The Andrews Labor Government is transforming an area the equivalent of 10,000 MCGs into healthy habitat for native wildlife, capturing carbon and creating regional jobs.

Minister for the Environment and Climate Action Lily D’Ambrosio today announced the Labor Government’s preferred delivery partner for the BushBank program to transform 20,000 hectares of private land across Victoria.

The Government has invested $31 million to plant millions of trees, revegetate and deliver unique habitats for Victorian wildlife, create hundreds of jobs and capture an expected 3.5 million tonnes of carbon as it targets 50 per cent emissions reduction by 2030.

The chosen delivery partner – Cassinia Environmental – will help private landholders to revegetate parcels of land and restore our precious biodiversity to an area five times the size of the City of Melbourne.

Cassinia will secure co-funding in excess of the Government’s investment and has in principle support to leverage more than $50 million of co-funding in partnership with a range of organisations including Land Life Company, South Pole, Greenfleet, WWF-Australia, Global Evergreening Alliance and One Tree Planted.

Cassinia brings 20 years of on-ground experience in land restoration works and have planted over five million trees across Victoria and helped deliver 105 landscape projects nationwide.

The restored land will serve as prime habitat for vulnerable wildlife including Major Mitchell’s Cockatoo, Red Tailed Black Cockatoo, Malleefowl, Southern Brown Bandicoot and Long-nosed Potoroo.

As part of the $77 million BushBank program, $2.7 million in planting is complete at Berrook State Forest in the Mallee and is taking place around Lake Eildon Breamlea Flora and Fauna Reserve and along the Upper Murray at locations such a Burrowa-Pine National Park and the River Murray Reserve.

A further $14.5 million is supporting Traditional Owners to lead restoration works on Country, including $3.7 million to deliver 11 projects over four years including training, biodiversity surveys and mapping, revegetation and other on ground works.

Expressions of Interest are also open for the $10 million Nature Fund, to support high-impact projects that deliver lasting outcomes for threatened species and advance self-determination for Victoria’s First Peoples, with $1.4 million of the fund going to Caring for Country projects.

The Nature Fund and BushBank projects are part of Biodiversity 2037, Victoria’s largest ever long-term investment in the environment, with more than $560 million in Government funding provided since 2014.

For more information, visit environment.vic.gov.au/nature-fund.

Quotes attributable to Minister for the Environment and Climate Action Lily D’Ambrosio

“We’re revegetating habitat five times the City of Melbourne’s size and partnering with Cassinia who bring two decades of experience helping private landholders to support our wildlife and tackle climate change.”

“We’re regenerating our precious biodiversity, restoring native habitats and creating regional jobs while capturing carbon to help Victoria halve emissions by 2030 and hit net-zero emissions by 2050.”