Planning & Environment Committee 7 August 2018 Attachment 1 to Item 3 NOOSA BIOSPHERE RESERVE PERIODIC REVIEW 2018 Noosa Biosphere Reserve - Periodic Review 2018 Copyright 2018 Noosa Shire Council 9 Pelican Street, Tewantin, Queensland 4565 and Noosa Biosphere Reserve Foundation Ltd. 52 Doonella Street, Tewantin Queensland 4565 The words noosa biosphere® and the logo noosa biosphere depicted on the cover are registered trademarks of Noosa Shire Council. Acknowledgements Thank you to the following people for their generous assistance with background research and preparation of this report: • NBRF Periodic Review Advisory Group (PRAG) • NBRF Board and Members • NBRF contract staff • Professor Peter Bridgewater, University of Canberra • Noosa Shire Councillors • Noosa Shire Council staff • The Noosa Shire community Cover photo: Noosa Council Page 2 Noosa Biosphere Reserve - Periodic Review 2018 CONTENTS PAGE LIST OF MAPS, TABLES AND FIGURES ................................................................................................... 5 LIST OF ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................... 5 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................... 7 PART ONE: SUMMARY ............................................................................................................................ 10 PART TWO: PERIODIC REVIEW REPORT .............................................................................................. 13 1. BIOSPHERE RESERVE ......................................................................................................... 13 1.1 Year of designation ....................................................................................................... 13 1.2 Year of the Periodic Review ......................................................................................... 13 1.3 Actions from previous Periodic Review ........................................................................ 13 1.4 Other observations or comments on above.................................................................. 13 1.5 Process by which the current periodic review has been conducted ............................. 13 2. SIGNIFICANT CHANGES DURING THE PAST 10 YEARS ................................................. 16 2.1 Brief Summary Overview .............................................................................................. 16 2.2 Updated background information about the BR ........................................................... 16 2.3 Authorities in charge of coordination and management of BR ..................................... 24 2.4 Matters of special interest ............................................................................................. 28 3. ECOSYSTEM SERVICES ...................................................................................................... 32 3.1 Update services provided by each ecosystem and beneficiaries ................................. 32 3.2 Changes regarding the indicators of ecosystem services ............................................ 34 3.3 Biodiversity involved in the provision of ecosystems services ..................................... 35 3.4 Recent/updated ecosystem service assessments ....................................................... 37 4. THE CONSERVATION FUNCTION ....................................................................................... 37 4.1 Significant changes in main habitat types, ecosystems, species or varieties of traditional or economic importance ............................................................................... 37 4.2 Conservation programs over past 10 years.................................................................. 39 4.3 Links between conservation activities and sustainable development issues ............... 42 4.4 How effectiveness of actions or strategies is assessed ............................................... 43 4.5 Influencing factors on conservation efforts ................................................................... 43 4.6 Other comments/observations from a BR perspective. ................................................ 44 5. THE DEVELOPMENT FUNCTION ......................................................................................... 44 5.1 Prevailing trends in each main sector of the economic base ....................................... 44 5.2 Tourism industry in the BR ........................................................................................... 48 5.3 Agriculture, Food and other sectors ............................................................................. 49 5.4 Benefit to local communities of economic activities ..................................................... 52 5.5 Methods of assessing effectiveness of actions or strategies ....................................... 52 5.6 Community economic development initiatives.............................................................. 52 5.7 Local business or other economic development initiatives (green alternatives) .......... 53 Page 3 Noosa Biosphere Reserve - Periodic Review 2018 5.8 Changes in terms of cultural values (religious, historical, political, social, ethnological) ................................................................................................................. 55 5.9 Community support facilities and services ................................................................... 57 5.10 Indicators to assess the effectiveness of activities fostering sustainable development ................................................................................................................. 58 5.11 Main factors that influenced success of development efforts ....................................... 58 6. THE LOGISTIC SUPPORT FUNCTION ................................................................................. 59 6.1 Main research institutions and programs ...................................................................... 59 6.2 Summary of main themes of research and monitoring ................................................. 60 6.3 Traditional and local knowledge ................................................................................... 64 6.4 Environmental and sustainability education ................................................................. 66 6.5 Assessment of effectiveness of strategies ................................................................... 67 6.6 Contribution to the World Network of Biosphere Reserves .......................................... 68 6.7 Main factors that influenced the success of activities contributing to the logistic support function? .......................................................................................................... 68 6.8 Other comments/observations from a biosphere reserve perspective. ....................... 68 7. GOVERNANCE, MANAGEMENT AND COORDINATION .................................................... 69 7.1 Technical and logistical resources for the coordination of the BR ............................... 69 7.2 Overall governance framework and contributions ........................................................ 70 7.3 Assessment tools or guidelines to support Indigenous and local rights and cultural initiatives ....................................................................................................................... 73 7.4 Main conflicts and solutions .......................................................................................... 73 7.5 Community representation and consultation ................................................................ 74 7.6 Management and coordination structure ...................................................................... 76 7.7 Update on the management/cooperation plan/policy ....................................................... 78 8. CRITERIA AND PROGRESS MADE ..................................................................................... 79 8.1 Mosaic of ecological systems representative of major biogeographic region including a gradation of human interventions ............................................................... 79 8.2 Significance for biological diversity conservation ......................................................... 79 8.3 Provide an opportunity to explore and demonstrate approaches to sustainable development on a regional scale .................................................................................. 80 8.4 BR size (appropriate to serve the three functions of BRs) ........................................... 80 8.5 Appropriate zonation to serve the three functions ........................................................ 81 8.6 Organisational arrangements ....................................................................................... 81 8.7 Mechanisms for implementation and cooperative activities ......................................... 81 CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................................ 82 GLOSSARY ................................................................................................................................................ 84 REFERENCES ...........................................................................................................................................