2017 ACT Native Grassland Strategy.

The ACT Native Grassland Strategy provides guidance on protection, management and restoration of native grasslands and component species in the ACT consistent with the ACT Nature Conservation Strategy 2013–23. The strategy considers all native grassland ecosystems of the ACT across the full elevation range from lowland grasslands in and around Canberra to the grasslands of the montane and subalpine zones, regardless of tenure and land use, including rocky grasslands and grasslands that occur above 625 metres above sea level. It considers the ecological value and management of native grassland, and exotic grassland (which is dominated by invasive weeds), some of which provides habitat for threatened grassland fauna.
The Strategy is organised in Part A, the actual Strategy, and Part B that includes seven Action for each of the seven threatened species that are dependent on native grassland covered by the Strategy. Each action plan provides a detailed description of the community or species, its conservation status, ecology, key threats, and outlines the major conservation objectives and intended management actions. Conservation objectives, management actions and performance indicators in action plans are arranged into five core objectives of Protect, Manage, Increase, Knowledge, Awareness.
The Document is divided into seven main Strategies/Chapters with key principles and management guidelines and is structured as follows. Chapter 1 (Introduction) outlines the objectives and scope of the strategy, legislation and policy applying to nature conservation and the links between the strategy and associated action plans. Chapter 2 (Protection Goals) includes the strategy for protecting native grassland and component species, related protection goals and guidelines, and describes Conservation Significance Categories for grassland sites. Chapter 3 (Threat Management Goal) includes the strategy for reducing threats to native grassland biodiversity. It examines the primary threats to biodiversity within local grassland systems including weed infestation, pest vertebrate animals, overgrazing by kangaroos, urbanization and a changing climate, and provides guidelines for managing and minimising the potential impacts of these threats. Chapter 4 (Management Goal) includes the strategy for managing native grassland and component species for conservation. It considers adaptive management principles for managing herbage mass, disturbance regimes and exotic grass as habitat, including species-specific grass structure and herbage mass management guidelines and how these principles should be implemented at the local scale. Chapter 5 (Ecosystem function and connectivity Goal) includes the strategy for enhancing ecosystem resilience and function, and improving habitat connectivity, in the context of current and future environmental pressures such as climate change. A framework of options and guidelines for enhancement or restoration is provided for grasslands of varying ecological condition. Chapter 6 (Monitoring and research Goal) includes the strategy for monitoring, research and baseline data collection for native grasslands and component species and provides an overview of the recently developed Conservation Effectiveness Monitoring Program. Chapter 7 (Community engagement Goals) includes the strategy for engaging the community in local native grassland conservation by increasing awareness, supporting and promoting citizen science and engaging with local indigenous communities on traditional ecological knowledge. Chapter 8 provides background information on native grasslands relevant to their conservation, including the history of landuse, their distribution and component species. This chapter also outlines the conservation measures carried out in the last decade, the evidence base drawn on for the strategy, and potential climate change effects on grasslands.
The Strategy’s objectives are to: 1) Identify criteria for protection and conservation management of sites; 2) Provide management principles and guidelines for the conservation and restoration/enhancement of native grasslands aligned with the strategies outlined in the ACT Nature Conservation Strategy; 3) Provide monitoring and research priorities for the native grassland associations found in the ACT; 4) Provide overarching goals and objectives for conservation of the native grasslands and component species, and provide strategic context for action plans for threatened species; 5) Describe the remaining areas of native grassland in the ACT, including grasslands (native or exotic) that may provide habitat or connectivity for grassland flora and fauna; 6) Describe the floristic associations found in native grassland areas in the ACT based on current classification methods; 7) Encourage and support community participation in the conservation of native grasslands and component species.
Resilience to disasters, like uncontrolled fires regimes, climate change and pests is covered by the Strategy’s threat management goal under Chapter 3. Chapter 6 enables a more inclusive agricultural system including rural landowners into the decision-making process and promoting public-private partnerships to strengthen native grassland conservation.