Albany Local Biodiversity Strategy

The City of Albany is developing a Biodiversity Strategy to facilitate the protection, enhancement and linkage of local natural areas. The strategy will assist the incorporation of biodiversity considerations into planning and decision-making processes which are under the control of the City of Albany. This will support the protection of the natural environment and maintain a high diversity of flora and fauna in the municipality.

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Progress Report - updated February 2025

Stakeholder engagement to date has included a survey (determine values) and two workshops.

The initial survey confirmed strong desire amongst respondents for better protection/management of native bushland and biodiversity features within the municipality.

Workshop 1 

Identified key criteria in prioritising areas of local natural value:

1. Connectivity, including vegetation, wetlands, streamlines, estuarine and coastal areas
2. Rarity
3. Vegetation Condition
4. Areas of recognised international, national or regional value
5. Representation
6. Regional holistic approach to reduce threats
7. Diversity related criteria including migratory birds, visitor bird hot spots and nomad birds
8. Size of patch

Workshop 2

It was agreed that the strategy vision needed to be succinct and describe expectations for biodiversity.

The following draft vision is proposed which can be reviewed as part of the advertising process, if necessary:

 “Caring for Country – Kinjarling/Albany - where nature can thrive and adapt”

At Workshop 2, we identified opportunities and constraints for biodiversity protection/management.

Opportunities to biodiversity protection/management include:

•  8% vegetation remaining
• Significant areas protected in reserves
• State controls for vegetation clearing
• Support for volunteers
• Forming partnerships and collaborations
• Road reserves as corridors

Constraints to biodiversity protection/management include:

• Land clearing, degradation and fragmentation
• Lack of resources (personnel, funding)
• Competing objectives (growth of Albany population, fire risk regulations, approved development, minor clearing)
• Threats (weeds, disease, pests)
• Climate change (poorly known interactions and outcomes)
• Gaps in knowledge
• Threatened species on private land or unsurveyed areas
• What are the keys to adaptation at the landscape scale
• Use of non native habitat (blue gum plantations, pines, weeds, drains)
• Use of road reserves

Consultation to date has confirmed the high level of importance, to protecting our natural areas, regardless of the extent of attributes such as size and condition.

So, all our natural areas should be considered as worthy of protection.

The strategy proposes to use a scoring matrix to determine the level of action required for protection of biodiversity values, based on extent of native vegetation and other data sets available for Albany.

By using key criteria (e.g. vegetation connectivity, representation, condition, support of threatened species and communities etc.) and factoring in opportunities and constraints, we can nominate priority areas for action.

However, we are still working on details for this.

The City proposes to develop a public mapping tool, which will overlay key criteria related to biodiversity and identify actions for biodiversity preservation and enhancement. We propose to bring the mapping and prioritising tools to a future Workshop 3 for discussion.

The below provides a staging plan for the development of the strategy.

1. Study Area

The project area for the Local Biodiversity Strategy encompasses the entire municipality of the City of Albany. The focus will be on areas which do not already have conservation protection (i.e. not National Parks and Nature Reserves). However, all natural areas will be considered in the context of biodiversity, linkage and overall values.

2. Project Scope

The strategy development is guided by 'An Introduction to Local Biodiversity Planning for Local Government in the South-west of Western Australia' (Western Australian Local Government Association, 2023).

WALGA LBP Overview 2023

Activities will include:

1. Identification and assessment of biodiversity values for Local Natural Areas.
2. Establish criteria and a priority framework for areas of high conservation value.
3. Identification of opportunities and constraints to biodiversity protection.
4. Identify ways to achieve local biodiversity conservation.
5. Identify conservation objectives and targets.
6. Prepare draft local biodiversity strategy for public input.
7. Prepare final version of the local biodiversity strategy for adoption by Albany City Council. 

3. Community Stakeholder Group

The City has invited representatives from the following organisations to form a Community Stakeholder Group to provide diverse perspectives, local insights and technical input throughout the strategy development process.

• Wagyl Kaip Southern Noongar Aboriginal Corporation;
• Wildflower Society (Albany);
• Birdlife WA;
• Torbay Catchment Group;
• Oyster Harbour Catchment Group;
• Wilson Inlet Catchment Committee;
• Friends of Yakamia Forest;
• UWA;
• Gondwana Link;
• South Coast Natural Resource Management Inc.;
• Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions;
• Department of Water and Environmental Regulation;
• Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage;
• Western Australian Local Government Association; and
• Individuals with an interest in local biodiversity.

 4. Community and stakeholder engagement

The project includes a stakeholder engagement plan, which seeks to:

• Establish engagement objectives;
• Identify key stakeholders;
• Outline types and level of engagement; and
• Detail the actions proposed over the project timeframe.

Engagement Plan

A community survey has been undertaken to determine community sentiment about biodiversity protection.

Key findings included:

Survey Effort	The high number of responses received (693), and effort taken to complete the survey signify that Biodiversity and Urban Forest are important community issues. Responses received from 42 localities within the City of Albany, with 84% stating that they lived in urban Albany.
Biodiversity Conservation	93% of respondents feel that biodiversity conservation in the City of Albany is Important to Very Important There was a strong desire amongst respondents for better protections on native bushland with the municipality.
Biodiversity Loss	96% of respondents are concerned about biodiversity loss within the City of Albany 56.7% of respondents believe that biodiversity is Declining or Declining Significantly in the City of Albany The highest perceived threats by respondents were: o    Clearing for land subdivision o    Non-native animals (feral cats, foxes, rabbits) o    Weeds o    Dieback o    Tree canopy loss o    Climate change impacts Uncontrolled pet cats was also a concern for multiple respondents in the open-ended response.
Biodiversity Values	The highest ranked values for biodiversity were: o    To preserve the biodiversity of life and ecosystem processes o    Living close to nature o    The role biodiversity plays in mitigating climate change Respondents recognise the value of native vegetation for preserving and enhancing corridors or wildlife and protecting plants, animals and other organisms. Respondents value the location of native vegetation for enhancing biodiversity values.
Actions by the City of Albany	Strong support for more action by the City of Albany to protect biodiversity. In general, there was slightly higher support for direct actions such as managing weeds and pests and slightly less support for changes to policy and community education. The exception was for the Council to consider nature and biodiversity in all decision making. 85% of respondents believed this was Very Important which was the highest ranked action. Concerns included: o    The council would take away rights of property owners to manage vegetation on their private property. o    Biodiversity values would take precedence over bushfire management and safety.

Community survey results

5. Assessment of Biodiversity

A desktop assessment and GIS modelling will be undertaken to identify biodiversity values of existing local natural areas across the municipality

A review of existing data will allow for information to be considered in the framework of current legislation, identify gaps in knowledge, and identify opportunities and constraints.

6. Opportunities and constraints to biodiversity conservation

The assessment of biodiversity values will be in collaboration with a Steering Committee and the Community Stakeholder Group.

The Strategy will concentrate on matters where the City of Albany has planning control, with a focus on natural areas with a low level of protection. Special attention will be given to areas identified in the current Albany local planning strategies and schemes for future development and areas identified for recreation and tourism. Some key considerations for the assessment may include:

• Potential for conflicts and impacts associated with surrounding land uses by reviewing:
• Local and State Planning Schemes and Policies
• Proximity to sensitive land uses, environmentally sensitive areas and buffer zones
• Identifying key physical characteristics such as:
• Geology, geomorphology/landform and soils
• Wetlands and other surface water features (if any present)
• Habitat/native vegetation connectivity and linkage throughout the municipality
• Describing biological values (flora and fauna) and other sensitive areas including:
• Vegetation/flora/fauna habitat present
• Potential conservation significant flora, fauna and vegetation (Threatened Ecological Communities)
• Bushfire risk
• Heritage values including Aboriginal and European Heritage

7. Establish criteria and a priority framework for the identification of areas of high conservation value

In collaboration with the Community and Stakeholder Group, criteria will be established to determine the value of local natural areas as high, medium or low conservation value.

A framework will be established to assign priority levels for areas identified as high conservation value and potential protection and management opportunities for these areas will be identified. 

8. Draft Local Biodiversity Strategy

The findings and recommendations will be used to develop the draft Local Biodiversity Strategy in accordance with WALGA Guidelines. This will be in collaboration with a Project Steering Committee.

 The draft Local Biodiversity Strategy will be presented to the Community Stakeholder Group and Elected members through workshops and formal advertising of the draft strategy (including public information sessions).

9. Final Local Biodiversity Strategy

Based on the submissions and comments received when the draft local biodiversity strategy is presented and advertised, a Final Version of the Strategy will be developed.

This will be prepared in consultation with the Steering Committee and will reflect modifications based on submissions.

Once the final Local Biodiversity Strategy has been prepared, information will be presented in a workshop to the Elected Members. This will aim to seek support for the final draft strategy and progress to formal adoption of the Local Biodiversity Strategy by the Council.