Declared wild river areas
The following three new wild river areas were declared on 3 April 2009:
- Archer Wild River Declaration 2009 (PDF, 670K)*
- Stewart Wild River Declaration 2009 (PDF, 533K)*
- Lockhart Wild River Declaration 2009 (PDF, 528K)*
These accompany the first round of six wild river declarations which took effect on 28 February 2007:
- Fraser Wild River Declaration 2007 (PDF, 366K)*
- Gregory Wild River Declaration 2007 (PDF, 351K)*
- Hinchinbrook Wild River Declaration 2007 (PDF, 313K)*
- Morning Inlet Wild River Declaration 2007 (PDF, 399K)*
- Settlement Wild River Declaration 2007 (PDF, 326K)*
- Staaten Wild River Declaration 2007 (PDF, 352K)*
What is a wild river declaration?
A wild river declaration is a statutory document under the Wild Rivers Act, which aims to provide a high level of protection from new development activities that have the potential to degrade the wild river’s natural values. A declaration sets out:
- the extent of the wild river area and its various management areas
- any caps on resources that can be taken in the wild river area (e.g. water)
- any rules or limits that must be complied with when undertaking new development activities (such as quarrying, agriculture and mining) in the wild river area
- any development assessment codes that must be applied.
A wild river is a stream that has all, or almost all, of its natural values intact. This means the riverine processes of the stream have not been significantly altered from their natural state. Specified special features (on- or off-stream elements of the river network that play a significant role in maintaining the natural values of the system) may also be identified.
A wild river declaration outlines where certain types of new development can occur in the catchment and under what conditions. Wild river requirements do not apply to day-to-day activities such as feeding stock, refuelling machinery or fishing and camping along the rivers, or to developments existing at the time of declaration.
For detailed information on the above, see:
- How the wild rivers process works (PDF, 182K)*
- Wild rivers guide for self-assessable stock and domestic dams (PDF, 72K)*
- Wild rivers guide for local governments (PDF, 188K)*
- Wild rivers field guide for graziers (PDF, 159K)*
- Wild rivers guide: mining and exploration (PDF, 152K)*
Indigenous interests
In a declared wild river area:
- traditional Indigenous activities such as camping, fishing, hunting and conducting ceremonies and traditional fire management are not subject to wild river requirements as they do not constitute development
- there are no requirements under the Act for boating and camping (including the small-scale storage of fuel and refuelling of boats within or near rivers and lakes).
- a wild river declaration will not affect native title, cultural heritage, or the functioning and operation of the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act 2003.
For detailed information on the above, see:
- Draft Indigenous summary guide (PDF, 87K)*
- Information summary for Indigenous communities (PDF, file unavailable)*
Management areas
Wild river areas usually include the river drainage basin. They have clear boundaries and are divided into management areas as follows:
- high preservation area—the area within and up to one kilometre each side of the wild river, its major tributaries and special off-stream features, such as floodplain wetlands
- preservation area—the wild river area outside a high preservation area
- floodplain management area—a floodplain area with a strong hydrologic connection to the river system; may overlap a high preservation area or a preservation area
- subartesian management area—aquifer area with a strong hydrologic connection to the river system; may overlap a high preservation area and/or a preservation area
- designated urban area—area which includes any town or village in the wild river area. In these areas, certain types of development activity are exempt from wild river requirements
- nominated waterways (PDF, 80K)* —secondary tributaries or streams in preservation areas that have been designated for wild river purposes.
More information
Contact us for more information or copies of the fact sheets and guides.
* Requires Acrobat Reader
Last updated: 03 June 2009