Agreement Identifier

1.3

SOURCE_ID

Text 20

Identifier allocated from the source data base that uniquely defines each agreement. This is the field that is used to link the agreement polygon data in the feature class to this text table.

Spatial information

2.2

GAZ_AREA Double or numeric field with the appropriate number of decimal places

Legal area of the agreement in hectares.

This field and the definition above were adopted to be consistent with the CAPAD standard.

The value in this field is meant to represent the official area of the agreement, as given in the agreement document. In the Stage 1 national database the values in this field represented the agreement area value quoted by the data provider in published statistics. It therefore became a mixture of area from the GIS and area from agreement documents depending on the reporting policy of the data provider.

DEWHA will use the GIS area Table 2 field 2.1) calculated from the national layer for most reports from the national database.

2.4

STATE

Text 3

State or territory where the parcel is located. Set codes or values below.

2.8

CONS_AREA

Double or numeric field with the appropriate number of decimal places

Area of the ‘high conservation value’ part of the agreement. For mechanisms that only gazette / apply to the high conservation value part of a property, the CONS_AREA will be the same as the GAZ_AREA. For mechanisms that gazette / apply to an entire property, or include other areas that are considered of high conservation value, the CONS_AREA value will be smaller than the GAZ_AREA value. This field will enable greater consistency when reporting on agreements at a national scale by bringing the area statistics of agreements that include zones in line with agreements that only gazette/map the high conservation value area. Agreements with zones include zones that although they restrict activities, they do not offer the highest level of protection in the agreement, for example ‘farmland’ and ‘domestic’.

Values for CONS_AREA can be obtained from formal agreement documents or calculated using GIS.

Nature of the agreement

3.1

TYPE
Text 60

Type of agreement, for example Conservation Agreement, Heritage Agreement and Nature Refuge Declaration. Set codes or values below.

3.2

DURATION
Text 16

The duration of the agreement. Values: In perpetuity; Set term; Unspecified term. In perpetuity includes only agreements that are registered without an end date to the agreement. This does not include agreements which have a long term-based agreement (e.g. 99 years), which is often the case for leasehold land. Unspecified term could apply to a revolving fund property awaiting sale to register agreement, or agreement does not have set term.

3.3

TERM
Double

Or numeric field

Number of years that the mechanism will be in place.

Where there is no value for instance for in perpetuity agreements, then set to NULL

3.4

ON_TITLE
Text 1

Registered on title. Values Y/N

3.5

GAZ_DATE
Date

or Text if not available

The date the agreement commenced. When term based, the date the agreement commenced the term. The CAPAD definition “Gazettal date of the original proclamation that established any form of protected area that included this land”. In many jurisdictions systems this translates to the date the agreement was registered.

If a text field is used the data should be in the format YYYY-MM-DD or DD-MM-YYYY and can have “/” as the separator instead of “-“.

3.6

NRS_PA
Text 2

Abbreviation of whether the protected area meets the requirements agreed by the NRS Task Group as being part of the national reserve system, or is otherwise best considered part of complementary protection mechanisms.

Values: Y (Yes); N (No); I (Interim); ND (Not Determined or Not Provided).

See below for guidelines on determining NRS_PA.

3.7

REV_FUND

Text 2

This field will streamline reporting to the Australian Government. Indicates whether the property has been through a revolving fund program. This includes properties which have been purchased and are currently awaiting sale and gazettal – these should be coded as ‘Awaiting Sale’ (AS). Those that have already gone through the revolving fund process, ie have been purchased and on-sold with an agreement in place should be coded as ‘Yes’ (Y).

Values: Y (Yes); N (No); AS (Awaiting Sale).

Governance

4.1

AUTHORITY
Text 15

The authority which administers the agreement. Set values are described below for those who were involved in Stage 1 and as a guide for new contributors.

4.2

GOVERNANCE
Text 2

The code for the type of governance which has the management and decision making authority (Codes: Government, Private, Community, Joint). These codes are described below.

4.3

LEGISLATION
Text 60

This contains the name of the act under which the agreement was established. For example Victorian Conservation Trust Act 1972 (s3A), Native Vegetation Act 1991 and Nature Conservation Act 1992. Set values are below those who were involved in Stage 1 and as a guide for new contributors.

Management

5.1

MGMT_PLANNING
Text 2

Is there a management plan (in any form) or agreed approach to management actions for the agreement either in place or in preparation. Values: Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided).

5.2

ACTIVE_MGMT
Text 2

Is a management plan being implemented and/or other management actions occurring on the agreement. This may be consistent with required management actions or beyond such requirements in order to maintain or improve values of the area. Values Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided).

5.3

MONITORING
Text 2

Is active monitoring being implemented (this includes but is not limited to stewardship programs whereby program staff visit the site at established intervals).

Values: Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided).

Site significance

6.1

IUCN
Text 4

The IUCN protected area category ascribed by the managing authority. This field confirms basis of significance of the site, as well as describing the intent / purpose of the agreement. Set values are defined below.

Set values are: IA, IB, II, III, IV, V, VI, VOID, Not applicable, Not Determined (includes Not Provided)

For an explanation of the codes see the set values section below.

6.2

PLACE_BASED VALUES

The following fields describe the values that are known to exist in the agreement from a place based perspective.

6.2a

THREAT_SPP_HABITAT
Text 2

Agreement is known to contain listed* species (flora or fauna), AND/OR contains the habitat for a listed species, AND/OR contains a listed* ecological community.

*Listed includes local, state and national level listings (all categories e.g. conservation dependent, vulnerable, endangered, critically endangered).

Values Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided) - Blank fields should be 'ND'.

6.2b

AQUATIC_ECOSYSTEMS
Text 2

The agreement is known to contain high quality aquatic ecosystems. This includes but is NOT limited to wetlands of national / international significance. Significant sites are listed at:

• Ramsar, DIWA: http://www.environment.gov.au/water/publications/environmental/wetlands/database/index.html

HCVAE: criteria and nominated sites pending 2010.

Values Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided) - Blank fields should be 'ND'.

6.2c

ECOSYSTEM_SERVICES
Text 2

The agreement is known to provide ecosystem services and/or have intact native vegetation:

• protection of ecosystem services/function: water conservation, air quality, soil conservation;

• good quality native vegetation

Values Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided) - Blank fields should be 'ND'.

6.2d

BIODIVERSITY
Text 2

The agreement is known to contain high species richness and/or high levels of localised endemism.

Values Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided) - Blank fields should be 'ND'.

6.2e

CULTURAL
Text 2

The agreement has known cultural heritage values (this includes but is NOT limited to listed heritage sites).

Values Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided) - Blank fields should be 'ND'.

6.2f

GEOLOGIAL
Text 2

The agreement has known high geodiversity or an outstanding geological formation (e.g. caves, gorges, crater lakes).

Values Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided) - Blank fields should be 'ND'.

6.3

LANDSCAPE_SCALE VALUES

The following fields describe the landscape scale function associated with agreement.

6.3a

CONNECTIVITY
Text 2

Connectivity is the degree to which core habitat areas are linked. An agreement with connectivity values is one which facilitates movement of species between resource patches – that is, increases the connection between core patches of native vegetation in the landscape. In this case it applies to the spatial structure of a landscape, and can be determined from map elements.

In general, an agreement will have a connectivity value if it is connected to (or is within reasonable distance to) another area(s) of native vegetation. This may be as part of a corridor (narrow strip of vegetation) or connecting to a larger block of vegetation (refuge). It also includes agreements that act as ‘buffers’ around a core habitat area such as a National Park or Wilderness Area.

Connectivity is determined regardless of the tenure / protection of the adjoining vegetation.

If an agreement is connected to roadside corridors and narrow plantations of trees, determining whether it has a connectivity value will be based on whether the vegetation is native and is of sufficient quality to enable to effectively act as a ‘corridor’. (This will be a subjective consideration using your knowledge of the region and species present.)

Values Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided)

Note blank fields should be ‘ND’

6.3b

RESILIENCE
Text 2

‘Resilience’ of an ecosystem refers to its capacity to adapt to changes and disturbances, yet retain its basic functions and structures. Does the area contribute to or influence broader scale socio-ecological processes, does the area maintain or improve the resilience of biodiversity and natural resources within the bioregional / landscape context.

Values Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided)

Note blank fields should be ‘ND’

6.3d

RESTORE_POT
Text 2

Restoration potential / future value. Contains area requiring restoration with potential future ecological value at site / landscape / regional scale.

Links to and /or includes integrated management with other surrounding land owners / managers.

Values Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided)

Note blank fields should be ‘ND’

Representativeness

6.5a

UNDER_REP_STATE
Text 2

The agreement contains ecological communities or ecosystems that are under-represented at the state level in existing reserve system. Clear explanation of the relevant criteria used to determine this field should be provided with the metadata.

Values Y/N/ND (Not Determined or Not Provided)

Note blank fields should be ‘ND’