Attachment 1 Conservation Assessment of Future Potential Production Forest land (FPPF land) A REPORT TO THE DEPARTMENT OF STATE GROWTH Natural and Cultural Heritage Division DPIPWE Executive summary................. .................................................................. 3 Introduction .. ........................................................................................... 4 Method .................................................................................................... 5 Natural Values (Flora and Fauna) ........ ....... ...... ............ ...... ............ ....... ...... ....... 6 Heritage Tasmania ...... ....... ...... ............ ...... ............ ....... ...... ............ ....... ...... ....... 7 Aboriginal Heritage ...... ....... ...... ............ ...... ............ ....... ...... ............ ....... ...... ....... 7 Constraints and Potential Causes of Error ............. ....... ...... ........... ................... .. 7 Results and Discussion ............................................................................. 8 Natural Values (Flora and Fauna) ........ ....... ...... ............ ...... ............ ....... ...... ..... .. 8 Th reatened Flora ......... ....... ...... ............ ....... ...... ............ ...... ............ ....... ...... ....... 8 Th reatened Fauna ....... ....... ...... ............ ...... ............ ....... ...... ............ ....... ...... ....... 9 Heritage Tasmania ...... ....... ...... ............ ...... ................... ...... ................... ...... ..... 10 Aboriginal Heritage ...... ....... ...... ............ ...... ............ ....... ...... ............ ....... ...... ..... 11 Aboriginal Site Significance .. .... ............... ...... .... .............. ........... ................... 12 Conclusion ............................................................................................. l 3 References ............................................................................................. l 4 Natural and Cultural Heritage Division DPIPWE 3 CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT OF FPPF LAND EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Tasmanian Government Department of State Growth (DSG) is currently preparing a Special Species Management Plan (SSMP), which is a requirement of the Forestry (Rebuilding the Forest Industry) Act 2014 (the Act). Section 12 (2) of the Act requires that, before causing a SSMP to be made, the Minister must, in relation to any Future Potential Production Forest land (FPPF land) that the Minister intends to include in the SSMP, undertake an assessment of the conservation values of that land. The Department of Primary Industries, Parks Water and Environment (DPIPWE) was asked by DSG to prepare a conservation assessment in order to meet the requirements of the Act. There are almost 400 000 ha of FPPF land, with the majority occurring in the north of Tasmania. Approximately 35,000 ha of FPPF land occurs within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA). DSG advised DPIPWE that FPPF land within the TWWHA would be specifically excluded from the SSMP, and hence this land has not been included in this assessment. The term “special species timbers” is defined in S. 3 of the Act as being timber of the following species: blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon); myrtle (Nothofagus cunninghamii); celery top pine (Phyllocladus aspleniifolius); sassafras (Atherosperma moschatum); Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii); and silver wattle (Acacia dealbata). With the exception of silver wattle, special species timbers occur within a range of habitats, including blackwood swamp forests, mixed forest (i.e lowland wet eucalypt forests with a rainforest understorey) and rainforest (Forestry Tasmania, 1998, 2010). This Report identifies the values known to occur on FPPF land that supports special species, and identifies the current mechanisms in place to protect those values. One hundred and sixteen threatened flora species and forty-eight threatened fauna species are known from the FPPF land. Two places entered on the Tasmanian Heritage Register (THR), and 365 Aboriginal Heritage (AH) sites occur on FPPF Land. Natural and Cultural Heritage Division DPIPWE 4 CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT OF FPPF LAND INTRODUCTION Legislative and policy context The Tasmanian Government Department of State Growth (DSG) is currently preparing a Special Species Management Plan (SSMP), which is a requirement of the Forestry (Rebuilding the Forest Industry) Act 2014 (the Act). DSG advised The Department of Primary Industries, Parks Water and Environment (DPIPWE) that the SSMP will seek to provide a framework that provides long term access to the industry for the harvest of special species timbers in Tasmania. In doing so, the SSMP will not in any way alter the operation of the Forest Practices System, and specifically the requirement for proponents to have a certified Forest Practices Plan (FPP) prior to the commencement of harvesting operations. Section 11 of the Act (which sets out an approval process for special species harvest applications on FPPF land) specifies that an application (which must be provided to the Crown Lands Minister) to undertake special species timber harvesting in FPPF land must contain a certified Forest Practices Plan (FPP). The Act (s. 12 (2)) requires that before causing an SSMP to be made, the Minister must “in relation to any future potential production forest land (FPPF land) that the Minister intends to include in the plan, undertake an assessment of the conservation values of that land”. The Act also requires that the SSMP contains information relating to: (i) the management of conservation values and other environmental values in relation to the harvesting of special species timber on that land; and (ii) the management of cultural and heritage values in relation to the harvesting of special species timber on that land. There are almost 400 000 ha of FPPF land, with the majority occurring in the north of Tasmania. Approximately 35,000 ha of FPPF land occurs within the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area (TWWHA). DSG advised DPIPWE that FPPF land within the TWWHA would be specifically excluded from the SSMP, and hence this land has not been included in the assessment. The underlying land tenure of FPPF land is largely unallocated crown land (with some land vested in other public authorities such as Hydro Tasmania). FPPF Land is managed by Crown Land Services, a unit of DPIPWE. This conservation assessment has been specifically undertaken by DPIPWE at the request of DSG to meet the requirements of the Act. DSG has asked that DPIPWE consider cultural and heritage values as well as conservation values. Natural and Cultural Heritage Division DPIPWE 5 CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT OF FPPF LAND Special species and listed values The term “special species timbers” is defined in s. 3 of the Forestry (RFI) Act as being timber of the following species: blackwood (Acacia melanoxylon); myrtle (Nothofagus cunninghamii); celery top pine (Phyllocladus aspleniifolius); sassafras (Atherosperma moschatum); Huon pine (Lagarostrobos franklinii); and silver wattle (Acacia dealbata). With the exception of silver wattle, special species timbers occur within a range of habitats, including blackwood swamp forests, mixed forest (i.e lowland wet eucalypt forests with a rainforest understorey) and rainforest (Forestry Tasmania, 1998, 2010). Montane rainforest is dominated by pencil pine and tends not to have special species (Forestry Tasmania, 1998) therefore this habitat has been discounted from the analysis. This report assesses listed values protected under the Threatened Species Protection Act 1995, Nature Conservation Act 2002, Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, Aboriginal Relics Act 1975, and Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995. METHOD A myriad of assessments have been undertaken over parts, or all, of the FPPF land over many decades. Published /source data has been captured to the greatest extent possible within Tasmanian Government, and Government Business Enterprise spatial data systems over the last 20-30 years. DPIPWE has undertaken a desktop assessment of the natural and cultural values within the FPPF land utilizing these spatial data systems. A list of natural and cultural values recorded within Forestry Tasmania’s spatial system (Conserve) provided to DPIPWE by DSG has been cross-referenced with values contained in the Natural Values Atlas (NVA), the Tasmanian Heritage Register (THR) and the Aboriginal Heritage Register (AHR) to ensure the list identifies all known values that may coincide with habitats likely to contain special species. The conservation assessment of these values determines: 1. which of the listed values will, or is likely to occur within habitat likely to contain special species, and; 2. which values are effectively managed through the Tasmanian Forest Practices System. This process provides for a comprehensive and systematic assessment of natural and cultural values and the management tools available to contribute to their conservation at a bioregional, coupe or local operations scale. The report also identifies species likely or known to occur in suitable habitat but for which no specific current management prescription exists, and recommends how this may be addressed. Natural and Cultural Heritage Division DPIPWE 6 CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT OF FPPF LAND For flora and fauna species, the habitat of each species has been checked against updated habitat descriptions from the Threatened Plant Adviser (which