Protect Victorian nature

The tall forests, woodlands, grassland plains, arid mallee scrub, majestic rivers, calm wetlands, spectacular coastline and thousands of native plants, animals and fungi that call Victoria home are incredible and unique.

Victoria is the most-cleared state in Australia. Let's work together to protect our surviving wildlife and habitats.

The tall forests, woodlands, grassland plains, arid mallee scrub, majestic rivers, calm wetlands, spectacular coastline and thousands of native plants, animals and fungi that call Victoria home are incredible and unique.

Victoria is the most-cleared state in Australia. Let's work together to protect our surviving wildlife and habitats.

Connect and protect Western Port Woodlands forever

Call on your elected leaders to connect and protect this wildlife corridor forever.

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Dear Ministers Kilkenny and Dimopoulos,

CC Member for Bass Jordan Crugnale

I’m writing to you about the Western Port Woodlands (WPW) and the recent outcomes of the Distinctive Areas and Landscapes (DAL) process.

These remnant coastal woodlands are the last surviving forest habitats on the Gippsland Plain bioregion, stretching from Nyora to Grantville. They are home to rare and threatened wildlife and irreplaceable habitats, including Southern Brown Bandicoots, Powerful Owls, Lace Monitors and Tea-tree Fingers Fungus.

The only way for these living wonders to survive is to permanently protect them from fragmentation by sandmining and inappropriate development.

In 2019, the Victorian Government declared Bass Coast a Distinctive Areas and Landscapes (DAL) under the Planning and Environment Act 1987.

Ministers and MPs assured the community that the DAL process would help resolve the decades-long conflict between protecting these last remaining and rare woodlands and expanding sand extraction and development. This led to over 550 submissions calling for better protection of the woodlands.

The planning minister's own ecology expert, James Garden, recommended the Bass Coast Statement of Planning Policy:

Explicitly recognise the unique, significant and intrinsic biodiversity value of the Western Port Woodlands corridor, irrespective of land tenure, and the potential for cumulative, permanent impacts associated with extractive industries in the region.

Acknowledge the direct conflict between current and future mining operations and the conservation of biodiversity in the region with a clear strategy to address the conflict.

The Final Draft Bass Coast Statement of Planning Policy (March 2025) is a welcome acknowledgement of the Woodland’s complex, natural web of life, and as a corridor of recreation and reflection for local communities.

Unfortunately, the Final Draft doesn't recommend any legal protections. It defers action by calling for further investigation.

Over the past few years, citizen scientists and academics have conducted ground survey work within the woodland corridor and made remarkable discoveries, including:

The largest known population of the Critically Endangered Strzelecki Gum (Eucalyptus strzeleckii) in the old Holden Proving Ground in Lang Lang

New records of Endangered Southern Brown Bandicoots in the northern section of the corridor

New population of Endangered Southern Toadlets

Findings of suitable habitat and signs of fungus species that support the Critically Endangered Tea Tree Finger Fungus

The escalating conflict between sand mining operations and biodiversity values is highlighted in the Victorian National Parks Association report "Western Port Woodlands – wildlife corridor or sand pit?"

Now that the Bass Coast DAL process is settled, it is time for the solid and meaningful protection of the Western Port Woodlands that was promised throughout the process.

I call on you as the relevant Ministers to:

Apply Environmental Significance Overlays (ESO) over the Western Port Woodlands, irrespective of land tenure

Immediately fund and commission the necessary survey work identified in the SPP document to understand the values and native vegetation connectivity of the Western Port Woodlands across public and private land

Secure the future of large areas of the Western Port Woodlands by acquiring high-quality habitat areas such as the Former Holden Proving Ground and other private lands, and placing them into conservation tenure

There has been a decrease in the sale cost of some private properties that contain high habitat values, and these sites should be acquired sooner rather than later.

These woodlands are incredible living remnant habitat in such a cleared landscape and must be protected.

Please act today for the wildlife of the Western Port Woodlands and the communities that love them.

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