REVISED POLICY GUIDELINES- PRIVATE LAND CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIPS · Policy Guideline - Private Land Conservation Partnerships Final with attachments

POLICY GUIDELINE – Private Land Conservation Partnerships


$14,400. There are currently 5,378 properties registered in the Land for Wildlife program in SEQ,
covering 76,000 hectares of retained habitat.
In the Noosa Shire, the LfW Program is delivered as part of Council’s Private Land Conservation
Partnerships program and is consistent with the Corporate Plan, Environment Strategy, and the
Conservation Land Guideline.
Eligibility
Landowners that are eligible for the LfW program must:
   • Have a minimum of 1 hectare of conservation area on their property considered ‘retained
      habitat’ or ‘habitat under restoration’ as defined in the LfW SEQ Guideline (Appendix 2).
    •   Have a commitment to manage their property for nature conservation.
Support for LfW
Council will provide support for new and existing LfW members subject to available resources and
consisting of:
    • An initial site visit, property assessment, follow up property report, and provision of a sign
        (for fully registered properties) and resource materials for new members.
    • Quarterly newsletter delivered electronically where possible.
    • LfW events such as workshops and field days.
    • Property revisits and ongoing advice as requested by existing members.
    • An incentives program (subject to available resources) including (but not limited to) free
        native tube stock, training/assistance with environmental weed management, equipment
        loans for items such as fauna cameras, weed management tools, and resource books.
VOLUNTARY CONSERVATION AGREEMENT (VCA) PROGRAM
The VCA Program is a higher-level voluntary agreement between Council and eligible landowners
that permanently protects a nominated conservation area on the landowner’s property.
Delivery of the VCA program is guided by Council’s Environment Levy Policy. Operating
procedures for establishing a VCA are outlined in Appendix 7.
Eligibility
Freehold properties in Noosa Shire that are eligible for the VCA program include:
    1. Land parcels of high biodiversity values, significant size (minimum of 5 hectares) and
       located next to or within Core Protected Areas (Appendix 3); or
    2. Land parcels that occur within biodiversity corridors between Core Protected Areas; and
    3. Properties whose owners have demonstrated a commitment to achieving conservation
       outcomes; and
    4. Other land that has unique environmental significance such as containing an endangered
       ecosystem, old growth forest, or listed plant and animal species; and
    5. Existing Nature Refuge properties.
All applications for VCAs will be assessed and prioritised by the Environment Levy Working Group
(ELWG) according to available resources.
Administrative and legal requirements
A VCA requires three elements detailed below:
    1. Statutory conservation mechanism.
    2. VCA – written agreement.
    3. Environmental Management Plan (EMP).
Statutory conservation mechanisms
Council offers two statutory conservation mechanisms under the VCA program. These are (in order
of level of protection):
    1. Nature Refuge; and
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