Promoting Plant Conservation on Leasehold Land in the Australian Capital Territory

Land tenure in the ACT is exclusively leasehold. In 1996, the Government commenced a review of rural land policy and launched a new one in March 2000. The new rural policy provided the basis for securing sustainable rural enterprises and a high degree of protection for the natural values that they support and with which they interact. This resulted in the availability of 99 year leases in predetermined areas and, as a prerequisite for new rural leases, the development of Land Management Agreements for sustainable use of the land. A February 2000 amendment to the 'Land (Planning and Environment) Act 1991' made a Land Management Agreement mandatory for the granting of a new rural lease.