Your Environment Levy at Work Page 1 of 6

The environment of the Southern Highlands is truly unique, with rich biodiversity, complex ecosystems,

intricate waterways, a wide variety of landforms, soils and generous living conditions. The region is also home

to over 370 native mammal, reptile, and bird species, making it one of the most diverse regions in Australia.

With over 7,200km of waterways, the Shire is also an important water catchment region for both our

environment and drinking water supplies. With a landscape that has retained 60% of its remnant bushland,

includes rainforests, escarpment forests, woodlands, waterfalls and wetlands, our environment is highly valued by

the community and makes our region a great place to live, work and play.

How your Environment Levy works for you With the Wingecarribee Shire covering an area equivalent in size to the Greater Sydney metropolitan area, and

with remnant, native vegetation covering approximately 60% of the Shire, the Environment Levy was introduced

in the year 2000 to help address the significant challenges faced in managing our natural resources over such a

large area. The Levy was approved in perpetuity in 2016, and continues to deliver the community’s environmental

goals for the Shire as outlined in the Community Strategic Plan Wingecarribee 2031+.

The Environment Levy achieves this through 4 focused program areas:

Protect & Grow Streams & Rivers

Sustainable Living Community Support

Focusing on the protection and restoration of

natural ecosystems, improving connectivity between

remnant bushland, controlling threats to

biodiversity, and protecting threatened species such

as koalas, and endangered habitats like Mount

Gibraltar forest.

Focusing on reducing waste, fossil fuel usage and

improving efficiency while developing programs to

help our community to choose to live more

sustainably, and supporting initiatives such as solar

panel installations and community gardens.

Working with the community and alongside key

agencies such as WaterNSW and Local Land Services

to improve water quality in key rivers and creeks

such as the Wingecarribee River and Mittagong

Creek, and improving the health and function of the

surrounding riparian areas.

Strengthening the capacity and commitment of the

broader community to act together to address

environmental issues, including support for our local

schools, Bushcare volunteers, community groups

and rural landholders.

YOUR ENVIRONMENT LEVY at WORK Pic: Destination Southern Highlands

Page 2 of 6 Your Environment Levy at Work

How your Environment Levy is put to work

63% 22%

11% 4%

Protect & Grow Community Support Streams & Rivers Sustainable Living

Source: WSC 2016/2017 Budget

Where your money goes

The Environment Levy currently costs the average rate paying household around $50 p.a. (or 96c per week).

It raises around $1.18 million annually which is invested directly back into our local environment and community.

Making every dollar count With over 4,000ha of bushland reserves, approximately 130km of public waterways, and over 100 species of

endangered plants and animals requiring ongoing management, it is essential to make every dollar count. We

do this in three main ways:

Want more information about any of our programs? Visit our website www.wsc.nsw.gov.au/environment-levy or pick up one of our brochures:

Over $700K in extra funding secured from

other agencies since 2012

We work in partnership with our community and other land management agencies, to share resources

and get the best results for our local environment.

We use scientific research and best practice land management expertise to prioritise and pinpoint the

best use of Levy funds in tackling local environmental challenges.

We use Levy funds to attract significant amounts of grant funding and other

contributions. Since 2012, we have secured over $700,000 in extra funding from

other government agencies and organisations to invest in our local environment.

We also actively assist our community groups to obtain additional money for

special projects.

Your Environment Levy at Work

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Vegetation Conservation Program

Council is undertaking a State first Native Vegetation Mapping and

Green Web mapping project which will be the foundation of

conservation efforts into the future. Council assists landholders to

create habitat or retain important remnant bushland on their property

with the aim of conserving wildlife habitat and to create corridors of

vegetation within the shire. Through this program, over 2,500 ha of

important bushland is managed for conservation purposes.

It is up to seven times more cost effective to

conserve healthy ecosystems than to

rehabilitate them once they have been significantly

damaged.

Focusing on the protection and restoration of natural ecosystems, improving connectivity between remnant bushland, controlling threats to biodiversity, and protecting threatened species.

Managing our bushland assets

Council’s Bushcare program carries out restoration works on nearly 1,000 ha

of bushland a year, including weed control and revegetation. With the

support of community volunteers, Wingecarribee Shire Council is responsible

for the care and management of more than 40 significant remnant bushland

reserves totalling over 4,000 hectares. Restoration works on our iconic

reserves such as Mt Gibraltar, Mt Alexandra, and Berrima reserves protect

our recreational areas and the biodiversity links that connect with National

Parks and World Heritage Areas.

1,000 Ha of bushland under

repair a year

Southern Highlands Koala Conservation Project

The Southern Highlands Koala Conservation Project aims to conserve

our much-loved local koala population. The project involves key

agencies including the NSW Office of Environment & Heritage, Sydney

University, as well as Wingecarribee Shire Council (via the Environment

Levy). The project has undertaken site occupancy surveys and the

satellite collaring of 20 koalas in the local area, telling us where they

live & breed and how healthy they are. The project aims to provide a

clear map of key habitat and movement corridors and direct the long-

term conservation of koalas in the Southern Highlands.

Protect & Grow

Pic: Caroline Marschner

Pic: Pete O’Malley

Pic: Elizabeth Bennetts

Your Environment Levy at Work

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Working with the community to improve water quality in key rivers and creeks such as the Wingecarribee River and Mittagong Creek, and improving the health and function of the surrounding riparian areas.

Recovering our local creeks These recovery projects see the restoration of public waterways managed by Council, including weed removal, tree plantings, bank stabilisation and water monitoring. An example of these works is the Mittagong Creek Rehabilitation Project, a long-term plan to rehabilitate one of the most significant and popular waterways in the Southern Highlands. This project is guided by the Mittagong Creek Riparian Management Plan and is principally funded through Council's Environment Levy with project partners including WaterNSW and Local Land Services.

RiverCare & WaterWatch

Council’s RiverCare and WaterWatch programs aim to improve water quality and biodiversity outcomes along a number of our key waterways.

With the support of local community groups and volunteers, Council is actively involved in monitoring the quality of water in Whites Creek, Mittagong Creek and Lake Alexandra, in addition to undertaking riparian rehabilitation where we think good environmental outcomes can be achieved.

We currently support RiverCare volunteers working along Whites Creek in Moss Vale, Mittagong Creek in Bowral, and the Wingecarribee River in Burradoo.

Streams & Rivers

Over 40 river & creek sites

currently under repair

Pic: Wingecarribee River, Dee Kramer

Wingecarribee River Council owns and manages about 10 km along the banks of the

Wingecarribee River which links key iconic reserves such as Cecil Hoskins Nature Reserve and the Bong Bong Common and Cycleway. In these areas, there are a number of fantastic projects underway, including two Green Army projects and willow and blackberry removal programs in partnership with Greening Australia, Local Land Services and BirdLife Southern Highlands.

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Sustainable Living

Focusing on reducing waste, fossil fuel usage and improving efficiency while developing programs to help our community to choose to live more sustainably.

Sustainable Infrastructure Council is committed to energy efficiency. There have been several initiatives undertaken at community facilities and within Council’s operations to reduce energy and water consumption and to identify opportunities to minimise environmental impacts and costs. An example of this is the installation of a 20kW solar power system at the Mittagong Rural Fire Service Headquarters (pictured right) funded by the Environment Levy.

Community and Business Sustainability The Environment Levy has supported community initiatives by groups such as Community Gardens, CANWin and local schools in the Southern Highlands. It also supported the installation of solar panels on the Wingecarribee Community Services Centre. The Environment Levy hosts sustainability events and workshops for local businesses and residents and it sponsors the Local Business Awards in the category of environmental sustainability.

Community Assistance Scheme – Environmental Grants The Environment Levy contributes to the Community Assistance Scheme to provide small environmental grants for environmental projects and programs run by community groups. Projects supported in the past include community garden actions, Environmental Educators network, local resilience projects, a local school’s solar energy project, and a raptor rehabilitation project by Australian Raptor Care and Conservation Inc.

Facilitating Community Response The Environment Levy supports events such as Clean Up Australia Day and the hosting of the annual Household Chemical CleanOut (pictured below). In the last year the Household Chemical CleanOut event was attended by 680 households and saw the disposal of over 30,000kgs of unwanted chemicals from our community.

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Community Support

Community working together

on land management,

citizen science & conservation

JULY 2017 – ES713

Strengthening the capacity and commitment of the broader community to act together to address environmental issues.

Bushcare and Landcare Volunteer Support Council’s Bushcare program supports the work of over 140 local community volunteers who contribute over 3,400 work hours each year. Volunteer Bush Regenerators play an essential complementary role in Council’s management of bushland reserves. This role is primarily concerned with regeneration of degraded bushland areas and increasing the health of bushland within the Shire.

Wingecarribee Students and Sustainability program The focus of this program is the annual Wingecarribee Schools Environment Day which gives 10 – 12-year-olds the knowledge and skills to consider and implement ways of living sustainably in their home and in their schools. This event involves more than 600 students from both public and private schools in the shire who attend the day at beautiful Lake Alexandra Reserve in Mittagong at no cost. They take part in more than 20 different environmentally-focused activities, the outcomes of which are often reinforced by their inclusion in the school curriculum or through additional visits and talks by environmental educators throughout the year.

Community Planting Projects Each year the program supports community planting projects, like National Tree Day, which typically sees the planting of over 3,000 native plants at environmentally important sites across the Shire.

Rural Landholder Support The Environment Levy partners with the South East Local Land Service through our Rural Partner Program and the delivery of property management workshops. The Levy also offers support with the Habitat for Wildlife and Land For Wildlife programs and the Vegetation Conservation Program for properties with high conservation value land.

Pic: Pete O’Malley