Supporting sustainable management of our parks and reserves

The Tasmanian Government is continuing to sustainably manage and protect our state’s natural assets for the benefit of future generations.

To support best practice management of Tasmanian reserve land, the Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service (PWS) released a consultation paper seeking feedback on proposed amendments to the National Parks and Reserve Management Act 2002.

The proposed amendments related to the Reserve Activity Assessment process.

Minister for Parks, Nick Duigan, said interest in the process was significant with 807 submissions received, from a wide range of stakeholders during the eight-week public consultation period.

“There was strong support for retaining the existing provisions for assessment under the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993,” Minister Duigan said.

“We have listened to this feedback and that is why the Government will not be introducing a new statutory process for environmental impact assessments on reserved land.

“Importantly, improvements to the RAA process over the past four years have resulted in a more consistent and robust process with greater transparency on the significant projects of interest to the community on reserved land.

“This includes the launch of the online Lease and Licence Portal, which supports our Transparency Agenda through the publication of active leases and licences on reserve land.

“We are working together to move our State forward.”

PWS will continue to focus on increasing transparency through the publication of RAA assessment guidelines.

It will also improve coordination between the RAA process and the planning permit application process under the Land Use Planning and Approvals Act 1993.

The Submissions Report can be viewed here.