Protect our critically endangered grasslands - Victorian National Parks AssociationVictorian National Parks Association

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Dear Minister Plibersek and Minister Dimopoulos,

The recent good news rediscovery of a wild population of the Victorian Grassland Earless Dragon serves to highlight the bad news perilous fate of our most endangered ecosystems – our native grasslands, the Dragon’s habitat.

The grasslands of Victoria's Volcanic Plains are now one of our most endangered habitat types in Victoria. Once covering almost a third of the state, now less than 2 per cent remains, and much of that is heavily degraded.

A decade ago, the Victorian government signed-off on the Melbourne Strategic Assessment, the deal that was supposed to protect our critically endangered grasslands and the threatened species which call them home.

The Victorian and federal governments have failed to deliver on their promises.

In 2020 we had the Victorian Auditor General’s Report Protecting critically endangered grasslands, which showed key promises to create large new grassland reserves had been broken. To date only 18 per cent of designated land has been acquired for the Western Grassland Reserve and almost no land has been acquired for the Grassy Eucalypt Woodland Reserve.

The habitat conservation requirements for other species such as the Matted Flax-lily, Spiny Rice-flower and Striped Legless-lizard have also not been met.

Last year, the total destruction of the Melbourne Strategic Assessment grassland known as Conservation Area 9 became another tragic symptom of systemic failure across all levels of government.

This year’s tabling of the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability’s Strategic Audit of the Implementation of Melbourne Strategic Assessment Conservation Outcomes 2022 Report made public 16 recommendations to improve the failing governance of the Melbourne Strategic Assessment and to ensure monitoring of conservation outcomes can actually measure improvements in grassland quality.

Poor oversight, and the protection and management of the grasslands still in private ownership, are issues of great immediate concern. And unbelievably, many of the grasslands still have not even been properly surveyed.

I call on you to:

•	Do a thorough audit and investigation of the Melbourne Strategic Assessment Conservation Areas to make sure they have the appropriate legal protections, are surveyed, and are being properly managed.
•	Step-up and protect important urban grasslands not covered by the Melbourne Strategic Assessment: Solomon Heights, Ajax Road and Burns Road Grasslands, and the Broadcast Australia site in Sydenham, among others.
•	Undertake less offsetting and more upfront protection of the remaining patches of our grassy ecosystems. 
•	Restore surviving grassy meadows – with a strong native seed industry.
•	Inspire landowners to look after grasslands with better protections and stronger incentives.
•	Stop destroying grasslands! Everywhere we look we see government clearing grasslands for gas pipelines, batteries, rail upgrades, jails, freight hubs, major roads, train station car parks, housing projects and urban sprawl.
I also call on the Federal Labor Government to:
•	Help our 2000+ native endangered plants and animals by using the $3 billion the federal government raises each year from GST on pet-care spending.
•	Do an urgent independent ecological audit of the Melbourne Strategic Assessment to ensure its approvals are being properly implemented.

I also note and support the findings of the Upper House Inquiry into Ecosystem Decline in Victoria – an inquiry you are still yet to formally respond to. Recommendations 18, 19 and 20 include that the Victorian Government “consider funding the immediate purchase” of grassland in the Melbourne area, that grasslands are “properly managed” and that an “ambitious vision for the establishment of the Western Grassland Reserve and the Grassy Eucalypt Woodlands Reserve” is articulated. These recommendations should be supported, in total, by your government.

Ancient and intact grassland habitats are still disappearing. And as yet there is no real change in the pace of delivery, protection, or the extent and effectiveness of the management of these critically endangered grasslands and grassy woodlands.

I want to see a commitment, from both state and federal leaders, that the ecological outcomes for Victoria's grasslands will be better than the original promises made in the Melbourne Strategic Assessment.

Our grassland ecosystems and the many endangered animals that call them home need real leadership to secure their protection in the face of the ongoing extinction crisis. 
 
There is still an opportunity to deliver positive ecological outcomes before the options – and the grasslands themselves – disappear.

It was luck we’ve just avoided the extinction of the Victorian Grassland Earless Dragon. Let’s do what it takes so that we don’t need to rely on luck anymore.

I ask you to embrace this opportunity before it is too late.

The grassy plains that once covered a third of Victoria were home to Bettongs, Eastern Quolls and Pig-footed Bandicoots.

They shared these native prairies with White-footed Rabbit-rats and Eastern Barred Bandicoots.

Now less than two percent of our wildflower meadows remain. It only took 200 years to almost destroy what was cared for by traditional custodians for over millennia.

Only 16 individuals of the most endangered reptile in the world, the Victorian Grassland Earless Dragon, are known to exist. Another elusive grassland creature, the Plains Wanderer, is considered the bird of greatest conservation significance in the world.

But still the erasure and destruction of grassland habitat continue. Last year, yesterday, today.

Despite promises and plans from both state and federal governments, these habitats and wildlife still don’t have the protection they deserve.

What needs to be done?

The Australian Labor Government reviews the deal made to protect our grasslands – the Melbourne Strategic Assessment.
The Victorian Labor Government protects important urban grasslands: Solomon Heights, Ajax Road and Burns Road Grasslands and the Broadcast Australia site in Sydenham among others.
More upfront protection of the remaining patches of our grassy ecosystems (less offsetting).
Restore surviving grassy meadows with a strong native seed industry.
Stop destroying grasslands! Grasslands are cleared for gas pipelines, batteries, rail upgrades, jails, freight hubs, major roads, train station car parks, housing projects and urban sprawl.
Redirect the $3 billion raised annually by the federal government from GST on pet-care spending to care for our 2000+ native endangered plants and animals.
Inspire landowners to look after grasslands with better protections and stronger incentives.

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