A performance audit of the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning’s (DELWP) implementation of the Melbourne Strategic Assessment (MSA) program to protect nationally significant native vegetation found the Department had not met its commitments.
In his report, Protecting Critically Endangered Grasslands, Auditor-General Andrew Greaves says the MSA program manages the environmental impact of urban development in Melbourne’s growth areas.
“Under the MSA program, the Victorian Government made commitments to improve conservation outcomes, including to establish a 15,000 hectare Western Grassland Reserve (WGR) and a 1,200-hectare Grassy Eucalypt Woodlands Reserve (GEWR) by 2020,” Mr Greaves said.
“DELWP has not met its commitments to deliver the WGR and GEWR by 2020,” he said.
“DELWP intended these reserves to offset native vegetation loss from urban development within the extended urban growth boundary (UGB).”
Mr Greaves said delays in acquiring land, and the continued threat of degradation, posed significant risks to the ecological values of native vegetation within the reserves.
“The delays in acquiring these reserves also mean they will likely require a significantly greater investment to restore and retain these ecological values than if they had been purchased within the intended 10-year timeframe,” he said.
“Significant changes by government to the funding model for the WGR and GEWR, made only shortly after the 2020 commitment was made, meant DELWP have had limited ability to purchase the necessary land.”
He said recent changes to the regulatory framework supporting the MSA program were likely to help DELWP deliver Victoria’s commitment to establish the reserves.
The Auditor-General made seven recommendations, including that DELWP finalise a strategy to progress the GEWR; undertake an up-to-date condition assessment of the private land designated for the WGR; review and update its WGR interim management strategy; and evaluate the effectiveness of its interim land management agreement.
He also recommended DELWP improve its landowner communications approach by finalising a communications strategy; strengthen its governance arrangements by including delivery partners in the governance structure for the MSA; and review key performance indicators for the MSA.
The Auditor-General’s 77-page report can be accessed at this PS News link.
