Park Profiles and Performance Assessment
Park Profiles has led to the first systematic categorisation of Queensland's parks and forests. All parks and forests have been placed in park categories, according to their relative values, threats and management opportunities.
Park categories are based on a comprehensive information bank and provide an objective and transparent tool to assist the State-wide allocation of resources and setting of parks planning and management priorities.
Importantly the park categories system has been designed to be forward looking, and attempts to forecast threats and identify a 'future desired state' for protected areas managed by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service.
The complementary Rapid Assessment Program provides a business-like approach to assessing how well Queensland's national parks and other protected areas are managed. It includes a survey questionnaire that is completed every 2 years for each protected area. The results provide feedback on 3 basic questions that are fundamental to good park management:
- are adequate management tools in place ?
- to what extent are they being implemented ?
- is management effective ?
The Rapid Assessment Program is based on International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources standards for measuring parks performance, which provides the current best practice framework for assessing park management. Queensland was the first jurisdiction in Australia to adopt such an approach to performance assessment.
What are the organisational benefits ?
The organisational benefits of park categories and the Rapid Assessment Program are that they provide:
- a system to guide the setting of park management priorities, budgets and work programs;
- improved decision support for setting strategic directions;
- a regular picture of management performance and trends in park management over time; and
- improved accountability and transparency in the management process.
Last updated: 10 May 2007