Page 2196 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 2 August 2022
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
It may seem a little odd to those outside of the environment portfolio, but I do spend a lot of time talking to government and community stakeholders about the grass and shrubs. How we manage these environments has implications for biodiversity. The recent release of Australia’s State of the Environment report, which documents further declines in the health of our incredible plants, animals and ecosystems, has sharpened this focus for me.
I would like to turn to Ms Clay’s motion now and talk about some of the great work that is already happening and that this will strengthen and improve. The first call of this motion is to ensure that all relevant government and community stakeholders participate in existing forums and groups, like the Biodiversity Conservation Forum. Community volunteers provide important stewardship of many public assets and add tremendous value to the Canberra environment and aid in the protection of biodiversity.
There are a range of ways that stakeholders can already engage with the ACT government to provide input on these matters. One of these is the Biodiversity Conservation Forum, which is a joint group between ACT government officials and peak community environment group representatives. The diverse community representation includes a long list of more than 17 organisations, which I will not list here, due to time constraints, but am happy to provide more information on. I established this forum a year ago and, after a successful first year of operating, this group is reviewing how to improve the operations of the group and making sure that all the right people are at the table to help shape better decisions.
Some of the other ways that the community can engage include the ACT government’s YourSay website, where they can comment on important government action plans or pieces of legislation or community forums, such as the weed forum facilitated by Landcare ACT in November last year.
The second and third “calls” of this motion are centred around supporting training and capacity building, education and signage and other tools, such as barriers or fencing. While we already have the ACT Environment Grants Program to support and empower the community to play an important role as stewards, helping to conserve, promote and protect the environmental values of the ACT, this motion provides an opportunity to build on this work.
There are great examples of this throughout Canberra where the community has worked hand in hand with land managers to help protect, support and enhance grassy ecosystems of importance. I am really happy that the ACT government is currently commencing an experiment of 12 urban sites to trial differing management techniques, to determine if more biodiversity friendly land management actions can both save money in ongoing maintenance and provide better environmental outcomes. This collaboration, enhanced by this motion, will enable the building of relationships, and the learnings from this project can be incorporated into future contracts and advice regarding mowing, going forward. I am really enjoying the collaboration, particularly with Minister Steel and TCCS and EPSDD, on how we can do this better.
To conclude: as in society, diversity is important in our urban ecology. What does this mean in a practical sense? It might mean allowing space for remnant grasslands or
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video