Multiregional and strategic initiatives

The Australian Government will direct $43 million of the $110 million Regional Fund to further address regional priorities and deliver strategic projects which engage the community in bushfire recovery or support coordinated action across state and territory borders.

Investment components include:

  • Recovery activities in East Gippsland including:
    • $1.05 million to Trust for Nature to create and manage refuge areas, including through weed removal, feral animal control and revegetation
    • $0.35 million for a CSIRO-led assessment of bushfire impacts to the Gippsland Lakes Ramsar site
  • $14 million to Landcare to engage and support the community in bushfire recovery ($4 million to be targeted at East Gippsland and $10 million to be made available across the other six bushfire regions)
  • $12 million to support the Koala Conservation package, focused on habitat recovery in bushfire-affected regions and animal health initiatives following the bushfires
  • $10 million to support multi-jurisdictional collaboration and targeted interventions for 10 priority bushfire-affected multiregional species or group of species (who share habitat and threats)
    • Each species or group of species will:
      • have a dedicated National Species Coordinator who will bring together multi-jurisdictional working groups for the species
      • receive between $500,000 and $1 million for on-ground activities, to be completed by June 2023, to support their recovery.
    • The 10 priority species/group of species and their species coordinators are:
      • Grey-headed Flying-fox - NSW Government
      • Brush-tailed Rock-wallaby - NSW Government
      • Spotted-tail Quoll, south-east mainland population - Victorian Government
      • Long-nosed Potoroo, south-east mainland population - Victorian Government
      • Platypus - Victorian Government
      • Gliders (Greater Glider and Yellow-bellied Glider) - Victorian Government
      • Alpine reptiles - Victorian Government
      • Gang Gang Cockatoo - ACT Government
      • Eastern Bristlebird - Birdlife Australia
      • Mainland Glossy Black-Cockatoo - Birdlife Australia.
  • Funding for further strategic recovery projects including:
    • $1.5 million to the Australian Seed Bank Partnership for seed collection, storage and germination trials of over 200 priority native species
    • $0.81 million to the Centre for Invasive Species for pest animal management and coordination. This includes establishing a new Feral Cat and Fox Management Coordinator and supporting the existing National Deer Management Coordinator to focus deer control efforts on helping native species and their habitats recover from the 2019-20 bushfires
    • $0.49 million to CSIRO to support bushfire focused citizen science initiatives.