The vital role of Local Government
As home to some 10 per cent of the world’s known species of flora and fauna, 80 per cent of which exist nowhere else on earth, Australia has a special responsibility for protecting and conserving our biodiversity. That is why, after a review of the 1996 National Strategy for the Conservation of Australia’s Biological Diversity, the Commonwealth has worked closely with the States and Territories to develop National Objectives and Targets for Biodiversity Conservation 2001-2005.
The Commonwealth and those States which have supported the agreement (South Australia, Victoria, Western Australia, ACT and New South Wales) will work together to achieve these targets over the next five years. While timing of their implementation will vary region by region, Local Government has a critical role to play throughout Australia in achieving those targets and objectives.
It has already made significant steps, identifying priority actions in a National Local Government Biodiversity Strategy and undertaking a range of best practice activities, many of which are summarised in the Environs Australia publication, Celebrating and Learning from the Experiences and Success of Others (www.environs.org.au/bio_cons/index.html).
The national objectives document sets objectives and targets for 10 priority outcomes for governments. For example it outlines a range of targets to protect and restore native vegetation and terrestrial ecosystems. It also sets targets for freshwater ecosystems and invasive species. One target (10.1.1) relates specifically to how success relies on ‘partnership arrangements where State, Local Government and community responsibilities for biodiversity conservation are clearly identified’. These partnership arrangements lie at the heart of the second phase of the Natural Heritage Trust, through the development and implementation of regional natural resource management plans.
The following case studies reflect some of the initiatives that can be employed by Local Government toward meeting the national objectives and targets.
Vegetation Protection Planning Policy – Yarra Ranges
The Shire of Yarra Ranges in Victoria is working toward reversing the decline in the quality and extent of vegetation across the Shire through implementing a local planning policy for vegetation protection. The policy applies to any proposal to clear native vegetation. Applicants need to justify any removal of native vegetation and demonstrate how they would achieve a net environmental gain through undertaking revegetation and setting aside areas for conservation on their property.
Some examples of how this has been achieved include:
- Revegetation of a 250m section of gully and an existing dam to create a continuous corridor of vegetation whilst taking out eight remnant eucalypts in a cleared paddock for vineyard expansion.
- Permanent protection of 17.5 hectares of remnant vegetation through the designation of vegetation protection areas and incorporation of a management plan in an agreement under section 173 of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 for the removal of 41 trees in a five lot subdivision proposal.
Proposals to clear intact vegetation communities are not usually able to demonstrate net ecological gain through offsets whereas the removal of isolated remnant trees in predominantly modified areas are more likely to be able to demonstrate gains. The issue of calculating ecological value to assess net gain or loss is still problematic and the Shire is working in partnership with other agencies on improving the systems and tools used to calculate ecological gain.
Biodiversity Incentives Strategy for Private Land – Busselton Shire
The Draft Biodiversity Incentive Strategy for Private Land in the Busselton Shire has been prepared with the aim of providing a package of planning and financial incentives to landowners who voluntarily choose to protect and manage biodiversity (conservation) values on their property. Funded by the Shire and the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) with support from the National Trust, the strategy identifies and prioritises a number of key biodiversity values of regional, state and national significance in the Shire.
The Strategy provides a framework for the provision of controlled additional subdivision rights subject to meeting operational guidelines as an incentive to encourage the voluntary protection of bushland and wetland values using a combination of conservation covenants and the application of a proposed new ‘Bushland Protection’ zone.
In addition, a system of rate rebates is also proposed, operating on a tiered basis whereby the level of rebate offered varies with the level of protection that a landholder is willing to apply to the biodiversity values present.
Once adopted, the Biodiversity Incentive Strategy will be the first of it’s kind to be initiated in Western Australia, thus making the Shire of Busselton a leader in incentives based biodiversity management in the State. The strategy also proposes a mechanism for Council to fund the rate rebates and other environmental initiatives by allocating revenue generated from the conservation subdivisions, such as rates from additional lots created to environmental purposes.
It is estimated that an allocation of $15,000 per year in rate rebates could protect approximately 1,000 hectares of bushland.
Comments on the draft Strategy are invited up until 1 March 2002. Copies of the draft summary and recommendations only are available from the Secretary, Planning and Building Services on (08) 97810 474.
For Further information contact Gillian Sinclair, Landscape Conservation Section, Environment Australia, on (02) 62742006.
