Nature: described as plants, animals, fungi, and bacteria along with the communities and ecosystems which they are part of and the ecological processes they sustain; which is often described as Biodiversity.

Biodiversity: ‘bio’ meaning life and ‘diversity’ meaning variability. The variety of all living things, their genetic information and the ecosystems they form.

Native vegetation: Plants (including trees, shrubs, herbs, and grasses) that are considered indigenous to a particular site or locality. A plant may be native to Australia, but not locally indigenous.

Indigenous flora or indigenous fauna: Plants or animals that occur naturally in the local area (or prescribed geographic area) are considered indigenous.

Bushland reserve: Council-owned reserves containing native or indigenous flora and fauna. Vegetation is usually remnant and has never been cleared, although some bushland reserves have arisen from revegetation using indigenous species.

Biolink: a corridor of natural or created habitat that connects pockets of native vegetation. Often in the context of otherwise modified landscapes, such as those previously cleared for agricultural or urban development. Habitat corridors attract wildlife and act as safe passages for wildlife between neighbouring natural areas, along with increasing potential for genetic diversity in breeding populations.

Today, between one quarter and one third of Victoria’s plants, birds, reptiles, amphibians and mammals, along with numerous invertebrates and ecological communities, are considered threatened with extinction.

Council has a broad role to play in the management of the natural environment, along with supporting community to increase their environmental stewardship and building resilience against a changing climate.

Significant investment currently occurs in natural resource management through weed control programs, incentive programs for private land, undertaking statutory functions as required by the planning scheme and education of, and partnership with community volunteers focussed on environmental protection.

This plan identifies other key actions. Many of these are listed as 'seeking investment'. This means that council currently does not have an allocated budget to deliver on this action. In many cases, there are opportunities for council to seek funding from external sources (like the Department of Environment, Land, Water & Planning; Melbourne Water, or philanthropic organisations). Funding can also be sought through councils annual budget bidding process.

• What we have control over: the 2% of land in Yarra Ranges that we manage. We have direct and legislated responsibility for this land, through the administration of state and local planning policy;
• What we can influence: by leading, educating, informing and incentivising private landowners in the space of biodiversity protection and enhancement. We also work collaboratively with other land managers to achieve beneficial outcomes; and,
• What we can advocate for: on behalf of our community, we are represented on advisory and multi-agency working groups, provide feedback on state and federal policy/ strategy as it impacts local biodiversit. We also advocate for increased biodiversity investment for our region.

The Plan will define the activities, programs and projects of the highest priority for the next 10 years. It will set targets for council and allow for prioritisation of conservation action on council managed land.

The Plan will improve our support to private landowners and increase environmental stewardship, identify areas to seek external funding, highlight key advocacy priorities for our municipality and ensure rigorous monitoring and adaptive management are embedded into our programs effectively.

The actions outlined in the Nature Plan (pp24-32) have identified timeframes for implementation. We will report back to the community each year on the progress of the actions.