About Us
Grow West is a large landscape change project of the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority. The project has a strong link with the local community with representation from local landholders and organisations that sit on the Grow West Implementation Committee (GWIC). The GWIC provides the strategic direction for the project while the Department of Primary Industries, Bacchus Marsh deliver the on ground components of the project.
The Grow West project is turning back the tide of environmental degradation, initially by working in an area of 50,000 hectares of land between Bacchus Marsh and Ballan, straddling the Western Highway and only 60km west of Melbourne.
10,000 hectares are being converted to sustainable land uses tailored to suit each individual site. This is one of the most extensive land restoration programs ever undertaken in Victoria.
Projects to date have been completed on both private and public land and range in size from 1ha to 170ha. Both farm forestry and revegetation projects have been undertaken. Future projects may include the establishment of saltbush pastures, development of alternative agricultural industries, and the education of small rural landholders in property management.
This major Victorian project offers a unique opportunity for all sectors of the community and government to work together to achieve major environmental change.
Turning the Grow West vision into reality is an exciting project, and it's not too late to get involved!
Vision
Through the Grow West project, Melbourne's western landscapes will be transformed into beautiful and sustainably productive areas with healthy and attractive waterways, bringing opportunities for eco-tourism and other commercial developments — a living space for native plants and animals alongside thriving local communities with a great future.
The Grow West project area
The Grow West project area covers approximately 50,000 hectares between Bacchus March and Ballan, straddling the Western Highway and only 50km west of Melbourne.
The project includes harsh gorge country where landholders are desperately trying to control infestations of pest plants and animals that spread into productive agricultural lands and into natural vegetation areas.
The project area stretches west to the Ballan-Geelong Road, east to the Moorabool Shire Council boundary at Djerriwarrah Creek, north to the edge of the Wombat Forest and Lerderderg State Park and south to the Brisbane Rd.
