Marianne Albury-Colless of volunteer group Friends of the Ainslie Volcanic Grasslands wants a fence to keep rabbits out of Mt Ainslie. Photo: Supplied.
The ACT Greens have pledged to spend $50 million to restore Canberra’s bush capital status if they lead government after the October election. This money will be spent on regenerating habitat, restoring landscapes and waterways and building animal bridges/overpasses that enable wildlife to safely move between habitats across the city.
“If we are going to build houses within our footprint, we need to provide support to our essential environmental infrastructure… so it remains liveable and green,” ACT Greens Deputy Leader Rebecca Vassarotti told media at a press conference at Mt Ainslie.
“We are looking at ambitious but practical projects, like large landscape restoration programs in places like the Naas valley, we could look at reintroducing species we haven’t had for a while, like emus.
“We are also looking at things like land [animal] bridges that will connect some of our nature reserve areas. A challenge with the reserve areas we have is they are in isolated pockets, so it’s difficult for wildlife to move across our city. We’ll [also] be looking at how we respond to invasive species and mass plantings.”
Animal bridges, or wildlife crossings, allow animals to safely cross human-made barriers such as roads.
A wildlife crossing in Israel. Photo: Wikipedia.
Marianne Albury-Colless of volunteer group Friends of the Ainslie Volcanic Grasslands suggested ways she’d like to see the money spent.
“If I look at this particular area [Mt Ainslie], we would like more effort in terms of eradicating rabbits,” she said.
“If I had my way I would like to put a big fence around here to keep out the rabbits… a lot of these areas need more protection from feral animals and invasive species.”
Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said this investment wouldn’t stop his party from addressing the shortage of housing in Canberra.
“We know there’s a housing crisis, but we reject the dichotomy that’s its housing versus environment… we can do both, we need to ensure we’re doing both for the future of the environment.”
While details on exact projects have not been finalised, Ms Vassarotti said the Bush Capital Restoration Fund would be spent over the next four years of government.
“As the bush capital of Australia, we have a responsibility to lead the nation in fighting climate change and protecting our natural environment,” she said.
“But at the moment, Canberra is home to a devastating list of 72 threatened species which will only get bigger without significant investment.
“For years, governments have barely injected enough money to stave off environmental collapse, but nowhere near enough to regenerate and restore habitat and waterways to allow ecosystems to thrive.
“While existing restoration projects are a step in the right direction, they often don’t get enough funding to be done in conjunction with the other restoration work that is needed across Canberra to comprehensively restore our environment.”
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