Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00002:reg:2015:p15
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2016L00002
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 2015 (pt 15/16)
Character Range: 528684–531849

and many other countries have adopted as a national standard. Part 1 of Schedule 8 sets out general administrative principles applicable to all Commonwealth reserves. These principles underpin management approaches with regard to:
    * community participation – management arrangements should, to the extent practicable, provide for broad and meaningful participation by the community, public organisations and private interests in designing and carrying out the functions of a reserve or zone
    * effective and adaptive management – management arrangements should be effective and appropriate to the biodiversity objectives and the socio-economic context of the reserve or zone. They should be adaptive in character to ensure a capacity to respond to uncertainty and change
    * the precautionary principle – a lack of full scientific certainty should not be used as a reason for postponing measures to prevent degradation of the natural and cultural heritage of a reserve or zone where there is a threat of serious or irreversible damage
    * minimising impacts – the integrity of a reserve or zone is best conserved by protecting it from disturbance and threatening processes. Potential adverse impacts on the natural, cultural and social environment and surrounding communities should be minimised as far as practicable
    * ecologically sustainable use – if resource use is consistent with the management principles that apply to a reserve or zone, it should be based on the principle (the principle of ecologically sustainable use) that:
     -            natural resources should only be used within their capacity to sustain natural processes while maintaining the life-support systems of nature, and
     -            the benefit of the use to the present generation should not diminish the potential of the reserve or zone to meet the needs and aspirations of future generations
    * transparency of decision-making – the framework and processes for decision-making for management of the reserve or zone should be transparent. The reason for making decisions should be publicly available, except to the extent that information, including information that is culturally sensitive or commercial-in-confidence, needs to be treated as confidential
    * joint management – if the reserve or zone is wholly or partly owned by Aboriginal people, continuing traditional use of the reserve or zone by resident Indigenous people, including the protection and maintenance of cultural heritage, should be recognised.

IUCN category and management principles

The EPBC Act requires Commonwealth reserves, and any zones into which a reserve is divided, to be assigned to one of the seven IUCN categories prescribed by the EPBC Regulations (r.10.03H), which correspond to the protected area management categories identified by the IUCN:
IUCN category number    Protected area category
Ia                      Strict nature reserve
Ib                      Wilderness area
II                      National park
III                     Natural monument
IV                      Habitat/species management area
V                       Protected landscape/seascape
VI