Protecting, conserving and restoring Canberra’s natural environment

The ACT Government is boosting investment to protect, conserve and restore Canberra’s natural environment and waterways with an additional $13 million allocated over four years as part of the 2023-24 ACT Budget.

The government is investing $5.8 million over four years to strengthen the ACT’s biosecurity and nature conservation programs. This includes:

• Additional Conservation Officers with a focus on vegetation ecology and recreational fishing
• Habitat restoration to help protect high value conservation areas and the ACT’s plants and animals that are at risk of extinction, such as the Canberra Grassland Earless Dragon
• Funding to support the implementation of Mulligans Flat Woodland Sanctuary Strategy and associated operations
• Funding to partner with the Ngunnawal people as the traditional custodians of the ACT and other families and individuals with a connection to plan and deliver the programs
• Strengthening the ACT’s biosecurity through expanding pest animal programs including vertebrate and rabbit control and additional resources to undertake weed eradication work across the ACT
• A strategic and comprehensive review of the ACT’s biosecurity arrangements to support the ACT to plan and maintain strong and effective biosecurity measures into the future
• Funding to conduct a strategic and comprehensive review of the ACT’s conservation arrangements to ensure the ACT is best placed to address the conservation and environmental management challenges of the future.

Improving the quality of the ACT’s stormwater, lakes and ponds remains a focus for the government. This budget provides a further $8.2 million to the Healthy Waterways project, taking the total funding provided in this term of government to $35.5 million. The new funding will provide a range of projects to improve water quality and catchment health across the region, including:

• constructing infrastructure to allow recycled stormwater to be used at playing fields in Kambah and Wanniassa
• construction of a new raingarden in Higgins
• extending drain naturalisation in Isabella Plains
• collaboration projects with traditional custodians on water issues and catchment planning
• extended community education focused on reducing pollution entering waterways
• restoration works in rural catchments.

This funding boost for environment and water initiatives helps to ensure the ACT builds resilience to climate events and biosecurity threats while simultaneously protecting the lifestyle Canberrans know and love.