A number of Victorian wildlife projects have been earmarked to receive funding as part of the Commonwealth Government’s bushfire recovery package.
Minister for the Environment, Lily D’Ambrosio announced that the national Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel had prioritised $3 million for a range of Victorian projects from the $50 million bushfire recovery package.
“This funding boosts the $17.5 million the Victorian Government is already investing and will help us to continue supporting the recovery of the state’s wildlife and biodiversity through these tough economic times,” Ms D’Ambrosio said.
“The Victorian Government is partnering with Greening Australia and Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria for reseeding in key areas,” she said.
“And with Zoos Victoria to support the captive breeding aspects of population management for long term resilience should they be needed for management in the wild.”
Ms D’Ambrosio said the federally-funded priority actions included urgent on-ground assessments of fire impacts on threatened species; on-ground assessment of burnt and adjacent unburnt areas to focus on threatened ecological communities; and activities to help threatened aquatic species, with a focus on maintaining rescued animals in a safe location until they could be returned to the wild.
She said the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment had published a revised provisional list of 119 animal species as the highest priorities for action to support recovery from the 2019–20 bushfires.
