On Friday the 9th of October 2009 the Shire of Kalamunda officially launched its local biodiversity strategy, signifying its dedication to the environmental planning of the region.
Shire President Donald McKechnie said, “The Local Biodiversity Strategy aims to strategically plan natural area protection so that biodiversity conservation is incorporated into the Shire’s planning and decision making processes and has been developed to protect existing natural areas that are important to our community.”
“Protection of natural areas is important to maintain the sense of place in the Shire and the Local Biodiversity Strategy will be a significant resource in guiding the protection of our precious natural environment.”
This Strategy has been prepared by staff from the Shire’s Environmental Services division and staff from the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council’s Environmental Services division, under the direction of the Shire of Kalamunda, and with funding support from the Perth Biodiversity Project. The Draft Local Biodiversity Strategy was released in March 2008 for public comment with an additional public workshop being held in May 2008 to gain valuable feedback from the local community. The Draft has been revised to incorporate all feasible public comments received during the public consultation phase and all relevant comments received during the concurrent Planning Strategy Vision Workshops carried out over the same period of time.
Shire of Kalamunda Environmental Coordinator Giles Glasson said, “I think that is an extremely robust, well planned document that will now be the major plenary tool in the Shire’s arsenal for integrating biodiversity conservation both into its core business and to provide a basis for strategic, consistent and well informed decision making that aims to ensure that key ecosystems and features of our local biodiversity are protected for the benefit of future generations.”
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