Australian Deer Association (NSW) submission to the Taskforce …€¦ · Increased business...

Australian Deer Association (NSW)

submission to the

Taskforce on Tourism and National Parks

Andy Mallen State President, Australian Deer Association (NSW) P.O. Box 69 Guildford NSW 2161

Tel: (0428) 865 002

Australian Deer Association (NSW) submission: Taskforce on Tourism and National Parks

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1. Executive Summary

National Parks in New South Wales face many threats to the sustainability and quality of their ecosystems. Pest animals are a major threat and cause widespread and substantial environmental, economic and social impacts. Unless current control programs are better supported by governments and the community the value of national parks in Australia will be significantly degraded by the presence of invasive species.

Broad-scale ground shooting compares favourably with the ‘ideal method’ for controlling vertebrate pests - it is effective, easy to use, provides acceptable safety for both users and others, is affordable, humane, and is species specific. Numerous Commonwealth Government enquiries and independent experts alike recommend and support the use of Conservation Hunting to control pest animals on the public estate. Successful control of pest animal populations requires sustained not intermittent effort. Volunteer Conservation Hunting on public land provides sustained control effort with genuine environmental, economic and social benefits. Sustained conservation hunting has seen over 15,000 feral and pest animals removed from declared hunting areas in NSW State Forests in just two years. The substantial environmental benefit of continuous removal of pest animals from NSW State Forests, through the Game Council’s Conservation Hunting program could similarly be achieved in NSW National Parks.

The economic benefits derived from hunting tourism and expenditure in NSW are substantial and a significant proportion (74% of the total, or $23.0 million) occurs in regional NSW. Conservation Hunters therefore contribute centrally to the State Plan’s goals regarding growing prosperity in regional areas. The economic impact in regional NSW is estimated at:

• direct and indirect income of $11.0 million; • direct and indirect value add (or Gross Regional Product) of $20.5 million; and • direct and indirect employment of 410 people.

The Australian Deer Association (NSW) recommends:

• an objective review the use of Conservation Hunters to assist with pest animal control programs in national parks and engage in dialogue with Game Council NSW to map out how such programs might be implemented and managed, and

• implementation of the necessary legislative changes to the National Parks and

Wildlife Act and the Game and Feral Animal Control Act to enable Conservation Hunters to undertake with pest animal control in NSW National Parks.

If implemented, these recommendations would enable the environmental, economic and increased visitation objectives for national parks in the State Plan to be realised.


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2. Introduction

National Parks in New South Wales face many threats to the sustainability and quality of their ecosystems. Pest animals are a major threat and cause widespread and substantial environmental, economic and social impacts (McLeod 2004, West and Saunders 2007). Unless current control programs are better supported by governments and the community the value of national parks in Australia will be significantly degraded by the presence of invasive species (Commonwealth of Australia 2007).

The purpose of reserving land as a national park is to identify, protect and conserve areas containing outstanding or representative ecosystems, natural or cultural features or landscapes or phenomena that provide opportunities for public appreciation and inspiration and sustainable visitor use and enjoyment (National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 No 80). However many so-called ‘conservation’ groups actively seek to exclude visitors from National Parks and participating in legitimate recreational activities. For example, following the formation of the Taskforce on Tourism and National Parks, the Nature Conservation Council of NSW posted on its website a section ‘Some things you can tell the task force about’ which included the suggestion: “Point out that there are plenty of other opportunities to enjoy the natural environment in places besides National Parks, such as State Forests, private land and other public lands. These lands may be more suitable for some of the higher impacting forms of recreation such as horseriding and four wheel driving and for infrastructure-based tourism.” (Nature Conservation Council of NSW 2008).

The Australian Deer Association has a growing role in NSW in facilitating wider opportunities for its members to participate in Volunteer Conservation Hunting projects. These programs are a cost-effective technique for game and feral animal control that contributes positively to a range of economic, social and environmental outcomes in NSW, including a number of the key goals and directions in the NSW Government State Plan A New Direction for NSW. Volunteer Conservation Hunting in regional and rural NSW generates significant public and private benefits:

• Government: The Australian Deer Association through its licensed hunters

provides a cost-effective means of game and feral animal control compared with other public programs. The Association also provides important and informed advice to the Game Council of NSW on hunting and game and feral animal control issues.

• Business: The Australian Deer Association through its members record a

significant amount of expenditure in regional and rural NSW, contributing positively to the growth of regional tourism and the long-term sustainability of regional economies.


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• Hunters: The Australian Deer Association promotes a culture of compliance amongst hunters, providing the necessary training, education, compliance and enforcement.

• Private Landholders: The Association’s facilitation of Volunteer Conservation

Hunting allows for savings on game and feral animal control costs and improves agricultural production yields and financial returns.

• Community: The Association’s involvement in Game Council’s targeted

Volunteer Conservation Hunting programs play a role in reducing the number of road accidents and fatalities associated with game and feral animals. These same programs also reduce the environmental impacts of game and feral animals on biodiversity and land degradation in NSW for the benefit of the community and landholders.

Importantly, the Association and Conservation Hunters make a positive contribution to a number of major goals contained in the NSW Government State Plan A New Direction for NSW. These include:

• Rights, Respect and Responsibility - Building harmonious communities - R4:

Increased participation and integration in community activities: Hunting is a traditional, natural activity evolving over millions of years. Many of the reasons people undertake hunting are tied to family, cultural values and beliefs. The Association actively encourages active community participation in Volunteer Conservation Hunting and also works to bring the community together to address environmental problems caused by game and feral animals.

• Growing Prosperity Across NSW - Stronger rural and regional economies - P6:

Increased business investment in rural and regional NSW - P7: better access to training in rural and regional NSW to support local economies: Volunteer Conservation Hunting is an avenue for landholders to reduce production losses and costs associated with game and feral animal control, whilst at the same time Volunteer Conservation Hunters present a niche tourism market for regional and rural NSW.

• Environment for Living - Practical environmental solutions - E4: Better

environmental outcomes for native vegetation, biodiversity, land, rivers and coastal waterways: Volunteer Conservation Hunters are a resource for game, feral, animal control and threat abatement programs across NSW that bring together hunters and landholders, including and State Government agencies at minimal cost.

For many years the role of hunting and sustainable utilisation were not recognised in Australia as true conservation tools however this is changing to a more enlightened view. For example, in a survey of delegates at the 2002 Australian Wildlife Management Society conference ‘hunting’ was strongly endorsed as a legitimate management tool by a majority of respondents:


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- most respondents agreed that it is ethical for humans to manage and control

populations of wild animals and that it is possible to view wildlife with reverence and still participate in hunting;

- 79% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement ‘hunting is morally wrong because it violates the right of an individual animal to exist’;

- 74% of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement ‘it is possible to view wildlife with reverence and still participate in hunting’;

- 67.7% of respondents disagreed or strongly disagreed that ‘hunting is justified only when it is necessary to sustain human life’ (Miller and Jones 2005).

Hunting and sustainable utilisation are ecologically sustainable and compatible with the objects of the National Parks and Wildlife Act and have a rightful role to play in managing pest animals in NSW national parks. This submission outlines how Conservation Hunting could help to achieve the Taskforce objectives of:

• promoting and protecting biodiversity and cultural heritage values, • increasing visitor numbers and tourism expenditure and • increasing management resources and conservation benefits from tourism in

national parks.

3. Promotion and Protection of Biodiversity Promotion and protection of biodiversity within NSW national parks requires sustained commitment of financial and personnel resources. This will be especially important in the future with the NSW National Parks Establishment Plan aiming to increase the area of the reserve system over the next 10 years (DECC 2008). Stakeholders agree there will never be enough resources to commit to conserving large parts of Australia but it is clear that governments must commit to long term (decades, if not hundreds of years) programs that support integrated management (Commonwealth of Australia 2007). An un-utilised resource to assist in controlling vertebrate pest species in national parks are Conservation Hunters accredited through Game Council NSW. An independent report on management of feral animals by NPWS noted that hunting has the potential to assist with conservation objectives yet it is rarely promoted as a conservation tool, and recommended that following establishment of the Game Council NSW, NPWS should review its position in relation to hunting of feral animals (English and Chapple 2002). Broad-scale ground shooting compares favourably with the ‘ideal method’ for controlling vertebrate pests - it is effective, easy to use, provides acceptable safety for both users and others, is affordable, humane, and is species specific:


(McLeod 2007).

Hunters holding a restricted game hunting licence issued by Game Council NSW are required to satisfy the Game Council that they have undertaken adequate training or complete a hunter education program. They are bound to uphold the mandatory conditions of their licence and a Code of Practice that includes firearm safety and animal welfare provisions. This ensures that Conservation Hunting is conducted safely and responsibly. There are approx. 10,000 Conservation Hunters licensed by Game Council NSW that could be utilised to assist with pest animal control programs to enhance and protect biodiversity in national parks in NSW. Recommendation That the Taskforce objectively review the use of Conservation Hunters to assist with pest animal control programs in national parks and engage in dialogue with Game Council NSW to map out how such programs might be implemented and managed. Our recommendation is supported by three independent government committee reports:

• The Senate Committee Recommendation 10: The Committee recommends that the Commonwealth Government examine ways to encourage State and Territory Governments and their relevant agencies to engage more fully in programs that provide opportunities for recreational groups to contribute in positive ways to the conservation and maintenance of park reserves (Commonwealth of Australia 2007).

• The House of Representatives Committee Recommendation 21: The committee recommends that the Australian Government, through the Coalition of Australian Governments, encourage states and territories to amend legislation and find solutions for insurance problems experienced by hunting and shooting organisations where legislation and insurance problems preclude the organisations from assisting landholders with pest control activities (Commonwealth of Australia 2005).

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• The RIRDC Recommendation 5: That landholders and government agencies consider using reputable sporting shooting associations to eradicate feral animal problems as an alternative to offering bounties (Barclay 2004).

4. Increasing Visitor Numbers and Tourism Expenditure Travelling large distances is no deterrent to hunters who routinely travel vast distances to pursue their interest. In June this year, the Australian Deer Association (NSW) hosted the third annual deer hunting course in Bombala in southern NSW. The 2 day course attracted over 50 delegates from all States of Australia except the Northern Territory. The organising committee specified that all food and groceries was to be purchased locally which resulted in an injection of approx. $6000 into the local economy. The many local business houses that benefit from this money are keen to see the courses continue in their area for many years to come. In addition, substantial economic benefit would flow to NSW regional centres through expenditure on ‘trip costs’ (fuel, food, meals, ammunition etc.) by hunters. In a 1995 survey, it was conservatively estimated that hunters spend $10.47m and $58.44m on trip costs and equipment purchases respectively and that deer hunters made up to 10.55 weekend hunting trips per year (Cause 1995). The number of hunters today is substantially greater than in 1995 due to the availability of public land (State Forests) for hunting. The Game Council’s Public Benefit assessment undertaken in early 2008 identified that spending by the 8,000 Conservation Hunters Licensed in NSW in regional areas contributes positively to regional economies, particularly the tourism industry. Hunters generally are prepared to spend considerable amounts of money in pursuit of their interests and this is a potentially very lucrative market segment for regional businesses. In terms of the regional distribution of the economic benefits derived to NSW from hunting expenditure, a significant proportion (74% of the total, or $23.0 million) occurs in regional NSW. Conservation Hunters therefore contribute centrally to the State Plan’s goals regarding growing prosperity in regional areas. The economic impact in regional NSW is estimated at;

• Direct and indirect income of $11.0 million; • Direct and indirect value add (or Gross Regional Product) of $20.5 million; and • Direct and indirect employment of 410 people.

Since the introduction of Conservation Hunting in State Forests, regional centres like Nundle in north western NSW have enjoyed a noticeable increase in tourist activity and comments from local businesses indicate that this activity is continuing to increase. Similar situations are commonplace in villages throughout the Victorian high country. The fact that hunting is available in large areas of the Alpine National Park continues to attract regular hunter numbers to the area. These tourist/hunters inject much needed money into the local economy and because this situation has existed for so long, many businesses have become reliant on this regular cash flow.


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5. Increasing Management Resources and Conservation Benefits

The DECC’s public reserve system has grown from 4.5 million hectares in 1997 to 6.7 million hectares (8.3% of NSW) today. However expansion of the public reserve area per se does not ensure that ecosystems and habitats or visitor numbers will be sustained in the long term. The systematic pest animal surveys by West and Saunders show that a number of pest animals have increased their range and density between 2002 and 2004/05:

• Feral Pigs have increased their total range from 61% to 63% of NSW and more areas are classified as containing a high density of animals than in 2002;

• Dingoes and Wild Dogs have increased their range from 25% to 30% and increased across all density classes

• Feral Goats have increased their total range from 37% to 38% and remain abundant throughout much of the State;

• Rabbits have increased their total range from 69% to 70.9%; and • Wild Deer have increased their total range from 5% to 6% (West and Saunders

2007).

Similarly, current draft NPWS regional pest management strategies indicate that pest animals are widespread and are high priority for control plans. For example:

• The Sydney South Region pest management strategy indicates there are established widespread populations of foxes in the region and that the fox, goats, pigs, rabbits and wild dogs as critical pest animal control priority (DECC 2007a);

• The Snowy Mountains Region pest management strategy indicates there are established widespread populations of foxes and rabbits in all 28 reserves within the region (DECC 2007b), and

• The National Parks Association of NSW states that invasive species are a growing threat to native diversity (National Parks Association of NSW 2007).

In considering activities to increase visitor numbers and tourism expenditure we agree with the views of Carol Sheedy from Parks Canada during her recent visit to Australia: “Resist the temptation of making a judgement call on what is the best national parks experience…” and “Our job is to facilitate what visitors want” (Sheedy 2008). Hunting organisations have made many important contributions to pest animal control efforts. Victorian hunters from Field and Game Australia participated in a fox bounty trial that destroyed more than 198,000 foxes in just over twelve months, and members of the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia culled more than 25,000 wild goats in the Flinders Ranges since 1992 (Commonwealth of Australia 2005). Opponents to the use of hunters to control pest animals in national parks claim that hunters may have an interest in maintaining populations of animals and so only ‘professional hunters’ should be used. However under the Game and Feral Animal


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Control Act 2002, it is an offence to translocate any animal for the purposes of perpetuating hunting opportunities. Secondly, it is unlikely that any genuine hunter would risk loss of licence and thousands of dollars worth of hunting equipment by breaching the Act in this way. Furthermore, the cost of employing ‘professional’ shooters would be prohibitively expensive given the magnitude of the pest animal problem. The operational costs for professionals to remove a single species (deer) from a single national park (Royal National Park) are substantial: Number and Cost of Deer Removal from Royal National Park 2002-2007

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 Animals Culled 114 113 190 126 - 95

Reported Cost/Animal - $490 $478 $272 $255 $368

Source: Deer Management Plan for Royal National Park 2007 Annual Report Deer Management Plan for Royal National Park 2005-2008 Deer Management Plan for Royal National Park 2005 Annual Report Deer Management Plan for Royal National Park 2004 Annual Report Deer Management Plan for Royal National Park 2003 Annual Report Even where specific, single-species management plans are in place the target objectives are unlikely to be met with the current level of allocated resourcing. For example, the Royal National Park Deer Management Plan 2005-2008 indicated there would be 30 operational nights per year and that a minimum of 300 animals per year need to be removed. Yet a 2005 NPWS media release stated that only 560 deer were removed from Royal National Park over the previous three years and that “…the program, while helpful, is not keeping pace with the natural regeneration of the deer population.” (NPWS 2005). This is clear confirmation that NPWS requires substantial additional manpower resources to control pest animals on the national park estate. Successful control of pest animal populations requires sustained not intermittent effort. As many species are pests because they have a high reproductive rate ad hoc control is unlikely to have a long-term effect because pest populations recover rapidly between sporadic control events. Inadequate consideration of the ‘population dynamics’ of the pest species can result in rapid recovery of the pest population between control events (Hart and Bomford 2006). By contrast, Conservation Hunting on public land provides sustained control effort with genuine environmental, economic and social benefits. Two years of sustained conservation hunting has seen over 15,000 feral and pest animals removed from declared hunting areas in NSW State Forests as at September 1 2008 (Game Council NSW). Similarly a Game Council survey of licensed hunters in NSW indicated that up to 193,000 game and feral animals each year are removed by the 8,000 Conservation Hunters who had NSW Game Hunting Licences (NOTE: there are 123,000 firearms owners in NSW who list recreation and vermin control as the reason to own a firearm


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and it is estimated there are up to another 20,000 bow-hunters and hunters who hunt pigs without firearms in NSW) (pers. comm. Game Council NSW). The substantial environmental benefit of continuous removal of pest animals from NSW State Forests, through the Game Council’s Conservation Hunting program, could similarly be achieved in NSW National Parks. In addition, substantial economic benefit would flow to NSW regional centres through expenditure on ‘trip costs’ (fuel, food, meals, ammunition etc.) by hunters. In a 1990 survey, it was conservatively estimated that hunters spend $10.47m and $58.44m on trip costs and equipment purchases respectively and that deer hunters made up to 10.55 weekend hunting trips per year (Cause 1995). The number of hunters today is substantially greater than in 1990 due to the availability of public land (State Forests) for hunting. Recommendation That the Taskforce implement steps to make the necessary legislative changes to the National Parks and Wildlife Act and the Game and Feral Animal Control Act to enable Conservation Hunters to undertake with pest animal control in NSW National Parks.

6. Conclusions

Conclusion 1: The recommendations from no less than three Commonwealth enquiries and reports plus recommendations from other independent experts provide a clear mandate for introducing Conservation Hunting programs to control vertebrate pest species in NSW national parks. Conclusion 2: Conservation Hunters, accredited and trained through the Game Council NSW have proven to be effective in controlling pest animals in NSW state forests after just two years of operation. There is no reason why the same results cannot be achieved in NSW national parks and achieve State Plan Priority 4 outcomes of a reduction in the impact of invasive species by 2015. Conclusion 3: Removing the legislative barriers to enable Conservation Hunting in NSW national parks would bring about not only ecological benefits but also economic benefits through reducing the labour costs of pest control programs and increased regional tourism and expenditure by Conservation Hunters.


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7. References

Barclay H 2004. Attitudes to recreational use of rural properties: A Report for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation, October 2004.

Cause ML 1995. A survey of the economic values for recreational deer hunting in Australia. Chapter 46 in Conservation through Sustainable Use of Wildlife, ed by G Grigg, PT Hale and D Lunney. Centre for Conservation Biology, The University of Queensland. 1995. Commonwealth of Australia 2005. Taking Control: A National Approach to Pest Animals: Inquiry into the impact on agriculture of pest animals. House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, November 2005. Commonwealth of Australia 2007. Conserving Australia: Australia’s national parks, conservation reserves and marine protected areas. Senate committee report, April 2007.

Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW (DECC) 2008. New South Wales National Parks Establishment Plan 2008. Department of Environment and Climate Change NSW (DECC), Sydney, August 2008. Department of Environment and Conservation NSW (DECC) 2007a. Sydney South Region Pest Management Strategy 2008-2011. DECC, Sydney, NSW

Department of Environment and Conservation NSW (DECC) 2007b. Snown Mountains Region Pest Management Strategy 2007-2010. DECC, Sydney, NSW

English AW and Chapple RS 2002. A Report on the Management of Feral Animals by the New South Wales National Parks and Wildlife Service, Hurstville NSW July 2002. Hart Q and Bomford M 2006. Science for decision makers: New approaches to old problems. Bureau of Rural Sciences, Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australia, February 2006. House of Representatives 2005. Taking Control: a national approach to pest animals. Standing Committee on Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry inquiry into the impact on agriculture of pest animals, November 2005 Canberra. McLeod R. 2004. Counting the Cost: Impact of Invasive Animals in Australia 2004. Cooperative Research Centre for Pest Animal Control. Canberra, April 2004. McLeod SR, Saunders G, Twigg LE, Arthur AD, Ramsey D, Hinds LA. 2007. Prospects for the future: Is there a role for virally vectored immunocontraception in vertebrate pest management? Wildlife Research, 2007, 34,555-566.


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Miller KK and Jones DN 2005. Wildlife management in Australia: perceptions of objectives and priorities. Wildlife Research 2005:32:265-272.

National Parks Association of NSW 2007. Submission 130, Senate Committee Report: Conserving Australia: Australia’s national parks, conservation reserves and marine protected areas. Senate committee report, April 2007. Nature Conservation Council of NSW 2008. Visit our National Parks. But they are NOT for Sale. Some things you can tell the task force about. http://nccnsw.org.au/index.php. Accessed 10 July 2008.

NPWS 2005. NPWS commits to a further three years of deer control in Royal National Park Media release - Tuesday, 4 October 2005. http://www3.environment.nsw.gov.au/npws.nsf/Content/dec_media_051004_01 Sheedy C 2008. The Changing Face of Canada: Creating Relevance and Connection. presentation to DECC staff, May 2008. http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/parkmanagement/CarolSheedy_May2008TheChangingFaceOfCanada.pdf. Accessed 15 August 2008. West P and Saunders G 2007. Pest Animal Survey: A review of the distribution, impacts and control of invasive animals throughout NSW and the ACT. NSW Department of Primary Industries.

http://nccnsw.org.au/index.php

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/parkmanagement/CarolSheedy_May2008TheChangingFaceOfCanada.pdf

http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/resources/parkmanagement/CarolSheedy_May2008TheChangingFaceOfCanada.pdf

Australian Deer Association (NSW) submission to the Taskforce …€¦ · Increased business...

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