Biodiversity and native vegetation
Local government plays a key role in the retention, protection and management of biodiversity as it represents the level of government closest to the community. Local governments around Australian are responsible for large tracts of land in reserves, parks, some stock routes and along roadsides.
There are a number of tools and resources available to councils who wish to develop plans to protect biodiversity and native vegetation.
- Preserving biodiversity
- Biodiversity refers to the variety of life forms, the genes they contain and the ecosystems they form. Biodiversity conservation refers to the conservation of entire communities and maintaining the genetic diversity within it. Measures such as vegetation condition, wetland value and watercourse condition can be used as a guide to measuring biodiversity for the purpose of local government planning.
- Council land
- This section discusses local government initiatives to preserve native vegetation on council land and in residential developments. Rezoning of land can be used to create natural reserves within a subdivision development. Council must consider how these reserves will be managed - perhaps a community group can be formed to assist with this. Rezoning for subdivision should be backed up through the town planning system.
- Private land
- Information about local government initiatives to preserve native vegetation on private land. Many councils are now playing an increasingly important role in sustainable vegetation management and are therefore often best placed to deliver on ground projects for the conservation of native vegetation.
- NRM references
- The Department of Environment and Heritage produces assessments of Australia's native vegetation as part of the Australian natural resources atlas. This is an internet based source of data, maps, information and links to related sites and useful references for local governments.
- Land for Wildlife program
- The Land for Wildlife program is a voluntary program aimed at encouraging and assisting private landholders to provide wildlife habitat on their property. The program is free to join and is not legally binding. The registration ceases on the sale of the property, although the new owners can register if they wish.
- Case studies
- Many councils around Australia have developed extensive NRM programs. They can be a great source of information on how to set up a program and the lessons learnt. Before setting out to develop a program of your own, check out some of these case studies of council biodiversity projects.
