A Natural Investment Project
1 Introduction
The importance of these aspects is acknowledged, for example, by the Victorian Government in its current priorities as detailed in the 2010 Statement of Government Intentions1. The Government considers that it is “well placed to apply innovative solutions to the range of economic, social, and environmental challenges we face.” Its priorities include: • Making the most of opportunities to create jobs, secure investment, and keep Victoria competitive. • Applying the principles of sustainability across all our actions and taking action to reduce the impact of climate change. In its discussion paper, entitled Provincial Victoria, Directions for the Next Decade (DIIRD 2009), the Government identifies a range of strategic directions for regional Victoria. The paper highlights that, in the face of climate change impacts, regional communities and industries are being challenged to diversify their economic base. Building green economies and improving natural infrastructure to maintain and enhance Victoria’s land, water and biodiversity is included as one of a number of potential areas for action. Through another initiative, entitled Action Plan for Green Jobs, the Victorian Government stated its intention to make Victoria a centre for investment in green jobs and industries (DIIRD 2010). The focus of the action plan is on construction, energy and low emissions industries. The action plan notes that traditional green jobs are associated with conserving, protecting and restoring ecosystems and biodiversity. However, it does not consider how to achieve the investment required, and associated jobs, to achieve the restoration needed to reverse the decline of Victoria’s natural environment and biodiversity.
1.2
Project Background and Objectives
Against the context just outlined, this project involves the use of a regional case study in Western Victoria to investigate the regional development benefits (and costs) of significantly increasing the level of investment in large-scale habitat restoration, including the impact on regional employment. This project has been commissioned by the Victoria Naturally Alliance2 to investigate the benefits (and any downsides) of increased public and private investment in large-scale habitat restoration (natural infrastructure). This study has used the Habitat 141 project as a case study. Habitat 141 is a visionary large-scale habitat restoration project. It covers an area of 18 million hectares, encompassing a diverse range of ecosystems including rangelands, heath, mallee, red gum forests and floodplains, grassy woodlands and the coastal plain. This study focuses on the Victorian sections of Zones 1, 2 and 3 of Habitat 141 (see Figure 3-1). These zones have been extensively cleared for agriculture over the past 175 years. Only about 20 per cent of the original native vegetation remains across the three zones and much of this has been severely modified. Most of Zone 2 and much of zone 3 are more than 90 per cent cleared. Four out of Australia’s five most cleared bioregions are found in Western Victoria (CES 2008).
1
. The Victorian Government Priorities for 2010 http://www.premier.vic.gov.au/component/content/article/9287.html 2 The Victoria Naturally Alliance consists of nine peak environment groups led and hosted by the Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA). The other members of the alliance are The Wilderness Society, Australian Conservation Foundation, Environment Victoria, Bush Heritage Australia, Trust for Nature, Greening Australia (Victoria), Bird Observation & Conservation Australia and Invasive Species Council.
2
43283561/01/01