Southern Loddon Mallee Regional Strategic Plan 1 - Macedon ...

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strategic direction 6 Protect and enhance our natural and built environment our objectives: We will improve the resilience of the region’s natural environment and the agricultural production systems that depend upon them by: • Connecting the forests of the Goldfields to the Murray River. • Improving the condition of our region’s important environmental assets such as the Box-Ironbark Forests. • Increasing community involvement in natural resource management. • Protecting our region’s cultural heritage. • Protecting visually important landscapes. • Strengthening the culture of sustainability within business and the community to drive efficiency and reduce greenhouse emissions. 34 Southern Loddon Mallee Regional Strategic Plan
Basis for action: Our region’s natural ecosystems, rural landscapes and water catchments are critical to its attractiveness, liveability and economy and are a unique part of its cultural heritage. Our settlements are surrounded by forest, with Box-Ironbark Forests and National Parks creating our unique greenbelts. Forest and valued rural landscapes are both in public and private land and their protection and enhancement will also contribute to our tourism attraction. Pressures from climate change, land use, fire and its management, pests and management neglect pose a threat to these values and may lead to a decline in environmental condition. Investment and management intervention are required to ensure natural environments and farming systems remain resilient. Our natural environments are among the more disturbed in the state. Most of our remaining areas of native vegetation have experienced multiple cycles of disturbance from historical land uses, such as mining, livestock grazing, timber and firewood production. Introduction and spread of pest plants and animals has added to the disturbance. Despite this history of clearing, settlement and land use, some native vegetation remains to support our diverse populations of native flora and fauna. The largest and most intact natural environments are generally located in our National Parks and other conservation reserves. However, vegetation along road reserves, in drainage lines and scattered across private landholdings provide connectivity between theses and make an important contribution to the region’s biodiversity and visual amenity. Our region includes parts of the upper and middle reaches of the Campaspe, Coliban and Loddon Rivers. These are important catchment areas and help to provide water for our urban populations, our riverine and wetland habitats and for dryland and irrigated agriculture. Our landscapes and soils support various forms of primary production, including agriculture, horticulture and forestry. They and the vegetation they support are important sinks for atmospheric carbon dioxide. The greatest risks to sustaining our natural environment are climate change, population growth, fire and its management and rural land use change. Several important influences may at least partly reduce risks associated with these hazards. These include a greater appreciation and understanding of natural environments and the services they provide, including through the landcare movement; investment into regional natural resource management initiatives; controls on vegetation clearing; improved operation of water markets; modernisation of irrigation infrastructure and investment in environmental water provision. Built heritage In addition to providing tourism opportunities, the built heritage from the goldfields is a defining characteristic of the Region: from the grand architecture of Pall Mall in Bendigo, or more simple pieces of infrastructure like the Malmsbury Reservoir water-race and humble miners cottages. This built heritage enhances quality of life and should be conserved for present and future residents to enjoy. Bushfire Following the Black Saturday bushfires of 2009, issues of human safety in forested urban fringe areas have come to the fore. There is strong pressure to manage bushfire risk in these areas. A challenge in doing so and implementing recommendations from the 2009 Bushfires Royal Commission will be to manage threats in a way that does not compromise the ecological values associated with these important areas. A collaborative approach between the CFA, DSE and landowners will be required. Biolinks Our region retains many important natural ecosystems with high conservation and amenity value including riverine and wetland ecosystems along the major rivers and their floodplains; Box-Ironbark and Stringybark Forests through the Goldfields and along the Great Dividing Range; and grassy woodlands of the Loddon and Campaspe Plains. We host some of Victoria’s priority biodiversity conservation zones, including parts of the Goldfields ‘flagship area’ (one of 14 such areas in the State) and the regional biolink connecting major segments of the Goldfields flagship area with each other and the Murray River flagship area. One of the key means of improving the resilience of natural environments and maintaining ecological function is to improve their connectivity of landscapes. Establishment of such ‘biolinks’ is one of the three main platforms of the Victorian Government’s white paper for land and biodiversity at a time of climate change and forms part of our region’s aspiration for the future. Action is required to identify priority areas for improving landscape connectivity, including by better understanding ecological and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage values associated with remnant vegetation areas. A regionally coordinated program of planning and implementation is needed to protect and manage priority remnants and restore landscape connectivity where it is currently deficient. The program is also required to more strong engage communities in management and restoration of natural environments and would be implemented on both public and private land. Environmental markets are one of the tools favoured by the Victorian Government to mobilise the capital and resources required to enhance natural environments. These markets create value for landholders from activities that protect or enhance land, water and/or biodiversity. Markets for carbon sequestered by trees established for such purposes represent one of the most promising environmental market opportunities. This will require strong support from landholders and the broader community and significant capital and labour resources. Environmental markets, which generate value for landowners from improved environmental management outcome, provide the opportunity for private landholders to actively participate and derive benefit from the protection of native vegetation and ecosystems. Programs such as ‘Bushtender’ that promote the benefits of protecting the natural environment that so strongly characterises this region should be strongly supported. Our region also has active Landcare groups who continue to work with rural landholders and the community, promoting good natural resource management. Climate change Climate change projections for our region are similar to those for elsewhere in northern Victoria. The climate is projected to become warmer and drier and as a consequence, streamflows are projected to fall, droughts are projected to become more intense and bushfire danger is projected to increase. Southern Loddon Mallee Regional Strategic Plan 35
Page 1 and 2: Southern Loddon Mallee Regional Str
Page 3 and 4: contents About this Plan 4 Location
Page 5 and 6: STRaTegy 1: Manage our population g
Page 7 and 8: A snapshot of the Southern Loddon M
Page 9 and 10: our people The strong and widely ac
Page 11 and 12: Strategic Direction 1 - Manage our
Page 13 and 14: Basis for action: The projected gro
Page 15 and 16: MaNage OuR POPuLaTION gROwTh aND Se
Page 17 and 18: Basis for action: Our region has ma
Page 19 and 20: STReNgTheN OuR COMMuNITIeS, eSPeCIa
Page 21 and 22: Basis for action: Overall, the regi
Page 23 and 24: STReNgTheN aND DIveRSIfy OuR eCONOM
Page 25 and 26: Basis for action: As our population
Page 27 and 28: IMPROve OuR INfRaSTRuCTuRe Telecomm
Page 29 and 30: IMPROve OuR INfRaSTRuCTuRe Southern
Page 31 and 32: Basis for action: Tertiary educatio
Page 33: IMPROve eDuCaTION aND TRaININg OuTC
Page 37 and 38: Working together to implement the p
Page 39 and 40: eferences Australian Bureau of Stat

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