Biodiversity

What Is It?
Biodiversity refers to the variety of life forms; the different plants animals and micro-organisms, the genes they contain and the ecosystems they form. It is usually therefore considered in terms of genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity.

The Southwest Australia Ecoregion (which includes the Shire of Kalamunda) is recognised as one of the planet’s major biodiversity hotspots (and is the only global biodiversity hotspot currently recognised in Australia). This recognition of global significance is based on high levels of natural diversity together with high levels of threat to that diversity.

How does it relate to the Shire of Kalamunda?
In recognition of the Shire’s local biodiversity and its inclusion in the Southwest Australia Ecoregion, the Shire of Kalamunda is currently working in collaboration with the Perth Biodiversity Project (PBP), acting as pilot Council for the implementation of the 'Local Government Biodiversity Planning Guidelines for the Perth Metropolitan Region' and the PBP Milestone process.

The Perth Biodiversity Project (PBP) is a partnership project between 31 Local Governments, WALGA, the Swan Catchment Council and the Department for Planning and Infrastructure (DPI). The project aims to increase Local Government actions and capacity to conserve Perth's Biodiversity.

The aim of the PBP is to support metropolitan Local Governments and the Shire of Chittering to use their functions and powers to effectively protect and manage Local Natural Areas and other natural areas occurring on Local Government lands. Local Natural Areas are natural areas that exist outside of Bush Forever Sites (Swan Coastal Plain), the CALM Managed Estate and Regional Parks. Natural areas can be areas of native vegetation, vegetated or open water bodies (lakes, swamps), waterways (rivers, creeks and estuaries - often referred to as channel wetlands), springs, rock outcrops, bare ground (generally sand or mud), caves, coastal dunes or cliffs. Natural areas exclude parkland cleared areas, isolated trees in cleared settings, ovals and turfed areas.

To assist Local Government to strategically plan for the retention, protection and management of Perth's biodiversity, PBP has prepared the 'Local Government Biodiversity Planning Guidelines for the Perth Metropolitan Region' to provide Local Government with an understanding of the values of biodiversity in the Perth Metropolitan Region and a methodology for preparing and implementing Local Biodiversity Strategies. In following these Guidelines, the Shire is developing a Biodiversity Strategy, which will concentrate on Local Natural Areas as detailed above, by following the Milestone framework detailed below:

Milestone 1:
Involves the formalisation of Council resolution, establishing a Steering Group Committee (to involve community members, State Government and Local Government staff in the process), integrating biodiversity data into the Local Government GIS System and allocating resources to the project.

Milestone 2:
Involves identifying the natural areas, developing a vision statement and targets and the development of a discussion paper to be endorsed by Council and released for public comment.

Milestone 3:
Involves the preparation and adoption of a Local Planning Policy for Biodiversity Conservation.

Milestone 4:
Involves the preparation and endorsement of an Incentives Strategy for Private Land Conservation.

Milestone 5:
Involves the preparation and adoption of a biodiversity action plan for the protection and management of Local Government lands and unallocated Crown land.

Milestone 6:
Involves amending the Town Planning Scheme to incorporate appropriate protection mechanisms.

Milestone 7:
Involves establishing a reporting process.

In following this Milestone Framework, the Shire aims to establish clear mechanisms through which the Shire’s unique biodiversity resource can be protected and managed now and into the future. The Shire has completed Milestone 1 and is now working towards the completion of Milestone 2.


Shire of Kalamunda: (08) 9257 9999

Cities for Climate Protection

What is it?
Cities for Climate Protection (CCP) is an innovative international campaign that helps local government and their communities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and their impact on the environment. This program is delivered by delivered by the International Council for Local Environmental Initiative (ICLEI), the Department of Environment and Heritage and the Australian Greenhouse Office.
Cities for Climate Protection provides a framework for Councils to build local government capacity to address climate change. The program is broken down into five distinct milestones achieving important project outcomes. These milestones are as follows;

Milestone 1:
Establish an inventory and forecast for key sources of greenhouse emissions for council and community

Milestone 2:
Set an emissions reduction goal.

Milestone 3:
Develop and adopt a local greenhouse action plan to achieve emission reductions.

Milestone 4:
Implement the local greenhouse action plan and quantify benefits.

Milestone 5:
Monitor and report on greenhouse gas emissions, and implement actions as a      continuous improvement cycle.

Following this Milestone process, there is then the opportunity to continue to program and commit to CCP Plus which allows for advanced greenhouse reduction initiatives through a suite of CCP Plus actions: Advancing Action Projects, Organisational Reviews and Planning & Review.

How does this program relate to the Shire of Kalamunda?
The Shire of Kalamunda has completed a number of Milestones:

Milestone 1:
An inventory of the Shire’s individual emissions and the community emissions as a whole we conducted using 1998 information. This allowed the Shire to also forecast future emissions and establish baseline data.

Milestone 2:
Using the information from Milestone 1, the Shire set the following goals:
i. Reduce the Shire’s individual emissions by 20% based on the 1998 levels.
ii. Stabilise community emissions based on 1998 levels

Milestone 3:
The Shire developed a local greenhouse action plan and this was endorsed by Council.

Milestone 4:
The Shire began to implement the local greenhouse action plan.

The Shire is currently working towards Milestone 5 which involves conducting a re-inventory of the Shire as an individual emitter and also of the wider community. This review will allow the Shire to evaluate its progress in meeting its goals and establish further actions to reduce emissions. Following this the Shire can sign up to participate in CCP Plus.

Where can I find out more?
The Shire is working in collaboration with the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council (EMRC) on this program and as such the EMRC’s CCP Program Officer can be contacted for further information:

For more information, please contact
Kim Byrnes EMRC Environmental Projects Officer
Phone: 08 9424 2222
Email: kim.byrnes@emrc.org.au 


Further information:
www.emrc.org.au/environmental.asp?pg=166
http://www.iclei.org/index.php?id=2291  

Eastern Hills Catchment Management Project

What Is It?
The Eastern Hills Catchment Management Program (EHCMP) is an award winning partnership program between the Shire of Kalamunda, the Shire of Mundaring, the City of Swan and the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council (EMRC). The program aims to achieve a co-ordinated strategic approach to the restoration of land, bushland and creek lines.  This has been achieved through a range of natural resource management activities and practices within the Councils, broader community and regional Natural Resource Management Groups. 

The outcomes of EHCMP are closely aligned with the objectives of the Swan Catchment Council through the Swan Region Strategy for Natural Resource Management (NRM) and the Swan River Trust through the Healthy Rivers Action Plan.

How does this program relate to the Shire of Kalamunda?
The program encompasses four team members with Sonya Stewart (Natural Diversity) and Craig Wansbrough (Water) based at the Shire of Kalamunda on a part-time basis for contact by community members.

Specifically for the Shire of Kalamunda the EHCMP team undertake the following activities:

• Represent the Shire at Natural Resource Management forums.
• Implements the Sampling and Analysis Plans for Surface Water quality across the Shire of Kalamunda which were developed in close collaboration with the Swan Catchment Council and Department of Environment and Conservation.
• Implement a catchment planning program.
• Provide advice to community members wanting to undertake conservation activities on their private properties.
• Run a series of free workshops in collaboration with the Shire’s environmental staff, which provide both information and practical hands-on sessions regarding landcare, bushcare and wetland care for the hills environment.  Timetable: www.emrc.org.au/displayfile.asp?ID=52877
• Assist individuals in applying for grant funding.
• Release a monthly newsletter in collaboration with the Shire’s environmental staff;
  Greenpage Newsletter - May 2007 These activities support a very active community that has significant positive impact in managing the Shire of Kalamunda’s natural resources and further to this the team take on further NRM projects as the opportunities arise. The team, for example, obtains grant funding to implement a number of landcare initiatives throughout the Shire.

Case Studies:
Examples of projects implemented by the EHCMP are listed below:

Booralie Way Reserve Restoration Project:
Case Study - Summary - Booralie Way Reserve Restoration Project.pdf
 

Further Information:
www.emrc.org.au/community.asp?pg=72

Shire of Kalamunda: (08) 9257 9999

The Water Campaign™

What is it?
The Water Campaign™ is an international freshwater management program which aims to build the capacity of local government to reduce water consumption and improve local water quality. This program is delivered by the International Council for Local Initiative (ICLEI) in collaboration with the Government of West Australian.
The Water Campaign provides a framework for Councils to improve their water management and influence the Communities water management. The Campaign is broken down into five distinct milestones achieving important project outcomes. These milestones are as follows;

Milestone 1: 
Conduct a water consumption inventory and analysis for Corporate and Community consumers. Conduct a review of the corporate water quality management and how it affects the Community's behaviour towards water quality in the region. Produce corporate and community water quality checklists and identify priority areas of concern in both sectors.

Milestone 2:
Set goals to improve the current situation in water quality and water consumption.

Milestone 3:
Develop a Water Action Plan for both Corporate and Community sectors.

Milestone 4:
Implement high priority actions in the Water Action Plan.

Milestone 5:
Evaluate Water Action Plan success and progression towards the goals.


How does this program relate to the Shire of Kalamunda?
The Shire of Kalamunda has completed Milestone 1 in this process and is currently working towards Milestones 2 and 3 together. This will allow the Shire to set goals while also developing actions to meet those goals.

The Shire is working in collaboration with the Eastern Metropolitan Regional Council (EMRC) on this program and as such the EMRC’s Water Campaign Program Officer can be contacted for further information:


Yulia Volobueva   EMRC Environmental Projects Officer
Phone: 08 9424 2222
Email: yulia.volobueva@emrc.org.au


Further Information:
www.emrc.org.au/environmental.asp?pg=345
www.iclei.org/anz/water