1. Introductory Provisions

1.1 Short Title

This Management Plan may be cited as the Australian National Botanic Gardens Management Plan 2002 - 2008.

1.2 Commencement and Termination

This Plan has been prepared and will come into operation under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.When approved by the Minister for the Environment and Heritage the Plan will be notified in the Commonwealth Gazette and will take effect from either a date specified by the Minister and included in the Gazette notice or the date of notification in the Gazette. The Plan must also be laid before both Houses of the Parliament within 15 sitting days after approval by the Minister and is then subject to disallowance by either House on a Notice of Motion given within a further 15 sitting days.

The Plan will cease to have effect seven years after commencement, unless it has already been amended or replaced by a new Plan made under the Act.

1.3 Interpretation

In this Management Plan:

‘Act’ or ‘EPBC Act’ means the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and includes the Regulations and any Act amending, repealing or replacing the Act.

‘Australian National Botanic Gardens’ means the area declared under section 7 of the Parks Act to be the botanic garden of that name, and continued as a Commonwealth reserve under the EPBC Act by the Environmental Reform (Consequential Provisions) Act 1999.

‘Biodiversity Convention’ means the Convention on Biological Diversity done at Rio de Janeiro on 5 June 1992.

‘CPBR’ means the Centre for Plant Biodiversity Research and Australian National Herbarium, which is an unincorporated joint venture between the CSIRO and the Director of National Parks. The CPBR was established by agreement on 22 November 1993 and extended on 14 April 2000 for ten years.

‘CSIRO’ means the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation established by the Science and Industry Research Act 1949.

‘Director’ means the Director of National Parks under the EPBC Act.

‘Environment Australia’ means the Commonwealth Department of Environment and Heritage.

‘ER(CP) Act’ means the Environmental Reform (Consequential Provisions) Act 1999.

‘Gardens’ means the Australian National Botanic Gardens.

‘IUCN’ means the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources - World Conservation Union.

‘National Capital Authority’ means the organisation of that name established by the Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management Act) 1988.

‘Parks Act’ means the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Act 1975.

‘Regulations’ or ‘EPBC Regulations’ means the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Regulations 2000 made under the EPBC Act and includes any Regulations amending, repealing or replacing the Regulations.

1.4 Administrative and Legislative Context

The Australian National Botanic Gardens is a Commonwealth reserve under the EPBC Act. Administration, management and control of Commonwealth reserves is the function of the Director of National Parks. The Director of National Parks, assisted by Parks Australia, part of Environment Australia, is responsible for the management of the Gardens and for administering the relevant parts of the EPBC Act and Regulations.

The EPBC Act (s.367) requires the Director to prepare management plans for Commonwealth reserves. When prepared the plans are given to the Minister for the Environment and Heritage for approval. A management plan is a ‘disallowable instrument’, and when approved must be tabled in each House of the Commonwealth Parliament. A plan may be disallowed by either House of the Parliament.

A management plan for a Commonwealth reserve has effect for seven years, subject to its being revoked or amended earlier by another management plan for the reserve.

The EPBC Act (s.362) requires the Director to exercise the Director’s powers and perform the Director’s functions to give effect to the management plan for a Commonwealth reserve, and the Commonwealth and other Commonwealth agencies must not perform functions or exercise powers inconsistently with the management plan.

Under the EPBC Act (s.367) a management plan for a Commonwealth reserve must provide for the protection and conservation of the reserve and must assign the reserve to one of the following IUCN categories:

The provisions of a management plan for a Commonwealth reserve must not be inconsistent with the Australian IUCN reserve management principles for the IUCN category to which the reserve is assigned by the plan. The management principles are prescribed by the EPBC Regulations. The Gardens is assigned by this Plan to IUCN Category IV (habitat/species management area). The management principles for this category are at Appendix 2.

In preparing a management plan the EPBC Act also requires (s.368) that account must be taken of various matters. So far as relevant to the Gardens, these matters include:

The EPBC Act (s.354(1)) prohibits certain acts from being done in a Commonwealth reserve except in accordance with a management plan. The acts are:

These controls and restrictions do not affect certain traditional activities by Indigenous people (s.359A). It is also noted that provisions of the EPBC Act does not affect the operation of s.211 of the Native Title Act 1993 which provides that holders of native title rights covering certain activities do not need authorisation required by other laws to engage in those activities (s.8 EPBC Act).

Mining operations are also prohibited unless the Governor-General has approved them and they are carried on in accordance with a management plan (s.355).

The EPBC Regulations regulate a range of activities in Commonwealth reserves, such as use of vehicles, littering, commercial activities and research. The Regulations are applied by the Director of National Parks, subject to and in accordance with the EPBC Act and management plans. The Regulations do not apply to the Director of National Parks or to wardens or rangers appointed under the EPBC Act. Activities that are prohibited or restricted by the EPBC Act may be carried out if they are authorised by a permit issued by the Director and/or they are carried out in accordance with a management plan.

The taking of an action in a Commonwealth reserve that will have a significant impact on the environment, or the taking of an action outside a Commonwealth reserve that will have a significant impact on the environment in a Commonwealth reserve, will be subject to the assessment and approvals provisions of the EPBC Act.

Actions that would be, or are likely to have, a significant impact on a specified matter of ‘national environmental significance ‘will also be subject to the assessment and approval provisions of the EPBC Act. The matters of national environmental significance identified in the Act as triggers for the EPBC Act assessment and approval regime include:

Responsibility for compliance with the assessment and approvals provision of the Act lies with persons taking relevant ‘controlled’ actions. A person proposing to take an action that is, or the person thinks may be a controlled action must refer the proposal to the Minister for the Environmental and Heritage for the Minister’s decision whether or not the action is a controlled action. Civil and criminal penalties may be imposed for breaches of the Act.

The EPBC Act also contains provisions that prohibit and regulate actions in relation to threatened species and migratory species.

The Gardens is required to operate under statutory obligations and works in cooperation with various government bodies.

The developed part of the Gardens is listed on the Register of the National Estate and the Australian Heritage Commission Act 1975, requires that the Australian Heritage Commission be consulted on any action which may adversely effect the heritage values of the Gardens. A Memorandum of Understanding has been developed between the Gardens and the Commission to facilitate consultative processes.

The Gardens is designated national land under the Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management) Act 1988 and developments require approval from the National Capital Authority.

Gardens staff work cooperatively with the Heritage Council of the ACT and with the Natural Resources Management Ministerial Council, particularly through the Endangered Flora Network.

1.5 Purpose and Content of a Management Plan

The purpose of this Plan is to describe the philosophy and direction of management for the Gardens for the next seven years. The Plan enables management to proceed in an orderly way, helps to reconcile competing interests, and identifies priorities for the allocation of available resources. The legal and policy conditions relevant to the Plan include the:

Under s.367(1) of the EPBC Act, a management plan for a Commonwealth reserve must provide for the protection and conservation of the reserve. In particular, the plan must:

  1. assign the reserve to an IUCN category (whether or not a Proclamation has assigned the reserve or a zone of the reserve to that IUCN category); and
  2. state how the reserve, or each zone of the reserve, is to be managed; and
  3. state how the natural features of the reserve, or of each zone of the reserve, are to be protected and conserved; and
  4. if the Director holds land or seabed included in the reserve under lease – be consistent with the Director’s obligations under the lease; and
  5. specify any limitation or prohibition on the exercise of a power, or performance of a function, under the EPBC Act in or in relation to the reserve; and
  6. specify any mining operation, major excavation or other works that maybe carried on in the reserve, and the conditions under which it may be carried on; and
  7. specify an operation or activity that may be carried on in the reserve; and
  8. indicate generally the activities that are to be prohibited or regulated in the reserve, and the means of prohibiting or regulating them; and
  9. indicate how the plan takes account of Australia’s obligations under each agreement with one or more other countries that is relevant to the reserve (including the World Heritage Convention and the Ramsar Convention, if appropriate).

The provisions of a management plan must not be inconsistent with the Australian IUCN reserve management principles for the IUCN category to which the reserve or a zone of the reserve is assigned (s367(3)).

1.6 IUCN World Conservation Union Category

As outlined in section 1.4, under the EPBC Act, a Commonwealth reserve, and any zones within a reserve, must be assigned to an IUCN protected area management category. This plan assigns the Gardens to IUCN category IV, habitat/species management area.

The EPBC Act (section 347) prescribes characteristics for the IUCN categories. So far as relevant to this plan they are: ‘habitat/species management area’ — the reserve or zone contains habitat for one or more species.

The EPBC Act (section 348) requires the EPBC Regulations to prescribe principles for each IUCN category (Australian IUCN reserve management principles). Appendix 2 of this Plan sets out the Management Principles for IUCN protected area management category IV, as prescribed in Schedule 8 to the EPBC Regulations. These principles identify the purposes for which the Commonwealth reserve, or zone, assigned to the category are primarily to be managed. Of particular relevance to the Gardens is the final principle, which provides that if a reserve or zone is declared for the purpose of a botanic garden, it should be managed for the increase of knowledge, appreciation and enjoyment of Australia’s plant heritage by establishing, as an integrated resource, a collection of living and herbarium specimens of Australian and related plants for study, interpretation, conservation and display.

1.7 Booderee Botanic Gardens

The original proclamation of the Gardens included an area located in the Jervis Bay Territory within the boundaries of Jervis Bay National Park, which was established under the Parks Act.

In October 1995, both the Park and the Gardens annexe were declared as Aboriginal land under the Aboriginal Land Grant (Jervis Bay Territory) Act 1986, and title to the land was granted to the Wreck Bay Aboriginal Community Council. The Land Grant Act required the Council to lease the land to the Director, so that the land would continue to be managed as a national park and a botanic garden. Although the annexe was still legally part of the Australian National Botanic Gardens, for practical reasons its management was transferred at this time to the Jervis Bay National Park.

In 1997, the names of the Park and the annexe were changed to Booderee National Park and Booderee Botanic Gardens, at the request of the traditional owners.

In 1997, an agreement for the continuation of scientific and technical links between the Booderee and Australian National Botanic Gardens was formalised. This agreement detailed the areas of interest under the new cooperative arrangements.

The proclamation for the Australian National Botanic Gardens was amended in early 2000 to remove Booderee Botanic Gardens. The Booderee Botanic Gardens is now legally part of Booderee National Park, but is still managed as a botanic garden. However, a close working relationship between the staff of the Australian National Botanic Gardens and Booderee Botanic Gardens remains.

 

Updated 15 December, 2004 , webmaster, ANBG (anbg-info@anbg.gov.au)