Roadside Environment Committee

What is a linear reserve?

In NSW linear reserves include roadsides, Travelling Stock Reserves, rail corridors and infrastructure easements (for example: for electricity lines, gas pipelines).

Apart from covering a large area, linear reserves contain significant biodiversity, including ecological communities that are not protected in national parks, public reserves or private land.

In rural areas, linear reserves are often the only remaining intact natural environments in the local region due to past extensive clearing. Linear reserves provide critical wildlife habitat especially when connected to native vegetation remnants and may assist in addressing threats associated with climate change.

About the committee

The REC currently comprises thirteen organisations with interests in the environmental management of roadside and other linear reserves in NSW. The REC member organisations are:

• Ausgrid
• Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC)
• Biodiversity Conservation Trust (BCT)
• Essential Energy
• Institute of Public Works Engineering Australia (IPWEA) NSW & ACT
• Local Government NSW (LGNSW)
• Local Land Services (LLS)
• Nature Conservation Council (NCC)
• NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE)
• NSW Department of Industry - Crown Lands
• Rural Fire Service
• UGL Regional Lynx (Country Regional Network).

The Roadside Environment Committee is supported by Transport for NSW and encourages the involvement and cooperation of local councils, State Government agencies and other groups within the community for better management of the ecological, social and economic resources of linear reserves.

Contact

Roadside Environment Committee contacts are listed below:

Mr Neil Dufty
Executive Officer, NSW Roadside Environment Committee
Phone: 02 9354 0300
Mobile: 0427 130 283
Email: ndufty@molinostewart.com.au

Publications

The Roadside Environment Committee provide various publications to assist in the protection of biodiversity, as well as valuable cultural and economic resources on linear reserves throughout the State.

The Committee newsletter is published on a quarterly basis. Contact the Committee's Executive Officer to join the e-mail list or view or download previous editions of the newsletter from publications provided on this page.

The LGNSW website is also a useful source of information and resources supporting vegetation assessment, planning and management. View the LGNSW web page.

Documents