The Department of Conservation and Land Management (CALM) was a department of the

Government of Western Australia The Government of Western Australia, formally referred to as His Majesty's Government of Western Australia, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of Western Australia. It is also commonly referred to as the WA Government o ...

that was responsible for implementing the state's conservation and environment legislation and regulations. It was created by the ''Conservation and Land Management Act 1984'', also known as the ''CALM Act'', which is still in force . The Department of Conservation and Land Management was responsible from 22 March 1985 to 30 June 2006 for protecting and conserving the State of Western Australia’s environment; this included managing the state's national parks, marine parks, conservation parks, state forests, timber reserves and nature reserves. The Conservation Commission of Western Australia, responsible for assessing and auditing the performance of the department, was also created by the ''CALM Act''. Now ( renamed the Conservation and Parks Commission), its functions have broadened, with its purpose stated as "to act as an independent and trusted community steward and government advisor for the protection of Western Australia’s

biodiversity Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (''genetic variability''), species (''species diversity''), and ecosystem (''ecosystem diversity'') l ...

and conservation estate while fostering its appreciation and sustainable use".

Status (at dissolution, 30 June 2006)

CALM had management responsibilities in: *97

national park A national park is a nature park, natural park in use for conservation (ethic), conservation purposes, created and protected by national governments. Often it is a reserve of natural, semi-natural, or developed land that a sovereign state dec ...

s (5 593 536 ha) * conservation parks (843,155 ha) *9 marine parks (1,261,166 ha) *1 marine nature reserve (1 489 461 ha) *2 marine management areas (143,385 ha) *nature reserves (10 860 832 ha) *state forests (1,304,619 ha) *timber reserves (123,344 ha) *other recreational / conservation reserves, freehold and other managed lands (6,200,799 ha) At 30 June 2006, the total area under CALM’s care was 26,339,492 ha. The land area managed by the Department was about 9.78% of the land area of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

. CALM-managed lands and waters received 11,842,000 visits during 2005-2006. Between 1998 and 2006, the number of people registered as volunteers with the Department grew from 836 to 3,882 with 470,600 hours contributed. Between 2000 and 2006, the CALM Bush Ranger cadets program showed an increase from 800 to 1,215 Bush Ranger cadets that contributed a total of 268,375 hours to conservation projects just on the last scholar year (2005). CALM was responsible for the wildlife conservation project

Western Shield Western Shield, managed by Western Australia's Department of Parks and Wildlife (Western Australia), Department of Parks and Wildlife, is a nature conservation program safeguarding Western Australia's animals and protecting them from extinction ...

which is pest animal control (more than 3.9 million hectares of conservation reserves and State forests baited for feral animal control). CALM also managed two long distance trails: *the

Bibbulmun Track The Bibbulmun Track is a long-distance walk trail in Western Australia. It runs from Kalamunda in the east of Perth to Albany, and is long. It is managed by government agencies, and has a foundation. It traverses the Darling Range and has i ...

for walkers, where the analysis of the data collected from the campsite registers has revealed that: **the average length of a walk was 17.5 days **more than 20% of the walkers were from interstate and overseas **122 people registered as End to End walkers in 2005-2006 *the

Munda Biddi Trail The Munda Biddi Trail is a long-distance mostly off-road cycling trail in Western Australia. It runs for over from Mundaring to Albany. The completed Munda Biddi Trail opened end-to-end in April 2013 when it claimed the title of the longest c ...

for cyclists, where the analysis of the data collected from the campsite registers has revealed that: **the average length of a ride was 3.6 days **more than 20% of cyclists are from interstate and overseas An important duty of the Department was wildfire prevention and suppression on its lands as well as fire prevention in unallocated

Crown land Crown land (sometimes spelled crownland), also known as royal domain, is a territorial area belonging to the monarch, who personifies the Crown. It is the equivalent of an entailed estate and passes with the monarchy, being inseparable from it. ...

and unmanaged reserves (89.1 million ha transferred from Department of Land Administration on 1 July 2003) by: * managing fuel loads through prescribed burning (in 2005-2006, the prescribed burning program achieved 194,105 ha in the South-West forest regions, close to the nominal target of 200,000 ha per year and 448,529 ha for all regions) and other means * responding to wildfires (in 2005-2006, 480 wildfires were attended through the State with a total area of 2,687,516 ha) * undertaking research into fire behaviour and effects Some of the most severe wildfires that the Department had to help to suppress, in chronological order, include:

Preceding agencies

Earlier forms of nature conservation in Western Australia were under:Information from the Aeon database at

State Records Office of Western Australia The State Records Office of Western Australia (SRO) is the Western Australian government authority with responsibility for identifying, managing, preserving and providing access to the state's archives. The SRO also delivers best-practice records ...

* Department of Lands and Surveys: 1 January 1890 – (partly split) 31 December 1895 * Wood and Forests Department: 1 January 1896 – 31 December 1918 * Forests Department: 1 January 1919 – 21 March 1985 * State Gardens Board: 15 December 1920 – 30 April 1957 (Parks and Reserves Act 1895) * National Parks Board: 1 May 1957 – 30 July 1977 * Department of Fisheries and Fauna: 1 October 1964 – 31 December 1973 * National Parks Authority: 1 August 1977 – 15 April 1985 (National Parks Authority Act 1976) * Wildlife section of the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife: 1 January 1974 – 21 March 1985

Vehicles

The Department maintained and coordinated a range of specialist equipment and emergency response vehicles. This included

pumpers A fire engine (also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry) is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to an ...

and

tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tank ...

and other equipment relating to operations involving

search and rescue Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...

and

firefighting Firefighting is the act of extinguishing or preventing the spread of unwanted fires from threatening human lives and destroying property and the environment. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter. Firefighters typically ...

. File:Toyota Hilux 3.0 D4D DR Light Unit Ranger SRNP 22-X-2005.JPG, Toyota Hilux 3.0 D4D DR with light pumper at Stirling Range National Park ranger station, October 2005. File:Toyota Hilux 3.0 iTD 4WD KNP 2-X-2005.JPG, Toyota Hilux 3.0 iTD 4WD at Kalbarri National Park ranger station, October 2005. File:Toyota LandCruiser Work Mate KNP 2-X-2005.JPG, Toyota LandCruiser Work Mate 4WD at Kalbarri National Park ranger station, October 2005. File:Isuzu 550 HD104 Kalbarri 1 DEC KNP X-2005.JPG, Heavy duty fire appliance Isuzu 550 (HD104 - Kalbarri 40) at Kalbarri National Park, October 2005. File:Heavy duty SRNP 22-X-2005.JPG, Heavy duty fire appliance Isuzu 550 (HD2 - Stirling Range) at Stirling Range National Park fire station, October 2005. File:Isuzu 550 HD34 Esperance 3 V-2006.JPG, Heavy duty fire appliance Isuzu 550 (HD34 - Esperance) at a Salmon Gums wildfire, May 2006. File:M-18A Dromader CALM.jpg, PZL-Mielec M-18 Dromader waterbomber, Busselton, Western Australia. File:CALM Champion Aircraft Scout 8GCBC PER Wheatley.jpg, Champion aircraft scout 8GCBC at Perth Airport. File:Toyota Coaster Fire Operations control van Balladonia 2 II-2003.JPG, Toyota Coaster fire operations control van at Balladonia wildfire (Nullarbor plain), February 2003. File:Tipper truck SRNP 22-X-2005.JPG, Tipper Isuzu 550 at Stirling Range National Park ranger station, October 2005.

Notes

{{Authority control Nature conservation in Western Australia Science and technology in Western Australia Forests of Western Australia

Conservation Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws. Conservation may also refer to: Environment and natural resources * Nature conservation, the protection and managem ...

2006 disestablishments in Australia Land management in Australia