Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative (CAR) reserve system




The CAR reserve system was established in the late 1990s using the JANIS criteria (1). Since then, the NSW Government has expanded reserve system on public and private land.

Priority RFA information

Monitor, evaluate and report on conservation values including within the Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative reserve system.

Sustainability Indicators

Inform measures and report on performance in relation to the following Sustainability Indicators:

Criterion 1: Conservation of biological diversity

1.1 Ecosystem diversity

  • 1.1a Area of forest by forest type and tenure
  • 1.1b Area of forest by growth stage
  • 1.1c Area of forest in protected area categories
  • 1.1d Fragmentation of forest cover

1.2 Species diversity

  • 1.2a Forest-dwelling species for which ecological information is available
  • 1.2b The status of forest-dwelling species at risk of not maintaining viable breeding populations, as determined by legislation or scientific assessment
  • 1.2c Representative species from a range of habitats monitored at scales relevant to regional forest management

1.3 Genetic diversity

  • 1.3b Native forest and plantations of indigenous timber species that have genetic resource conservation mechanisms in place

Criterion 7: Legal, institutional and economic framework for forest conservation and sustainable management

  • 7.1a Extent to which the legal framework supports the conservation and sustainable management of forests
  • 7.1b Extent to which the institutional framework supports the conservation and sustainable management of forests
  • 7.1c Extent to which the economic framework supports the conservation and sustainable management of forests
  • 7.1d Capacity to measure and monitor changes in the conservation and sustainable management of forests
  • 7.1e Capacity to conduct and apply research and development aimed at improving forest management and delivery of forest goods and services

Monitoring activities

  1. Saving our species program
    Department of Planning, Industry and Environment - Environment, Energy and Science - Biodiversity and Conservation Division – Threatened Species and Ecosystems branch
    Activity: Research, monitoring and reporting that tracks the progress of work to secure more than 400 threatened species and ecological communities in the wild for the next 100 years.
    Timing: 2016-2021
    More details here.
  2. Biodiversity Values Map
    Department of Planning, Industry & Environment – Environment, Energy and Science - Science, Economics and Insights Division – Remote Sensing and Landscape Science branch
    Activity: Identifies land with high biodiversity value, including wetlands, rainforest, old growth forest and land containing threatened species
    Timing: 2017 – ongoing
    More details here
  3. State-wide Land Cover and Tree Survey (SLATS)
    Department of Planning, Industry and Environment – Environment, Energy and Science - Science, Economics and Insights Division – Remote Sensing and Landscape Science branch
    Activity: Maps the location and extent of woody vegetation loss across NSW on an annual basis
    Timing: 2006 - ongoing
    More details here
  4. Biodiversity Indicator Program
    Department of Planning, Industry and Environment – Environment, Energy and Science - Science, Economics and Insights Division – Science, Strategy and Impact branch
    Activity: Measures the status and long-term trends of biodiversity and ecological health across NSW
    Timing: 2017 – ongoing
    More details here
  5. Community Wildlife Survey
    Department of Planning, Industry and Environment – Environment, Energy and Science - Science, Economics and Insights Division – Conservation and Restoration Science branch
    Activity: Provides information on the distribution of koalas and other native mammals to indicate how their populations have changed over time
    Timing: 2006, 2019, 2020
    More details here
  6. Post-fire conservation assessments
    Department of Planning, Industry and Environment – Environment, Energy and Science - Science, Economics and Insights Division – Conservation and Restoration Science branch, and Remote Sensing and Landscape Science Branch
    Activity: Assessments and prioritised lists of animals, invertebrates, plants and ecological communities requiring management intervention after the 2019-20 bushfires
    Timing: 2020 – Ongoing in the medium term
    See more details on effects of fire and bushfire related datasets
  7. WildCount
    NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service
    Activity: Long-term animal monitoring program that uses motion-sensitive digital cameras at 200 sites across 146 parks and reserves in eastern New South Wales to track changes in wildlife over 10 years
    Timing: commenced in 2010
    More details here

Research

  1. Saving our species program
    Department of Planning, Industry and Environment - Environment, Energy and Science - Biodiversity and Conservation Division – Threatened Species and Ecosystems branch
    Activity: Research, monitoring and reporting that tracks the progress of work to secure more than 400 threatened species and ecological communities in the wild for the next 100 years.
    Timing: 2016 - 2021
    More details here

See research priorities

Outputs

NSW EPA reports the status of the CAR reserve system in the State of the Environment Report every three years. The most recent report was released in 2018. The status and trends of Reserves in NSW is reported for the CAR features by tenure and for the 18 NSW bioregions.
More details here

National Parks and Wildlife Service reports on the condition of park values and the management effectiveness, including for threatened species and World Heritage Areas, as part of the State of the Environment report.
More details here

In addition the most recent data for forest in different types of CAR reserve is available in State of the Forests 2018 (ABARES 2018).

The Saving our Species (SoS) report cards include information about actions that have been carried out at key management sites for each SoS threatened species, ecological community and key threatening process.
More details here

Data is available in the following repositories.

  1. BioNet
    Department of Planning, Industry & Environment – Environment, Energy and Science - Science, Economics and Insights Division – Remote Sensing and Landscape Science branch
    Activity: Repository for biodiversity data in NSW, including species sightings, systematic flora surveys, threatened biodiversity, and vegetation classification and maps
    Timing: 1984 – Ongoing
    More details here

  2. SEED (The Central Resource for Sharing and Enabling Environmental Data in NSW)
    Department of Planning, Industry & Environment – Environment, Energy and Science - Science, Economics and Insights Division – Economics, Data Analytics and Insights branch
    Activity: Contains publicly accessible land, air and water data from NSW Government agencies, including species sightings, vegetation change, vegetation mapping, Ramsar wetlands
    Timing: 2016 – 2027/28
    More details here


  1. Australia and New Zealand Environment and Conservation Council and Ministerial Council on Forestry, Fisheries and Aquaculture (1997), Nationally Agreed Criteria for the Establishment of a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative Reserve System for Forests in Australia