Mount Alexander Shire Biodiversity Strategy – A Critical Opportunity

Friends of Box Ironbark Forests has joined with Connecting Country and the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club to prepare a joint submission on the development of the Mount Alexander Shire Biodiversity Strategy. You can view the submission here.

We prepared this submission because, after attending the community consultation sessions, it became clear that the proposed scope of the Biodiversity Strategy was far too narrow. The strategy was presented as focusing primarily on land directly managed by Council—particularly Council reserves and roadsides—rather than providing a comprehensive, municipality-wide vision for conserving biodiversity. We believe this would be a major missed opportunity. Our submission calls for a strategy that recognises the significant influence Council has through planning, policy, advocacy and partnerships, and sets out a bold, evidence-based framework for protecting and restoring biodiversity across the entire Shire.

Following our submission, we requested a meeting with Council to discuss these issues. Council declined, advising there was insufficient time before the draft strategy was prepared. While Council confirmed that our submission had been forwarded to the consultants and acknowledged that many of the issues raised had already been discussed internally, it gave no indication that our recommendations would be incorporated into the strategy.

We are disappointed by this response. Mount Alexander Shire has some of the most significant biodiversity values in Victoria, yet they continue to decline. This strategy is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set a bold vision and clear direction for biodiversity conservation across the municipality. We are concerned that, unless Council is prepared to embrace meaningful reform, that opportunity risks being lost.

We encourage members to read our submission and, if you share these concerns, contact your local councillors and Council now. It is important they hear that the community expects a biodiversity strategy that is ambitious, comprehensive and capable of making a real difference—not simply a document that describes the status quo.