................... 15 3. Values .............................................................................................................................. 17 3.1 Geology, landscape and hydrology ............................................................................... 17 3.2 Native plants and animals ............................................................................................. 26 3.3 Aboriginal heritage ........................................................................................................ 33 3.4 Historic heritage ............................................................................................................ 35 3.5 Visitor use ..................................................................................................................... 38 3.6 Information, education and research ............................................................................. 47 4. Issues .............................................................................................................................. 50 4.1 Pests ............................................................................................................................. 50 4.2 Fire ............................................................................................................................... 58 4.3 Climate change ............................................................................................................. 60 5. Management operations and other uses ....................................................................... 63 5.1 Management facilities and operations ........................................................................... 63 5.2 Non-NPWS uses and operations ................................................................................... 68 6. Implementation ............................................................................................................... 71 Appendix A: Precinct maps ................................................................................................... 79 Appendix B: Environmental performance standards and indicators for leases and licences (See National Parks and Wildlife Act Section 151D) ...................................... 88 Appendix C: Developed, semi-developed and undeveloped caves of the reserve ............ 93 Appendix D: Threatened animals of the reserve and their listing and recovery planning status ....................................................................................................................... 94 Appendix E: Weeds of the reserve ........................................................................................ 96 Glossary .................................................................................................................................. 98 References ............................................................................................................................ 101 iv Jenolan Karst Conservation Reserve Plan of Management List of figures Figure 1: Locality map ............................................................................................................... vi Figure 2: Reserve features ......................................................................................................... 7 Figure 11: Sydney Drinking Water Catchment .......................................................................... 13 Figure 12: Karst extent ............................................................................................................. 18 Figure 13: Wilderness and reserve additions ............................................................................ 25 Figure 14: Vegetation classes ................................................................................................... 29 Figure 15: Weed mapping ........................................................................................................ 54 List of tables