Revegetation Strategy

A long-term municipal strategy aimed at providing a coordinated and strategic approach to revegetation; and the identification of an initial ten sites on public land and ten sites on private land to focus resources on in the short-term. The City of Casey engaged Brett Lane and Associates Pty Ltd to develop a revegetation strategy for the municipality. The strategy is divided into two parts. The first part is focussed on the revegetation strategy for the city, while the second part provides revegetation plans for 20 priority revegetation sites – ten on public land and ten on private land. The revegetation strategy is required due to the major loss of native vegetation in the municipality that has seen remnant vegetation cover reduced to 7%. Initial targets in the Draft Biodiversity Enhancement Strategy were to eventually increase this native vegetation cover to 30 %. The timeline for such a target to be realised would need to be great (100years). A more realistic target may be to increase the amount of native vegetation in the City of Casey by 10ha per year on public and private land. To inform the strategy, a review of relevant strategies and policies at a state and local level was conducted. The Victorian government policy of achieving a ‘Net Gain’ in native vegetation cover is highly relevant to this strategy. The policy background is set out in the Native Vegetation Management Framework and the objective of ‘Net Gain’ is incorporated into all local government planning schemes. The City of Casey also has several policy documents and strategies that clearly identify the importance of restoring landscapes and protecting natural assets. Consultation with key stakeholders was undertaken to identify priorities for revegetation in the municipality. Workshops were held with employees of the City of Casey, relevant agencies involved in vegetation management, and community groups. The importance of protecting remnant vegetation firstly was a key message from the workshops. The importance of waterway protection, particularly Westernport Bay was highlighted, followed by biodiversity conservation. These ideas were used to develop a prioritisation matrix to rank potential revegetation sites according to their ability to achieve multiple objectives and focus on specific issues. Reasons for revegetation are discussed to emphasise its importance in achieving a variety of goals. Biodiversity conservation can be enhanced through revegetation as it can increase the cover of habitat in the landscape and improve the connectivity of remnant patches to enable movement of species across the landscape. Land and water management is improved through the use of targeted revegetation by preventing erosion, minimising sedimentation of waterways and addressing issues associated with salinity. Revegetation can also enhance the aesthetics of areas and provide opportunities for people to engage with nature and understand the importance of native vegetation. Issues associated with revegetation are discussed to guide methods of implementing the strategy. Revegetation methods such as hand planting and direct seeding are covered along with the importance of adequate site preparation. A seed collection program is considered given the need for large amounts of seed required to ensure the revegetation strategy is implemented suggestions for monitoring the revegetation works is provided and potential funding opportunities are provided to also assist with the implementation of the strategy.