Urban biodiversity strategy
Our Urban Biodiversity Strategy for Boroondara 2013-2023 helps us protect our natural habitat.
The strategy captures:
- our local biodiversity assets, including native wildlife, plants and habitats
- ways to protect these assets
- our previous work in this space.
Our vision is to increase the total area we manage to improve biodiversity to 51.3 ha by 2023. This is a 10 year increase of 15.3 ha (up from 36 ha in 2013).
Our 4 objectives are to:
- protect and enhance biodiversity on public land
- reduce the impact of land use and development on biodiversity
- increase community support for biodiversity
- base policies, decisions and actions on knowledge and evidence.
Important biodiversity sites
As part of our strategy, we've mapped important biodiversity sites and corridors in Boroondara.
You can find these in our biodiversity corridors map in the Downloads section on this page.
These includes sites of:
- local significance
- regional significance
- state significance
- national significance.
Biodiversity projects
To put our strategy into practice. we have started several biodiversity projects. Read about them below.
Protecting and restoring significant sites
We protect, restore and revegetate bushland as part of our strategy.
By June 2020, we increased the area of Council land that we manage for biodiversity to 44 ha.
Habitat program for sugar gliders
We designed a program to improve the habitat for sugar gliders on Council-managed land.
The program:
- supports sugar gliders along the Yarra River
- helps to extend their habitat range.
Sugar gliders are uncommon in urban areas. Up until 2017, they had not been recorded in Boroondara since 1986.
Through this program we have installed 18 log hollows across:
- Freeway Golf Course
- Yarra Flats Reserve
- Willsmere Billabong.
Installing educational signs
We've developed educational signs to promote our most significant biodiversity sites.
You can view these signs at:
- Nettleton Park
- Markham Reserve
- Willsmere Billabong
- Freeway Golf Course
- Burke Road South wetlands
- Koonung Creek
- South Surrey Park.
Protecting significant trees
Our Significant Tree Register helps protect hundreds of large, old and indigenous trees.
You can use the map to search for significant trees in an area or suburb.