Tuesday, 12 November 2024

Native grasslands

David ETTERSHANK (Western Metropolitan) (18:47): (1263) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Environment in the other place. Victoria’s native grasslands were once so abundant they covered much of the state, stretching uninterrupted from the border of South Australia to the centre of Melbourne. These temperate grasslands were rich in flora and home to countless species of marsupials, reptiles and insects. Now all but 1 per cent of these magnificent grasslands has been lost, along with the rich diversity of flora and fauna they once contained. Many native flower species are on the brink of extinction. The Derrinallum billy button, for instance, has only a single population remaining.

The CFA used to maintain diverse collections of native grasses in much the same way as First Nations people did for millennia – through regular burnings. But CFA roadside burns are becoming less frequent, further risking what little remains. Much of the remaining grassland is in my region of Western Metropolitan Melbourne, but this is a statewide issue.

A recent audit of the Melbourne strategic assessment (MSA) program by the Grassy Plains Network and the Victorian National Parks Association makes clear that the government’s flagship grassland conservation program is failing. Dr Adrian Marshall from the VNPA warned that:

… weeds and mismanagement are combining to destroy the very biodiversity values supposedly protected by this deal … developers thrive while nature and native wildlife continue to suffer irreversible damage from every risk the government was warned about.

Recently the Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority used federal funding to produce seeds for 17 local threatened species, essentially establishing a seed bank. Seed banks are critical for the remediation of the grasslands as local nurseries are unable to provide large quantities of those rare species that are vital for maintaining the diversity of the grasslands.

Given the MSA’s role in repairing the Western Grasslands Reserve it makes sense that they have a lead role in strengthening the native seed industry. So the action I seek is for the minister to meet with stakeholders such as the Victorian National Parks Association to discuss the creation of a native seed bank in partnership with the MSA to help meet their goals of revegetating and reviving the western grasslands.