Page 1535 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 April 2011
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MR STANHOPE (Ginninderra—Chief Minister, Minister for Transport, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Minister for Business and Economic Development, Minister for Land and Property Services, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs and Minister for the Arts and Heritage) (11.17): Namadgi national park, as we know, was declared in 1984. The park covers just under half of the ACT, supplies most of our domestic water supply, protects a diverse range of mountain wildlife, contains evidence of Aboriginal occupation dating back 20,000 years and of course is a treasured recreational area for many Canberrans. The size and significance of Namadgi warrants careful and coordinated planning, and I am confident at least, unlike some of my colleagues here, and grateful for the fact that the Namadgi national park plan of management does enable that.
The plan establishes primary management objectives and ultimately aims to protect the natural and cultural values of the park in perpetuity. The plan addresses threats such as feral animal and weed invasion, fire regimes and climate change which may have adverse impacts on these values. It sets out policies for community participation and engagement in the park and for encouraging people to visit, learn about and appreciate the park. It is one of 11 national parks and reserves in the Australian Alps that are collectively known as the Australian Alps national parks. These parks are listed on the national heritage list under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act.
Interestingly, surveys conducted by TAMS estimate that there are over 200,000 visits to Namadgi national park every year. Sixty per cent of those are repeat visits and I find it interesting that of 200,000 visits only 24 per cent are made by Canberra residents. The survey for the past year reveals that the most popular recreational activities are bushwalking or hiking, camping, enjoying scenery, visiting cultural sites, bird and animal watching, picnicking, mountain bike riding and four-wheel driving. I am sure members, most particularly having regard to the contributions to this debate so far today, would be interested to know that 92 per cent of visitors are satisfied with their experience in Namadgi and 93 per cent of visitors are satisfied with the management of the park. The visitor information centre, rangers and the services provided by volunteers also rank very highly.
Last April, the three-day Australian orienteering championships were held in the Canberra region and on one of these days the event was held in the Gudgenby valley and over 800 people attended. Although there was some community opposition prior to the event, it was approved subject to the event organisers providing comprehensive plans for risk management, temporary traffic control, emergency evacuation, waste disposal and communications.
To address those concerns about the potential impacts of the event on the environment, TAMS and Orienteering ACT developed a robust, independent monitoring program to assess the impact on the park. The monitoring program is overseen by a steering group which includes the National Parks Association. The results of the monitoring indicated that there are little or no discernible significant adverse impacts on the values of the park as a result of an event such as an orienteering event participated in by 800 people. Many other organisations of course also use the park for recreational events.
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