The Victorian Auditor-General’s Office (VAGO) has just released its investigation to how well Victoria’s Biodiversity is managed and protected.

The report is rather critical of DELWP’s performance. Amongst a range of issues, they found that DELWP cannot demonstrate if, or how well, it is halting further decline in Victoria’s threatened species populations. In particular, the data used to model and identify cost effective protection actions is old, likely outdated, and has some critical gaps. This raises questions about the reliability of the modelled outputs and the decisions they support.

Read the full report here.

Protecting Victoria’s Biodiversity #2Recently released findings of an Inquiry into Ecosystem Decline in Victoria by the Environment and Planning Committee of the Legislative Council arrive at similar conclusions to those of the VAGO.

There is a lot of information there that is of considerable importance to those on the Peninsula. Examples include (my emphasis):

• FINDING 2: Lists of noxious weed and pest animal species declared under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 (Vic) are not comprehensive and exclude invasive plants and animals with the potential to devastate Victoria’s biodiversity values. Moreover, the control of noxious weeds and pest animals declared under the Act requires better enforcement.
• RECOMMENDATION 2: That the Victorian Government review the administration and enforcement of the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 (Vic) to ascertain if the functions prescribed under the Act could be more appropriately undertaken by another agency.
• FINDING 3: Where native species come into competition for resources in an agricultural setting, there is a shift in how they are viewed. They move from being revered to being regarded as a pest species, resulting in Authority to Control Wildlife permits to kill them being issued. The Committee notes that this directly impacts the biodiversity and native environment of an area or landscape.
• RECOMMENDATION 5: That the Victorian Government consider supporting regional, cross-tenure coordination of pest animal and noxious weed management which includes Traditional Owners, local government authorities, catchment management authorities, private landowners, environmental groups and the broader community.
• A substantial amount of discussion is included on approaches to humane control of cats that is also acceptable to cat owners.
• Extended discussion also is made on the impacts of climate change, including: FINDING 12: Climate change is already driving ecosystem decline across Victoria with devastating impacts for native floral and faunal species.