Draft ACT Native Woodland Conservation Strategy April 2019 1 © Australian Capital Territory, Canberra 2019 This work is copyright. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission from: Director-General, Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate, ACT Government, GPO Box 158, Canberra ACT 2601 Telephone: 02 6207 1923. Website: www.environment.act.gov.au Privacy Before making a submission to this paper, please review the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate’s privacy policy and annex found at the Environment website. Any personal information received in the course of your submission will be used only for the purposes of this community engagement process. All or part of any submissions may be published on the directorate’s website or included in any subsequent consultation report. 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For more information on these services visit Relay Service website. 2 CONTENTS INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 6 i. Scope of the Strategy ................................................................................................................... 6 ii. Objectives of the Strategy ........................................................................................................... 6 iii. Structure of the Strategy ............................................................................................................ 7 iv. Action plans and conservation advice ........................................................................................ 7 v. Implementation ........................................................................................................................... 8 vi. Woodland communities in the ACT............................................................................................ 9 Part A..................................................................................................................................................... 12 1. PROTECT AND MANAGE WOODLAND AND COMPONENT SPECIES ........................................ 13 1.1 Retain and protect native woodlands ..................................................................................... 13 1.2 Reduce threats to native woodland biodiversity ................................................................ 17 Dieback ...................................................................................................................................... 18 Pest animals .............................................................................................................................. 20 Fire ............................................................................................................................................ 23 Urbanisation .............................................................................................................................. 26 Overgrazing ............................................................................................................................... 28 Invasive plants ........................................................................................................................... 30 Climate change .......................................................................................................................... 33 1.3 Enhance resilience, ecosystem function and habitat connectivity ......................................... 36 Maintain and improve woodland condition ............................................................................. 36 Implement ecologically appropriate biomass management .................................................... 39 Enhance habitat connectivity.................................................................................................... 42 2. COLLABORATE WITH THE COMMUNITY ............................................................................... 43 2.1 Promote community participation in woodland conservation ............................................... 43 Collaborate with rural landholders ........................................................................................... 43 Support community participation and raise community awareness........................................ 45 Enhance and promote citizen science ...................................................................................... 48 Enhance the participation of Aboriginal people ....................................................................... 49 2.2. Support sustainable recreational use of woodlands ............................................................. 51 3. MONITORING AND RESEARCH ............................................................................................ 52 3.1 Monitor woodland condition .................................................................................................. 52 Collect baseline information ..................................................................................................... 52 3.2 Address knowledge gaps in woodland conservation .............................................................. 55 4. BACKGROUND INFORMATION ............................................................................................ 57 3 4.1 What is a woodland? ............................................................................................................... 57 4.2 A brief history of woodland in the ACT and surrounding region ............................................ 58 4.3 Threatened and uncommon woodland species in the ACT .................................................... 62 4.4 Traditional and contemporary Aboriginal values ................................................................... 67 4.5 Woodland management plans ................................................................................................ 67 4.6 Relevant policy and legislation................................................................................................ 69 4.7 Progress since the 2004 Lowland Woodland Conservation Strategy ..................................... 70 4.8 Woodland conservation and research activities in the ACT since 2004 ................................. 72 5. APPENDICES ....................................................................................................................... 79 5.1. Lowland and subalpine woodland communities in the ACT .................................................. 79 5.2. Management investment required* to achieve conservation objectives (identified in this strategy) in lowland woodlands (including secondary grasslands) and subalpine woodlands .... 83 5.3 List of acronyms ...................................................................................................................... 89 REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................... 90 Figures Figure 1. Distribution of woodland communities across the ACT ........................................................ 11 Figure 2. Distribution of lowland woodland patches larger than 100 ha in the ACT ........................... 14 Figure 3. Distribution of lowland and subalpine woodland across tenures in the ACT........................ 16 Figure 4. Historic (pre 1750)* and current (2018) distribution of lowland woodlands** in the ACT .... 61 Tables Table 1. Lowland woodland communities across land tenures in the ACT ......................................... 15 Table 2. Subalpine woodland communities across land tenures in the ACT ........................................ 15 Table 3. Invasive species prioritised for control in woodlands in the ACT (WONS are bolded) ........... 31 Table 4. Emerging invasive species in woodlands in the ACT ............................................................... 32 Table 5. Woodland-dependant threatened fauna and flora species found in the ACT. V = vulnerable, E = endangered, CE = critically endangered .......................................................................................... 63 Table 6. Woodland-associated threatened fauna and flora species found in the ACT. V = vulnerable, E = endangered, CE = critically endangered ............................................................................................ 63 Table 7. ACT woodland flora and fauna species threatened outside of the ACT V = vulnerable, E = endangered, CE = critically endangered ..............................................................................................