Banking on biodiversity

2/7/2026

Drive to repair Bass Coast’s fragmented natural landscape picks up pace with launch of nature fund.

By Catherine Watson

BASS Coast’s push to repair its fragmented natural landscape has taken a major step forward with the launch of a new Nature Recovery Foundation.

The new fund aims to drive a major expansion of protected habitat across the shire, with a target of bringing 30 per cent of land into active environmental care through philanthropy, corporate partnerships, community donations and land gifts.

The target reflects growing scientific evidence that ecosystems need around 30 per cent native vegetation cover to remain healthy and resilient.

One of the foundation’s key priorities is the Western Port Woodlands, a fragmented but ecologically significant landscape under increasing pressure. The plan is to secure strategic sites and rebuild habitat links between reserves, allowing threatened species including southern brown bandicoots, powerful owls and lace monitors to move more freely through the landscape.

Former Bass Coast mayor Michael Whelan, who helped push for the fund during his time on council, said the scale of vegetation loss made long-term action unavoidable.

“When I joined the council in 2016 vegetation cover in Bass Coast was a measly 7 per cent, which we sought to extend to 30 per cent,” he said.

“With the Big Build encouraging voracious sand mining efforts in the Western Port Woodlands, and the poor protection in planning legislation, it soon became clear that the challenge was instead to stop vegetation cover dropping even further.”

Vegetation cover within the shire is now approaching 15 per cent, thanks in large part to the council’s ongoing partnership with the Bass Coast Landcare Network.

Mr Whelan said the foundation was the next logical step to permanently protect significant habitat and biolinks, and believed it would make a significant impact over time.

“Several council officers have shown strong dedication to achieve this milestone. I also thank the current councillors for their ongoing support.”

Beyond the woodlands, the foundation also aims to restore coastal ecosystems including mangroves, saltmarshes and dunes, while expanding revegetation projects across the shire.

The foundation has been established as a partnership between the council and BioDiversity Legacy, a national conservation organisation with Gippsland roots.

Conservation models

The Nature Recovery Foundation points to two standout Phillip Island conservation projects as evidence of what can be achieved in conservation.

Summerland
In 1985 the Victorian Government launched the Summerland Estate buyback program to buy residential properties on the peninsula to protect the little penguin colony. Along the way they also created one of Australia’s most popular tourist attractions.

Scenic Estate
A coastal estate of more than 300 lots sold in the 1960s, Scenic Estate was declared an “inappropriate subdivision”. Over the past decade the council has worked with the Phillip Island Conservation Society to transform the degraded site into a conservation reserve.

BioDiversity Legacy grew out of the conservation work of the Phillipson family on properties near Maffra and the Avon Wilderness in East Gippsland, where they sought a way to protect conservation land beyond their own lifetimes.

Rather than relying solely on conservation agreements, the foundation will purchase and hold land in perpetuity for environmental purposes. Landowners will also be able to donate ecologically significant land.

Local community groups and other organisations will be appointed as stewards to manage and restore sites, with the foundation retaining oversight and the ability to intervene if needed to ensure long-term protection of environmental values.

As a charitable foundation separate from council, it will also be eligible for state and federal environmental grants. Mr Whelan said it could also open the door for broader investment, including from metropolitan councils exploring carbon credits and other climate initiatives.

Council CEO Greg Box will chair the four-person board. The other members are:

Jodi Kennedy, the council’s general manager of community and culture, who has played a key role in establishing the foundation.
Tim Rowe from Biodiversity Legacy who has previously worked in environmental roles for Manningham, Yarra Ranges and Wellington shires.
Christopher Balmford from Biodiversity Legacy, a former lawyer at the international law firm Baker and McKenzie and board member of several not-for-profits with an environmental focus.

7 Comments

Anne Heath Mennell

3/7/2026 03:50:12 pm

This is wonderful news. Grateful thanks to Michael, Jodi and any others who have worked hard to make this happen.

Julie Thomas

3/7/2026 07:38:17 pm

Echo your comments, Anne. A wonderful and practical step forward in recognising that we humans are not the only ones who belong in the Bass Coast region!

Karen Sandon

4/7/2026 01:32:49 pm

Excellent. Finally something that can go beyond us as individuals to put our support of environment into timeframes that work for ecosystems.
Thanks to all of you who have made this happen and to the excellent work of the thousands of volunteers past and present who lead to this moment.

Robbie Viglietti

4/7/2026 05:51:35 pm

To all the self-proclaimed "Woodland Warriors", former and current greens Councillors...
Please stop spreading lies, misinformation and distorting the truth to create a narrative to support your radical greens agenda of creating a Westernport National Park.

It is time that you clearly define what constitutes “The Woodlands”.

Catherine Watson describes the “Westernport Woodlands” as “a fragmented but ecologically significant landscape under increasing pressure”…

Based on the information published in local print media last week (repeatedly recycled in “Save the Woodlands” propaganda), the “woodlands” is a blotch on a map shown covering a length of over 30 kilometres. Based on this, one could be fooled into thinking that this entire area is a “woodland”.

This is far from reality; the landscape in this area is well beyond “fragmented”.

With the exception of the Crown Land in the Grantville and Gurdies Nature Conservation reserves (which, ironically, were gazetted for Sand and Gravel extraction in 1921 and are now preserved for Nature Conservation), the entire region has been cleared for agriculture, viticulture, industry, commerce, infrastructure and townships.

Radical environmentalists, including past and present greens Councillors, continue to spread the mythology that the “woodlands” are under threat from sand quarrying (not “mining”; check your pronouns - apparently the greens place great importance on pronouns so please use the correct terminology).

The statement made by former Councillor Micheal Wheeland exemplifies this. He is quoted as saying “With the Big Build encouraging voracious sand mining efforts in the Western Port Woodlands, and the poor protection in planning legislation, it soon became clear that the challenge was instead to stop vegetation cover dropping even further.”

In the Bass coast shire, there are applications for quarries in land that has already (historically) been cleared for agriculture, however, there are no applications for new quarries in “woodlands”; feel free to check the DECCA State Government website.

Why? Because there are no fewer than 6 State and Federal Acts of Parliament as well as a major State Government strategy document that, for all practical intents and purposes, eliminates the possibility of any quarry being established in real “woodlands”.

Preservation of the “woodlands” has already been secured. Saving the woodlands is a solution without a problem; a means for greens Councillors past and present to flex their environmental muscle, beating up on an industry that is essential for building every home, school, hospital, sports ground, water treatment plant, café, restaurant, road, bridge, drain, in fact, every built structure in our community.

The attitude of past and current greens Councillors reeks of NIMBYism at its most extreme; everybody wants the benefits of the sand needed for the construction of our community, however it should be somewhere else..

Claims are made that the industry should be pushed further afield… ironically, this will result in greater environmental impact due to increased transport requirements.

Returning to the Bass Coast, there are two historical quarries active in real woodlands; specifically, the Grantville Nature Conservation Reserve.

These are legacy operations over 50 years old that occupy approximately 5% of the Reserve area.

Based on the current legislative protections, THERE IS NO PRACTICAL POSSIBILITY OF THESE SITES EXTENDED BEYOND THEIR CURRENT BOUNDARIES.

The ultimate irony is that one of these 2 of these quarries is operated by the Bass Coast Shire Council…Work Authority 784! This quarry is attached to the Grantville landfill (tip) and has historically been used to source lining and cover material for the Grantville landfill.

Past and present greens Councillors continue to decry the end of the evil mines (quarries) that are apparently destroying our “woodlands”, yet by their own definition, the Council is today complicit in the supposed destruction of these very “woodlands”.

Even more interesting is the fact that there appears to be no active rehabilitation plan for the landfill or quarry; I have repeatedly requested to see a Council rehabilitation plan for the quarry and landfill however, to this date have had no response.

Having been an industry operator for over 40 years, I suggest that the Council is sitting on an unfunded liability that will cost the Shires residents multiple millions of dollars.

This should be the true outrage confronting our community.

Quarrying is a transient land use that, by todays strict environmental standards, will leave more vegetation at the end use than the cleared agricultural land they typically occupy.

This is in stark contrast to land used for agriculture

Neil Rankine

7/7/2026 11:12:35 am

Robbie Viglietti, you have a poor understanding of what keeps a woodland viable. There must be connectivity between the conservation reserves, or their ecological values will gradually diminish through lack of genetic mixing, risk from fire (that you know about) or disease and increasingly adverse climate conditions. Far from saying this is impossible anyone looking at a google arial image will see there is plenty of public and private opportunities to build this connectivity on. What issue can you have with trying to pursue this.
I do note you owned the quarry not discussed in the Grantville Nature Conservation Reserve which on it's own is about 5% of the reserve and consuming probably 25% of the Australasian Grass Trees in the reserve and surrounds.
Will the rehabilitation of your quarry in the Gurdies Conservation reserve return it to woodland value vegetation, or will it be just a scattering of reed and rush seed and a few weedy shrubs. You only have to look at past attempts within the Gurdies reserve to see that 'rehabilitated' quarries do not support the intricate complexity and diversity of places for nature to thrive. I note you previously said the rehabilitation there would be completed by the end of 2026, any chance of having a look at your works or rehabilitation plan?
You say there is legislation to prevent the loss of vegetation and connectivity in place and that it will never happen in quarries today but the one connecting strip of vegetation from the south into the Gurdies reserve is about to be removed at Dandy Premix and what was supposed to replace that is barely out of the ground and appears to be nothing more than weedy shrubs.
Fortunately the hard won protections under the Bass Coast Distinctive Areas work and the resulting planning provisions will prevent these poor outcomes in the future. It's thanks to those 'greenies' that this and other work for the woodlands is progressing.
In relation to available sand for Melbourne's 'big build', you have it the wrong way around, other areas now prioritised for sand mining are closer to where it is needed and selected so as not to need to remove vegetation. Must have been 'greenie' input there too Robbie!

Greg Johnson (PICS)

5/7/2026 05:21:09 pm

A promising step forward for nature showing what local govt can do with a good idea. Congratulations to the initiators.

Lorrie Read

5/7/2026 06:47:34 pm

Well done, such a great idea. For everyone who loves the area we live in, a wonderful opportunity to make a difference. I’ve never seen a powerful owl, probably never will, but I hold them deep in my heart as a symbol of what once was. Let’s work together to bring it back.

Banking on biodiversity

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