Biodiversity
descriptionDelivering on the promise of stewardship
A strong national stewardship scheme could see more than 65 million hectares managed for conservation by 2020 - giving wildlife and landholders a fighting chance in a changing climate, the ACF said.
This is a key finding of Delivering on the Promise of Stewardship, a new report prepared by senior CSIRO researchers for ACF. The report explores the role payments could play in reversing the decline of bushland and wildlife on private land.
ACF Rural Landscapes Campaigner, Corey Watts, said Australia needed to lift its game when it came to working with farmers and Indigenous communities because without more action on private land the country faces a wave of extinctions.
“Scientists and communities around the country say we’re living with the costly legacy of 200 years’ worth of mistakes and short-sightedness,” Mr Watts said.
“Existing stewardship schemes, while welcome, are hamstrung by woefully small budgets; less than one-fifth of one per cent of federal funds is invested in wildlife conservation and land repair.”
The report says government could resource a strong stewardship scheme, starting now, including by:
· Investing a small fraction, around 5 per cent, of the revenue raised by auctioning pollution permits in the new Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme;
· Ensuring carbon offsets pass an environmental benefits test; and
· Re-tailoring drought assistance to enable farmers to better manage climate change and retire land that is economically marginal but ecologically valuable.
Between them, farmers, pastoralists and Indigenous communities manage nearly 80 per cent of the continent, making them crucial to Australia’s environmental future.
Delivering on the Promise of Stewardship (report)
Ecological processes in Victoria: Policy priorities for sustaining biodiversity
Although ecological processes underpin the health of our natural environment and are crucial to human wellbeing very little is known about them.
Essential “ecosystem services” ecological processes provide include the pollination of our crops, pest and disease control, clean air and water, soil formation and the mitigation of environmental hazards such as erosion and flooding.
However, despite their importance to the health of both humans and the natural environment we rarely place a value on ecological processes, often taking them for granted until they break down.
‘Ecological processes in Victoria: Policy priorities for sustaining biodiversity’ is a discussion paper that attempts to shine a light on ecological processes, looking at what they are, why they are important, and how we can incorporate their management into conservation strategies.
Commissioned by the Victoria Naturally Alliance the discussion paper warns that conservation measures are likely to fail unless the management of ecological processes such as water flows and the movement of animals and seeds are included in future conservation strategies.
Feeding Wildlife
Wildlife feeding has numerous conseqences that are not beneficial to teh environment. These include:
- Unnatural increases animal numbers
- Increases in aggression between animals as they compete for food
- Attraction of predators to the feeding sites
- Nutritionally imbalance of the animals diet
- Increased risk of disease
There are means to attract fauna without feeding them, by planting specific species in your garden.
Bird Feeding in the Dandenong Ranges issues Parks Victoria has produced guidance on this issue see the - Wildlife feeding note
Campaigns to stop bird feeding
Bird feeding in and around the Dandenong Ranges National Park has been a contentious issue for many years. Many of you will have seen the large tourist buses that deliver visitors to Grant's picnic ground to feed to birds, the lorikeets and the cockatoos. And you may also be aware of the destruction that the cockatoos in the numbers that now exist seem to be able to inflict on vegetation and the odd house!
Bird Feeding Working Group
A public meeting was held on the 12th of June 2008 on the issue of Cockatoo damage to property in the Dandenong Ranges.
Over 130 people attended this event, many with stories of the incredible destructive capacity of the sulfur crested cockatoo.
If you would like to join a working group to take forward some of the suggestions for action made that evening, please provide your contact details here.
This working group will focus on the Bird Feeding issues and how they relate to the problems that people are experiencing with the cockatoos, as well as the negative impacts that this practice has on other species and habitats.
Habitat Corridors
Linkages in the Landscape; the role of corridors and connectivity in Wildlife Conservation IUCNInvasive Species Links
Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association http://www.iffa.org.au/Our regions natural reserve network
Dandenong Ranges National Park Management Plan http://www.parkweb.vic.gov.au/resources07/07_0240.pdfRoadside Vegetation
xWildlife Rescue
Help for Wildlife 24 Hour Emergency 0417 380 687 Email: helpforwildlife@bigpond.com http://www.helpforwildlife.com/ Wildlife Victoria 24 Hour Emergency 0500 540 000 http://www.wildlifevictoria.org.au/
Yarra Ranges Local Plant Directories
Yarra Ranges has released an online plants directory.
It includes a local plants directory , a local plant communities directory and lists of street trees. The directories were compiled by Marilyn Gray for the Shire of Yarra Ranges.
The Shire of Yarra Ranges will launch the Yarra Ranges Local Plant Directories
Melways Ref: 38 G6,7
Local plants directory
Describes 909 plants inclucing ferns, clubmosses and some mosses occurring within the Shire of Yarra Ranges. It is not a definitive list as it is expected that new plants in our Shire may be located in the future. Some plants have been omitted as they have not been definitely collected from within the Shire, or were collected from a generalised area more than 100 years ago. More than 800 plants include photographs.
Local plant communities directory
The Shire of Yarra Ranges recognises 44 vegetation communities within our area, as identified by Rik Brown. These vegetation communities are similar to many of the Ecological Vegetation Classes as described by the Department of Sustainability and Environment but are not as inclusive. Both a complete list of species and a list of plants suitable for landscaping are included for each community. To determine the plant community for your property click here to visit the shire's online mapping system. This directory was compiled by Marilyn Gray for the Shire of Yarra Ranges