General Information

What is the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative?

Attention: open in a new window. PrintE-mail

Vision

Great Eastern Ranges and Protected Areas map - Click to Enlarge.The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative aims to maintain and improve long-term connectivity conservation of mountain ecosystems running the length of eastern Australia. The 1,200 km New South Wales section of the Great Eastern Ranges is the current area of focus.

Drawing together the efforts of the various community, industry, government and non-government groups already working in the area, the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative will strengthen the resilience of natural ecosystems and the native plant and animal species they support, in the face of climate change and other ecological threats.

The Great Eastern Ranges corridor will help protect water supplies for over 93% of eastern Australia’s population, as well as our most significant nature-based tourism assets. The maintenance of ecosystem function and connectivity of these mountainous catchments is essential for sustaining the health and wellbeing of our rapidly growing human population and economy in eastern Australia, particularly with the rapid onset of climate change.

Leadership by individuals, landholders, communities, industry and government, as well as community support for the corridor vision, are the means by which the aims of the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative will be achieved. The Initiative aims to retain the natural habitats which interconnect the many protected areas that are already established along many sections of the Great Eastern Ranges. This approach can mitigate the destruction of plant and animal habitat, and manage for changes caused by climate change and other threats.

This can be achieved through better integration and coordination and management of knowledge, tools, science, planning and funding as well as increasing awareness and improving connectivity conservation management across all land tenures. The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative is forming partnerships to achieve these goals.

How Did it Begin?

On 24 February 2006 the Hon Bob Debus MP, the then NSW Minister for the Environment, announced the NSW Environmental Trust had allocated a budget of $AUD 7 million over 3 years to establish the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative in NSW. The key means for achieving the vision in NSW are the Business Plan 2007–2010, a Communication and Community Involvement Strategy, and Partnerships for integrating a great range of conservation activities in priority areas.

The Great Eastern Ranges Initiative began its journey led by a small team within the NSW Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water, and is being delivered in partnership with a variety of organisations.

6 Partnership organisations have taken on leadership of the Great Eastern Ranges Initiative. These are:

The Great Eastern Ranges program is being delivered in 5 priority areas.