Conservation Management Zones of Australia

The 23 Conservation Management Zones of Australia are geographic areas, classified according to their ecological and threat characteristics. The zones are also aligned with the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia.

The Conservation Management Zones provide a way of understanding Australia’s natural environment that will assist in long-term conservation planning and help the Australian Government to better design, deliver and report on Natural Resource Management (NRM) investments, including ensuring alignment of national NRM priorities with local action.

The Conservation Management Zones also provide a filter through which to make national environmental and socio-economic data regionally meaningful, accessible and comprehensible to all.

They provide a framework for gathering on-ground knowledge and expertise about the environment. This will improve information flow to the Australian Government and other key decision makers about regional NRM requirements, best practice management, emerging NRM issues and knowledge gaps.

The Conservation Management Zones do not represent any change to existing administrative boundaries or governance structures, but aim to support the NRM and wider community to cooperatively manage environmental assets across boundaries, where they share common threats, ecological characteristics and stakeholders.

The project builds on the Interim Biogeographic Regionalisation of Australia (IBRA) which has been used to support planning of the National Reserve System, but consolidates the 85 mainland IBRA regions into 23 Conservation Management Zones, where IBRA regions share common characteristics.

Further information and profiles describing the zones can be accessed throught the Department of the Environments web site at - https://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/conservation-management-zones