Purpose

The Rubicon Sanctuary is subject to a conservation covenant. "The purpose of the covenant is to protect in perpetuity the flora and fauna, water quality and the natural diversity of the land."

The covenant creates a "Protected Area on Private Land" or PAPL, which also means that the Rubicon Sanctuary is part of the National Reserve System alongside National and State Parks. It is assigned the IUCN (World Conservation Union) category 4: Habitat/Species Management Area: mainly for conservation through management intervention.

We have inherited from the Tasmanian Land Conservancy a Nature Conservation Plan. This is an agreement between the owner of the land and the State Minister for the Environment that determines how the terms of the covenant are to be achieved. This includes the requirement for periodic burning for the purpose of enhancing diversity and maintaining the habitat for threatened plant species. We have some of our own ideas for enhancing the natural values that we will include in the next draft of this plan, which is due during 2008.

A summary of our presentation to the Castlemaine Field Naturalists in November 2007, written by Geraldine Harris, includes some further details.

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