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

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Dear Minister Plibersek and Minister Stitt,

I am deeply alarmed and angered at the fate of our most endangered ecosystems – our native grasslands.

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. 
 
Ten years later, the Victorian Government has failed to deliver on its promises. The recent Victorian Auditor General’s Report Protecting critically endangered grasslands, which focused on the implementation of the Melbourne Strategic Assessment program, has shown that key promises to create large new grassland reserves, originally to be completed by 2020, have been broken.  
 
To date only 17 per cent of designated land has been acquired for the Western Grassland Reserve and no land has been acquired for the Grassy Eucalypt Woodland Reserve. 
 
Poor oversight, protection and management of the grasslands still in private ownership, are among a raft of other issues. Many of the grasslands have not even been properly surveyed.

The recent loss of the grassland known as Conservation Area 9 in Melbourne’s west is just one more symptom of a systemic failure across all levels of government.

I call on you to:

– Undertake an immediate assessment of the current state of Conservation Area 9, and create a report identifying opportunities for rehabilitation and restoration (if that is possible).

– Identify and secure an alternative site of the same size and ecological value in the metro area.

– Do a thorough audit and investigation to make sure all 35 other Conservation Areas have the appropriate legal protections, and are being properly managed.

I also call on the Federal Labor Government to 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 and recommendations 18, 19, 20 that include that the Victorian Government “consider funding the immediate purchase” of grassland in the Melbourne area, that they 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.

I acknowledge the passing of the Melbourne Strategic Assessment (Environment Mitigation Levy) Act 2019 in February 2020. But an improved revenue stream alone will not resolve the significant flaws and failings of this program, nor has it stopped the recent destruction of key area designated for conservation (Conservation Area 9).

The race to ‘cut green tape’ in service of suburban expansion meant that the foundation of the entire Melbourne Strategic Assessment was a rushed process from the get-go.

I am shocked that the failure to appropriately implement the Melbourne Strategic Assessment means the Victorian Government will pay hundreds of millions more to purchase and manage the promised grassland reserves.

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 fedeal 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.

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, Victorian Grassland Earless Dragons and Eastern Barred Bandicoots.

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

Birds such as the Australian Bustard, the Magpie Goose and Brolgas are rarely seen. The Plains Wanderer is critically endangered. The Bush Stone-curlew is in many regions locally extinct.

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

Another ancient grassland gone forever

Recently 40 hectares of endangered old-growth grassland in Truganina in Melbourne’s west was smothered in tonnes of potentially contaminated fill. The privately-owned land, known as Conservation Area 9, was earmarked for conservation in 2013. But it was never properly safeguarded.

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

Pressure to develop property for profit means for too long your elected representatives have put the grasslands last, not first.

So, in the dump of a trunk another ancient grassland is now gone forever.

What can be done?

The new Federal Labor Government must urgently review the failing Melbourne Strategic Assessment – the deal they made that was supposed to protect our grasslands.
The State Labor Government needs to step-up and protect our other important urban grasslands: Solomon Heights, Ajax Road and Burns Road Grasslands and the Broadcast Australia site in Sydenham among others.

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