Implementing The National Protocol System Down-Under: Cooperative Management Device for Biodiversity Conservation on Road Corridors in Australia

Quentin Farmar-Bowers

The paper reviews the importance of road corridors for biodiversity conservation in Australia and describes progress in developing and implementing a new management device for the conservation of biodiversity on road corridors. The new device is called the National Protocol System (NPS). The NPS is a formal cooperative management system involving all stakeholders. Stakeholders are defined. The main uses of the NPS are described and its three fundamental flaws are discussed. The paper describes progress with the NPS in the last year and some of the proposals to promote and develop the system in the coming year. The paper concludes that the features of the NPS would make it an effective and efficient management device but that it may be too far ahead of current management capabilities to be readily accepted by current managers.

Keywords: Australia, biodiversity, highway corridors, cooperative management, stakeholders, sustainable development