Native+Vegetation+Overviewfinal
Native Vegetation
Sustaining
a living
landscape
Calytrix Tetragona
Common Fringe-myrtle
Calytrix Tetragona Common Fringe-myrtle
Native Vegetation
Sustaining
a living
landscape
Native Vegetation
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Why the quality of native vegetation is important
Most concern for native vegetation is understandably focused on the rates of clearing and revegetation, but the importance of maintaining good quality native vegetation is now receiving deserved attention.
Native vegetation is part of a dynamic system that must regenerate and mature in order to play its on-going role. Mature trees are deep-rooted, reduce the effects of wind
and erosion, provide food and shelter for native fauna,
and store carbon. They are of particular concern since
they are easy to lose but slow to replace.
Weeds plus pressure from grazing livestock reduce the diversity of plants in the understorey and the
opportunities to recruit young plants to take root. Logs
and leaf litter on the ground are habitat for insects
and microflora that in turn provide important food and nutrients for other native flora and fauna. As we experience the consequences of past actions, rural and urban Victorians are developing a deeper appreciation of the landscape, its biodiversity and its place in their quality of life. But still, more needs to be done.
A New Approach to Managing Native Vegetation in Victoria
We need to improve the health of our native vegetation and strategically revegetate so that the natural processes that we rely on for clean air and water, for natural heritage protection and for “clean and green” agriculture are guaranteed.
While landholders have made a great start over the past decade to the long-term task of recovering native vegetation, the government recognises that we need to further support and strengthen these efforts.
Victoria’s Native Vegetation Management Framework Victoria’s Native Vegetation Management – A Framework for Action establishes the strategic direction for the protection, enhancement and revegetation of native vegetation across Victoria. The goal is ‘…to achieve a reversal, across the entire landscape of the long term decline in the extent and
quality of native vegetation, leading to a net gain.’
Many Victorian farmers are at the forefront of native vegetation efforts in this country and
programs such as Landcare, Bushcare and Land for Wildlife have taken deep root in the community, where most people now view the conservation of their environment as part of their everyday lives.
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Works Programs
Works Programs can identify how native vegetation will be managed in major capital works projects such as the construction or maintenance of roads, railway lines or public utility services. Regional Native Vegetation Plans
Regional Native Vegetation Plans provide important information on regional direction and priorities for protecting and restoring native vegetation. They can identify particular natural assets that may be a priority for native vegetation in the region.
Copies of regional native vegetation plans for the following areas are available from the relevant Catchment Management Authority:? Mallee ? Wimmera
? Glenelg-Hopkins ? Corangamite ? North Central ? Goulburn Broken ? North East ? East Gippsland ? West Gippsland
? Port Phillip and Westernport
Flexible offset arrangements
BushBroker, Victoria’s native vegetation credit registration and trading system, will facilitate the new approach to native vegetation management.
In most cases the clearing of any native vegetation that requires planning approval must be offset by a gain elsewhere. Offsets are permanently protected and linked to a particular clearing site.
Offsets can often be generated on the permit applicant’s own property, but there are situations
where this is not possible. (For example, where there is no suitable site on the property or the applicant is not able to manage the native vegetation in the long-term.)BushBroker represents a new direction for native vegetation management. It provides a system where offsets can be located on a different property to where the native vegetation is being cleared through the purchase of native vegetation credits.
A native vegetation credit is a gain in the quality and/or quantity of native vegetation that is subject to a secure and ongoing agreement. Native vegetation credits are listed on the BushBroker register and these can be bought by another party and subsequently used as an offset for the approved clearing of native vegetation.
The trading of native
vegetation credits provides benefits for landholders, developers and other land managers, the economy and the environment.
Landholders are offered an opportunity to improve biodiversity on their property as well as a potential new income stream. Developers and land managers are provided with a convenient and cost-effective option to secure offsets. For the environment , BushBroker will lead to more sustainable offset arrangements with larger, more intact, areas of native vegetation and
better biodiversity outcomes. It will help avoid the
Native Vegetation
CarbonTender
A CarbonTender program is being conducted on a trial
basis in parts of Victoria.
CarbonTender involves purchasing management contracts
from private landholders, for the permanent revegetation
of land for carbon sequestration and biodiversity gains.
The funding is allocated through a tender system that
prioritises projects based on the amount of carbon they
will absorb from the atmosphere.
For more information on CarbonTender, visit
https://www.sodocs.net/doc/064318183.html,.au/carbontender
Other programs
In addition, Catchment Management Authorities
sometimes fund native vegetation improvement works.
Local Government may also have programs to support
native vegetation managers, for example by offering
rate rebates. For more information contact your local
Catchment Management Authority or Council.
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Native Vegetation
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https://www.sodocs.net/doc/064318183.html,.au