- Planning - not robust
- Data - inadequate and increasingly out of date, and
- Park management plans - outdated and lacking sufficient detail.
The report said while good progress had been made in managing some invasive species, an increasing reliance on “short-term funding to address a long-term problem” was having a detrimental impact on authorities’ efforts.
Friends groups devote thousands of hours a year to clearing weeds from the national park.
The report further said Victoria’s biodiversity was in poor condition and declining in most areas, with invasive plants and animals largely to blame. It said about 75 per cent of plant data and 57 per cent of animal data was more than 10 years old, while about 30 per cent of combined plant and animal data was more than 20 years old. It said there was not enough emphasis on data gathering for new and emerging species.
Upper Yarra and Dandenongs Environment Council member and Greens candidate for Monbulk Jo Tenner said she feared the park would turn into a “weed museum” unless more funding was provided.
Cr Noel Cliff said weeds were the biggest threat to the future of the Dandenongs and warned the area would disappear as a tourist destination if the problem was not addressed. He said volunteer groups that removed weeds might give up if the Government did nothing.
The council allocated $60,000 in this year’s budget for weed removal, and wrote to the Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) last month asking for help to secure “significant and ongoing support” for the future management of environmental weeds from the State Government.
State Government spokesman Chris Owner said the Dandenong Ranges got $1 million in funding for the next four years to target pest plants. He said a regional working group of representatives from the DSE, Parks Victoria, Yarra Ranges Council, Melbourne Water and the Department of Primary Industries, had been established to administer the program.
