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SUSTAINABILITY INITIATIVE
Yarra Ranges Shire Council Environmental Stewardship Team
Ribbons of Green Program
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The Ribbons of Green program has been providing advice, support, and tangible resources for residents to restore native habitats on privately held land over the last decade. The program has been fostering environmental stewardship on the community, educating landowners in the benefits of native revegetation. With inbuilt incentives, the program has been providing logistical support and indigenous plants to landholders who volunteer to restore indigenous vegetation on their land.
In its most recent year, the program has seen the planning and delivery of revegetation projects on 80 private properties, indigenous plants and advice for teachers provided at 10 schools, ecology advice provided to a further 60 private properties, and the facilitation of free indigenous plants for more than 100 storm affected landowners in the Dandenong Ranges.
A program evaluation in 2018 interrogating plant survival and habitat structure found that almost all respondents noticed more wildlife on their property and 76 per cent of plants survived.
The evaluation prompted six recommendations to improve the program’s biodiversity outcomes and customer satisfaction and evaluations continue annually to maximise the positive impact of the program.
The Ribbons of Green program provides tangible solutions to property owners across Yarra Ranges, with far-reaching benefits including the connection of remnant bushland, the re-establishment of indigenous flora in an area where they had once existed, the provision of habitats for wildlife, an increase in biodiversity, and practical steps toward the mitigation of the effects of climate change.
Plantings from the program are actively contributing to habitat connectivity in the landscape, providing pollen, structure, and living spaces for animals and insects. These plantings have been increasing soil stability, water retention, and shelter for stock, sequestering carbon and beautifying private property.
