SECTORAL ACTION PLANS
Integrating Biodiversity into Sectors

Conserving biodiversity depends to a major degree on the effective realisation of the principle that all sectors/actors participate appropriately in actions to promote biodiversity. The cross-sectoral integration of biodiversity considerations is therefore a major challenge addressed in the National Biodiversity Plan.

At Government level, this means all Government Departments must ensure not only that their policies and actions do not damage biodiversity, but that they take a proactive role in enhancing biodiversity. A key means of achieving this will be the drawing up by each Department and relevant state agency of their own Biodiversity Action Plan in consultation with stakeholders and according to agreed guidelines. Departments and agencies will also seek to improve the generation and management of information on biodiversity and will include such information in the heritage inventories they are to prepare in accordance with the National Heritage Plan.

Sectoral Action Plans will aim to ensure the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity is actively pursued by each Government Department and agency.

Each Sectoral Plan will provide an overview of the Government Department’s/agency’s biodiversity responsibilities, the interactions (both positive and negative) between the Government Department’s/agency’s and sectors activities and biodiversity; and the value of biodiversity for the sector.

Each Departmental and agency Biodiversity Plan should aim to ensure the Department’s or agency’s activities, and that of the sector it is responsible for:

• minimise adverse impacts on biodiversity;
• eliminate significant adverse impacts; and
• encourage and promote beneficial effects on biodiversity.

Each Action Plan will include objectives and actions.

Each Action Plan will seek to encourage the sector to which it relates to play a proactive part in relation to biodiversity.

The Sectoral Biodiversity Action Plans will be subject to review after a period of five years.