Conserving freshwater ecosystem values in Tasmania, Australia: identification and application of freshwater conservation management priority areas

The Conservation of Freshwater Ecosystem Values (CFEV) Project is a Tasmanian Government initiative that has developed a Comprehensive, Adequate and Representative (CAR) system as a strategic framework for the management and conservation of freshwater-dependent ecosystem values in Tasmania. At the core of the CFEV framework is a statewide audit of Tasmania’s freshwater values for rivers, waterbodies, wetlands, saltmarshes, estuaries, karst and other groundwater dependent ecosystems. The audit aimed to characterise all types of freshwater ecosystems by undertaking a classification and condition assessment based on assessment criteria of Naturalness, Representativeness and Distinctiveness (NRD). The results of the audit were used to determine a conservation value and a conservation management priority ranking for every freshwater ecosystem mapped at 1:25 000 scale. A database developed as part of this process provides environmental-based information to ensure managers are consistently informed when making decisions regarding the management, development and conservation of the State’s freshwater resources. Refinement of the CFEV data is currently being carried out through ground-truthing and enhanced database access. A brief outline of the CFEV framework and its use in the conservation of Tasmania’s unique and diverse freshwater ecosystems is presented