MANAGING AUSTRALIA'S FORESTS

History

Forest Conservation

In the early 1870’s the government, concerned about the clearing of forests, set aside the first areas of Crown Land to be conserved for future timber production, marking the beginning of forest management and conservation.

Australia’s first national park was created in 1879 on the southern outskirts of Sydney, to give city dwellers a place for sport and recreation.  In 1891 the second national park was established near Adelaide, also to provide the public with a place for recreation and pleasure.  Soon other cities followed suit and National Parks were slowly set up across Australia. 

In the early twentieth century, the growth of Australia’s national parks network was influenced by campaigning from a growing number of increasingly popular outdoor recreation organisations, such as bushwalking clubs. 

In 1932, the National Parks and Primitive Areas Council was created in New South Wales with the objective of locating and identifying areas suitable for new national parks and primitive area reserves.  By 1957 this group was known as the National Parks Association and was working to establish an authority to administer all national parks throughout the state.  A decade later, the National Parks and Wildlife Act became law in New South Wales.  This legislation created a single agency, known as the National Parks and Wildlife Service, whose responsibility was to care for, control and manage the national parks in the state.

A similar pattern occurred in other States. In Victoria, the National Parks Act was created in 1956 and formed the National Parks Authority; in Tasmania the National Parks and Wildlife Act of 1970established a new National Parks and Wildlife Service; in South Australia the National Parks and Wildlife Act of 1972transferred control of national parks to the National Parks and Wildlife Division of the Department of Environment; in Queensland in 1975 the management of national parks was transferred to the newly established National Parks and Wildlife Service; and in Western Australia the National Parks Authority Act of 1976established the National Parks Authority.

By 2002, 547 national parks covered 4% of Australia’s land area (30.9 million hectares) and were registered under Australian Government and State legislation. More than 6,000 additional conservation areas were declared across the country, covering a further 6.1% of the land area (46.6 million hectares). These include indigenous-protected areas, fauna and flora reserves, conservation parks and national parks, which are all protected by Australian Government or State legislation.

Today Australia is developing a national reserve system that aims to contain samples of all ecosystems at an appropriate regional scale. In mid 2005, the National Reserve System protected approximately 81 million hectares, totalling 11% of Australia’s land area.