Regional Forest Agreement - National Parks and Reserves

The RFA delivers:

• An additional 150,885 hectares to the formal reserve system, bringing the total area in conservation reserves throughout the South West forest region to 1,047,200 hectares (an increase of 12 per cent).

The RFA creates 12 new National Parks:

• At the Wellington Dam near Collie (Wellington National Park - 4,300 ha)
• Along the Blackwood River east of Margaret River (Blackwood River National Park - 15,600 ha)
• West of Nannup (Milyeannup National Park - 18,000 ha, of which 12,500 ha is new reserve)
• Margaret River National Park - 4 200 ha
• Between Margaret River and Augusta (Forest Grove National Park - 1 400 ha)
• South of Busselton (Yelverton National Park - 1 300 ha)
• In the wandoo forest between Mundaring and York (Wandoo National Park - 43,000 ha, of which 13,800 ha is new reserve)
• At Hawke block south west of Pemberton (Hawke National Park - 2 900 ha).
• Mundaring National Park - 3,000 ha of which 2,200 ha is new reserve
• Pickering Brook National Park (6,000 ha)
• Between Araluen and Canning Dam (Canning National Park 3,000 ha)
• In the Helena Valley linking to north of Mt Dale (Helena National Park - 15,000 ha, of which 8,200 is new reserve)

There will also be 25 additions to existing national parks. Among them:

• Significant additions to three existing national parks which will create a single reserve of 215,000 hectares in the Walpole-Denmark area, linking Mt Lindesay, Mt Roe and Mt Frankland. With the addition of seventeen forest blocks including parts of Sharpe, Collis and Trent north of Walpole, there is opportunity to enhance wilderness values in the area.
• Part of Hilliger block will be added to create a link between D'Entrecasteaux National Park and new national parks to the north.
• Part of Giblett block will be incorporated into the Beedelup National Park
• Dombakup block south of Pemberton will be added to the D'Entrecasteaux National Park to protect Aboriginal heritage values.

Many of these areas were identified as important for reservation by scientists, the Australian Heritage Commission, conservation groups, tourism groups, shire councils, and local communities, during the public consultation phase of the RFA.

These new national parks, along with additions to existing parks, and a network of other formal and informal reserves make up a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative (CAR) reserve system - crucial for the protection of forest biodiversity.

Huge tracts set aside in reserves protect habitat and evolutionary processes as well as individual species and their genetic diversity. The CAR reserve design seeks to conserve all native forest ecosystems. It is 'comprehensive' in that all forest communities are recognised by an agreed national scientific classification. It is 'adequate' in that it looks at the ecological viability of populations, species and communities. And it is 'representative' because areas included in the reserve system adequately reflect the biological diversity of forest communities.

'Formal' reserves include national parks, conservation parks, nature reserves and a new classification of 'Forest Conservation Zones' under Section 62 of the Conservation and Land Management Act. Timber harvesting will be excluded from Forest Conservation Zones, which can be created by the Minister. New legislation is proposed to provide security to these zones by requiring the approval of both houses of Parliament to revoke them.

'Informal' reserves include road, river and stream reserves. These informal reserves provide important corridors and linkages between the larger formal reserves and help to protect old-growth throughout the forest. Informal reserves contribute about 13 per cent to the CAR reserve system.