ALCA strongly recommends that the conservation sector’s core recommendations in its earlier submission to the Proposed Policy Framework Guiding the Use of Diversification Leases on Crown Land be substantively addressed in the current draft legislation.
These core recommendations were and remain:
1. As a minimum, the existing and future, long-term conservation investments in the Western Australian conservation estate by conservation landholders should be protected in any reform to the Land Administration Act 1997 (WA).
2. That the Government, either by contractual agreement or legislation, provides a clear guarantee that existing and future long-term investments in conservation under pastoral lease will be guaranteed to continue – and not be subject to alternative land uses without their consent – should they be expected or required to convert to a diversification lease.
3. Conservation land use needs to be considered of parallel and not subsidiary importance to other land use types and there should be a mechanism which recognises that in some cases, the trade-offs favour environmental benefits to Western Australia.
ALCA is keen to ensure that the essential interests of at-scale biodiversity conservation in Western Australia – interests that are dramatically in the broader public interest of all Western Australians – are considered and addressed in the final version of the bill.
Download our submission to read our detailed recommendations.
