Councils and Communities Working in Partnership for Biodiversity Conservation The GreenWeb – Sydney: Vegetation Management Plan was initiated by the Sydney Regional Organisations of Councils in response to concern about the loss of bushland in the Sydney metropolitan region and the uncoordinated and ad-hoc approach to its management.
The GreenWeb encourages a consistent and cooperative approach to revegetation in the Sydney Region. By working locally within the framework of GreenWeb, councils and the community will create a green web of bushland corridors, protecting remnant bushland of conservation value and thus enhancing Sydney’s rich biodiversity and natural heritage.
A grant of $50,000 was obtained in February 1996 from the Commonwealth Government to employ an Environmental Planner to map the location of remnant bushland in the Sydney Region as well as appropriate sites and corridors that could be revegetated to reconnect remnants.
The GreenWeb contains a number of valuable tools and resources to facilitate on-ground conservation and enhancement of the region’s biodiversity:
- An Action Plan for local government providing best practice policies, planning strategies, development controls and community programmes for vegetation management;
- A set of six maps identifying remnant vegetation and revegetation sites and corridors linking these remnants within the Sydney Metropolitan region also available as a CD-ROM;
- A set of local government profile sheets to enable the review and update of the GreenWeb maps over time; and
- A summary of native vegetation communities in Sydney to assist replanting programmes.
For a highly urbanised city such as Sydney there are limited opportunities for revegetation. Importantly, through consultation with councils, private land holders, community groups and State government agencies, realistic opportunities were identified for revegetation, particularly along riparian and transport corridors occurring on both public and private land.
Consensus was also reached regarding current best practice for vegetation management. Since its completion there has been a strong demand for GreenWeb products and a growing acceptance of the GreenWeb as the blue print for the revegetation of Sydney.
The challenge now is to implement the GreenWeb recommendations on the ground. This is already largely occurring as a result of the efforts of hundreds of volunteer bushcare groups working in partnership with councils and other land managers operating throughout the Sydney Region.
To assist prioritisation of projects submitted for Bushcare funding under the Commonwealth’s Natural Heritage Trust, the GreenWeb was integrated into the regional strategies of the three Regional Organisations established in the Sydney region. Arising from this, several major revegetation projects were submitted for funding this year focusing on sites and corridors identified in the GreenWeb.
The GreenWeb itself does not have any statutory powers, however it makes recommendations for council environmental planning instruments. Pleasingly, councils such as Liverpool City Council in western Sydney are beginning to introduce innovative development controls to better protect remnant bushland.
Ultimately the implementation of the GreenWeb will rely on the voluntary cooperation of all stakeholders involved in vegetation management in the Sydney region. To this end Regional Organisations of Councils and catchment management networks are likely to continue to play a major coordination role.
For information on GreenWeb-Sydney contact George Curtis, Environmental Projects Officer, WSROC, on (02) 9671 4333 or email admin@wsroc.com.au.
For information on local government involvement in the Natural Heritage Trust, Bushcare programme contact Rob Thorman, Local Government Bushcare Facilitator, on (02) 6257 3379 or rob.thorman@lwrrdc.gov.au
