Australian capital territory
Nature conservation act 1980

Nature Conservation (threatened ecological communities and species) Action Plan 2005 (No 1)

DI 2005-84

explanatory statement

The Nature Conservation Act 1980 (the Act) is the primary ACT legislation for the protection of native plants and animals.  A 1994 amendment to the Act established the Flora and Fauna Committee as an expert advisory body to the Minister.  The Flora and Fauna Committee advises the Minister of ACT species and ecological communities that are threatened with extinction and recommend that they be declared accordingly.

Section 42 of the Act provides for the Conservator of Flora and Fauna to prepare an Action Plan for each species or community that has been the subject of a declaration.  An Action Plan is a management response to a recognised ecological threat.  It is required to include proposals for the identification, protection and survival of the species or community concerned.  A process of public consultation is provided for.  

Action Plan No.28 - The ACT Lowland Native Grassland Conservation Strategy, supersedes seven separate Action Plans previously published, namely the Action Plans for:

•	Natural Temperate Grassland
•	Striped Legless Lizard (Delma impar)
•	Grassland Earless Dragon (Tympanocryptis pinguicolla)
•	Golden Sun Moth (Synemon plana)
•	Perunga Grasshopper (Perunga ochracea)
•	Button Wrinklewort (Rutidosis leptorrhynchoides)
•	Ginninderra Peppercress (Lepidium ginninderrense)

The focus of the Strategy is lowland native grassland, including the endangered natural temperate grassland ecological community, across the ACT, regardless of tenure and land use. In this way, it differs from a management plan applied to a particular area or areas. A central purpose of the Strategy is to inform decision-making with regard to land use planning, and the development and management of land in the ACT.

Specifically, the Strategy:

•	Identifies the remaining areas of natural temperate grassland and other important areas of lowland native grassland in the ACT;
•	Identifies the floristic associations found in lowland native grassland areas in the ACT;
•	Outlines the values of the remaining lowland native grassland areas focusing on the conservation values of the ecological communities and component flora and fauna (recognising that areas may also have social and cultural values e.g. recreational, aesthetic, Aboriginal and European heritage);
•	Outlines conservation goals, objectives and actions for lowland native grassland and grassland dependent species, including those declared as threatened under the Nature Conservation Act 1980 (ACT);
•	Outlines principles on which to base conservation actions;
•	Incorporates the Action Plans for listed species and communities which are required by the Nature Conservation Act 1980 (ACT);
•	Provides a basis for planning and land management decisions with regard to areas containing lowland native grassland;
•	Encourages community participation in the conservation of lowland native grassland and component species;
•	Satisfies the requirement under section 23(2) of the Nature Conservation Act 1980, that an Action Plan includes proposals for the identification, protection and survival of a threatened species or ecological community, or, in the case of a threatening process, proposals to minimise its effect.

While the legal authority of the Strategy is confined to the Australian Capital Territory, management considerations are addressed in a regional context.

This instrument revokes previous instruments for Action Plans (DI2004-44 and DI2003-149).  An Action Plan is a disallowable instrument and must be notified, under the Legislation Act 2001, and presented to the Legislative Assembly.