The Morrison Government is directing $8 million to Australia’s fragile Alpine ecosystems to support the long-term recovery and mitigate the impacts of hard hooved animals following the devastating Black Summer bushfires.
Minister for the Environment Sussan Ley said recovery efforts will focus on rehabilitating the habitat of threatened species like the Northern and Southern Corroboree Frog through feral animal control, weed control and threatened species management.
“More than 570,000 hectares of habitat was burnt in the bushfires across the Australian Alpine region and since then, the land has struggled to regenerate because of feral animals like deer, pigs and horses,” Minister Ley said.
“Feral animals, particularly heavy, hooved animals, pose great threats to our smaller native wildlife which are at constant risk of trampling or having their habitat destroyed by trampling.”
Senator for New South Wales Jim Molan welcomed the announcement.
“This Government is listening to communities affected by the fires. Our $8 million investment has been guided by a regional co-design workshop held in September which brought together Traditional Owners, landcare groups, scientists, natural resource management regions and government representatives from across the ACT, NSW and Victoria to set the priorities for recovery to June 2022,” Senator Molan said.
Workshop participants identified several actions to aid bushfire recovery in the region including feral animal control, weed control, Traditional Owner led caring for country, and specific actions for priority threatened species.
The new investment will be shared across Victoria, NSW and the ACT through governments and natural resource management groups.
The funding builds on the $3.1 million already invested by the Australian Government in recovery actions within the Alpine region. This includes weed and pest control, and activities supporting the long-term survival of threatened species including the Mountain Pygmy Possum, Broad-toothed Rat, Southern Corroboree Frog and Smoky Mouse.
The Alpine region is one of seven identified for environmental recovery under the Government’s $110 million regional bushfire recovery fund. For more on the regional fund visit http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/bushfire-recovery/regional-delivery-program.