Actions completed in 2018/19 as part of Bass Coast Shire Council’s Natural Environment Strategy 2016-26 were highlighted at the October Council Meeting.
The Natural Environment Strategy 2016-26 provides a framework and clear direction for Council and its community, regarding sustainability of the natural environment.
There has been great progress and many challenges and achievements for our environment in 2018/19.
The impacts of climate change are being felt more acutely in Bass Coast Shire with changes of weather pattern resulting in fires, floods, erosion and seasonal changes. In 2018/19 Council completed sand renourishment works at Cowes East, Cowes Main Beach and at Silverleaves to combat coastal erosion – as well as the construction of trial wet sand fences and the monitoring of sand movement at the Inverloch Surf Beach.
Some of the other environmental highlights from the previous 12 months include the implementation of the Biodiversity Biolinks Plan, which saw around 380,000 native plants put in the ground across the Shire.
Bass Coast Mayor, Cr Brett Tessari, said Biolinks are important for providing habitat and increasing the range of native wildlife and plants.
“These new areas of vegetation created by Biolinks provide linkages between remnant patches of indigenous vegetation and allow for the movement of wildlife, which could increase the chance of animals breeding with other populations and in turn, increase genetic diversity,” Cr Tessari said.
In August 2018, Council hosted the sold out ‘War on Waste’ Business Breakfast, in conjunction with the adoption of its Single Use Plastic Free Policy. The community’s war on waste is also continuing, with the ongoing implementation of Council’s three-bin waste system – resulting in the diversion of over 75 per cent of household waste from landfill
Council continued its support and partnerships with local Hooded Plover Working Groups, with 18 fledglings recorded in Bass Coast over the 12-month period.
