A free public seminar is being held next week to throw up fresh ideas on how to enhance the 12 green wedges around Melbourne.
If well managed, the green wedges could be the envy of other large cities across the world. However, their future is on a knife edge, according to a local authority.
“While some great strides have been taken by the Victorian Government to protect these green wedges with legislation, we now need ideas on how to ensure they provide a range of benefits for the long term,” says David Buntine, Chief Executive Officer of the Port Phillip and Westernport Catchment Management Authority (PPWCMA).
“The 12 green wedges, which form a ring around Melbourne, are the ‘lungs’ of the city that allow us to breathe. They support agricultural industries. They provide open space for our recreation. And they preserve our native plants and animals,” Mr Buntine said.
There are seven green wedge zones in the north and west of Melbourne at Werribee South, Western Plains North, Western Plains South, Sunbury, Whittlesea, Nillumbik and Manningham.
“We need to support private landholders to manage their land in the green wedges, otherwise these areas are in danger of becoming neglected, degraded, unprofitable and unsightly,” Mr Buntine says.
The free half-day seminar Pakenham provides an opportunity to hear from community leaders about a range of perspectives and possibilities for the future management of green wedges, and stimulate input into state and local government policies.
The Victorian Government has just released a paper titled Land and biodiversity at a time of climate change and is asking communities for ideas to revitalise land and water, sustain native biodiversity and protect marine and coastal ecosystems. This will lead to a White Paper prioritising government policy and investment for the next 20 to 50 years.
“The management of land and biodiversity in the green wedges is close to the hearts of many communities. Anyone with a genuine interest in ensuring that Melbourne’s green wedges provide a range of public benefits forever is invited to the seminar, including landholders, members of community groups, councilors, politicians, businesses and the general public,” Mr Buntine said.
“Landholders in the green wedges will need help to make these areas sustainable, ensuring they continue to support agricultural industries, provide open space for recreation and preserve our native plants and animals,” Mr Buntine says.
“We need to consider a new set of initiatives to ensure healthy, productive land in the green wedges. For instance, schemes such as Bush Tender and Eco Tender which pay landholders to protect biodiversity could be potential ways to share the cost of managing the green wedges for public benefit,” he says.
Among the key speakers at the forums will be RMIT University’s Associate Professor Michael Buxton, who is an international authority on green wedges, and Simon Ramsay, President of the Victorian Farmers Federation.
The Regional Director from the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Council CEOs, representatives from the Green Wedge Coalition and Ian Morgans from the PPWCMA will also be among the speakers at the seminar.
“The future of the green wedges is too important to leave to chance. They are a potentially great legacy we can leave for future generations,” Mr Buntine says.
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