Achievements of note include:

• The establishment of a Private Land Conservation Officer role and the roll-out of the ‘Healthy Landscapes’ regenerative agriculture program.
• The shire-wide annual high-threat weed control program.
• The writing and implementation of a Roadside Conservation Management Plan.
• A busy year-round environment events calendar engaging with residents and community groups.
• An annual biodiversity monitoring program.

Since endorsement in 2018, there have been significant changes in the biodiversity space including:

• Amendment to the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act that states that local councils are obliged to consider potential biodiversity impacts when exercising their functions.
• A combination of threats including land-use change and habitat loss, invasive species and diseases, and climate change have led to significant biodiversity losses across the state. Council’s submission to the Inquiry into Climate Resilience identified 22 severe weather events that qualified for Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements between 2014 and 2024. These incur significant consequences to both community and biodiversity.
• Additionally, since the 2018 strategy was adopted, an additional 60 species that are likely to occur in the shire have been uplisted to a threatened species, under either state or federal legislation.

The review found that of the 97 actions listed in the 2018 strategy, only 9 actions have not been completed, reflecting Council’s strong commitment to biodiversity action.

A summary of actions is outlined below:

• 68 completed or fulfilled
• 16 partially completed
• 9 not completed
• 4 not applicable (i.e. program no longer running)

Overarching recommendations on the strategy include:

• Update the Biodiversity Strategy so information is up-to-date, evidence based and reflective of the current progress of Council works.
• Improve the readability of the Biodiversity Strategy (e.g. through more accessible language, a more concise strategy, clearer figures).
• Provide concise actions and clear performance indicators across all objectives. With the original document containing nearly 100 actions, it is easy to lose sight of the overarching objectives. This change will improve clarity for Council and community alike.
• Adopt an adaptive management approach to biodiversity actions taken across the shire – this involves integrating biodiversity monitoring and management actions. Monitoring programs will provide the most value if it provides Council with feedback on what management actions have been useful, where action is needed and not needed, and how this influences sensitive species.
• Adjust the indicator species for biodiversity monitoring to ensure species are easy to consistently monitor and represent a range of ecological communities across the shire.