Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00270:body:0:p59
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2024L00270
Segment Type: other
Provision Reference: 
Character Range: 162435–165461

landscape scale land-use planning that aims to provide maximum protection of habitat critical, and responds to a dynamic environment and climate, providing options for conservation of suitable habitat now and in the future to ensure an acceptably high likelihood of persistence (such as at least 99% over 100-year period) for Leadbeater's possum.
This action will enable a landscape-scale approach to determine appropriate protection, in addition to the location and protection of known Leadbeater's possum colonies. Given the distributional and population viability models developed in Action 2.1, this action seeks to determine options to achieve the appropriate mix of additional dedicated reserves, informal reserves and values protected through prescriptions in the remaining areas of state forest that will be required to meet the long-term objective of being at least 99% confident that the species will persist in the wild for at least 100 years. That objective should be the numerical target of this planning, but a subsidiary objective is to strategically develop and maintain a substantial increase in the extent of large and hollow-bearing trees and habitats that will be likely to provide these in the future. This planning should also consider the requirements of, or any potential negative impacts on, other threatened species.

Action 2.5 – Priority: Urgent
Expand the dedicated reserve system with the aim of providing maximum protection of habitat critical, and responding to a dynamic environment and climate, incorporating sufficient areas of current and future suitable habitat to ensure that it is adequate to maintain and enhance the long-term population viability of Leadbeater's possum.
The conservation future of Leadbeater's possum will depend upon a complementary mix of dedicated reserves, informal reserves and protection of values through management prescriptions. However, dedicated reserves are likely to provide greater conservation security and more confidence in conservation outcomes than unreserved lands that may be subject to other uses. Todd et al. (2016) and Taylor et al. (2017) used projective population modelling to demonstrate that the current reserve system alone is inadequate for the long-term conservation of Leadbeater's possum, and especially so when incorporating the likelihood of future extensive bushfires. Accordingly, there is need for substantial enhancement of the existing dedicated reserve system, to recognise its primary role in providing for the long-term persistence of the species. Implementation of a substantial expansion of the current reserve system, informed by Action 2.6 and Action 2.7, should seek to encompass all areas of high likelihood of occurrence of the species (currently and in the future). It should also include areas of current and projected old-growth forests; and such expansion should increase the connectivity of the reserve system, as well as protecting a range of other values.

Action 2.6 – Priority: Urgent
Assess the feasibility,