National nature conservation
Australia's connections to the work of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) are primarily through the Commonwealth Government's environment conservation agency.
These connections are reflected in the following legislation and regulation:
- the commonwealth's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (the EPBC Act)
- supporting natural resources management legislation, such as the Fisheries Management Act 1991
- management frameworks such as Regional Forest Agreements.
The major elements of the Act relating to species and ecological community conservation are the recognition and listing of matters of National Environmental Significance (NES) and the regulation of activities that may have significant impact on these matters.
. These matters of NES include:
- migratory species (protected under international agreements)
- wetlands of international importance (listed under the Ramsar Convention)
- listed threatened species and ecological communities.
The first two areas, above are collectively addressed through three important bilateral migratory bird agreements. These agreements are the:
- Japan - Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (JAMBA)
- China - Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (CAMBA)
- Republic of Korea - Australia Migratory Bird Agreement (ROKAMBA).
These agreements are also supported by an East Asian - Australasian Flyway Partnership implementation strategy (2007-2011).
However, a significant aspect of matters of NES is the listing, protection, management andrecovery of threatened species and ecological communities. States and territories are involved in these activities.
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