Management and maintenance

There are increasing pressures from urban, industrial and agricultural development on parks and forests.

National parks and other protected areas need to provide homes for wildlife, while meeting expanding outdoor recreation needs.

A master plan for Queensland's park system sets out how protected areas will be managed in Queensland for the next 20 years.

A management plan for each park will be prepared identifying how to ensure the park is preserved, enhanced and maintained. With careful management, people can enjoy national parks and forests without damaging them.

Management principles

The most important principle for managing national parks is to keep them in, as close as possible, to their natural state without human interference.

Other management principles for national parks are:

• to present the park's cultural and natural resources and their values
• to ensure that park use is nature-based and ecologically sustainable.

Management plans and strategies

Management plans are prrepared for all new protected areas. The plans will outline how the areas will be managed. The public is invited to have their say whenever one of these plans is prepared.

Fire management

Wildfires can occur in parks and forests. Fires can have nature conservation benefits or can cause damage to wildlife and property.

Fire danger conditions are monitored to prepare and maintain emergency response plans. Strategies to reduce the risk of wildfires include:

• planned burning to reduce fuel loads, protect park and forest facilities and related properties, and conserve natural systems and processes
• maintenance of an extensive network of high priority roads and firebreaks
• well trained and equipped staff to respond to wildfire outbreaks
• a cooperative approach to fire management with the Queensland Fire and Rescue Service, other land management agencies and the community.

Pest plants and animals

Pest plants and animals have the potential for significant adverse economic, environmental and social impacts. Pest plants are often referred to as ‘weeds’ and pest animals as ‘feral animals’.

Pest plants invade natural communities and can replace native plants and significantly change ecosystems.

Pest animals can have a major impact on native animals by eating them, competing for food and by damaging ecosystems.

Find out how pest plants and animals are managed in national parks and forests.