Hancock Victorian Plantations Pty Ltd is to repair damage done to critically endangered grassland in south-western Victoria after the federal government secured a legally enforceable $305,000 pledge from the company. Source: Timberbiz
Between March and May 2011, a contractor employed by Hancock, cleared an area about the size of a soccer field (0.7 hectares) of a protected ecological community known as Natural Temperate Grassland of the Victorian Volcanic Plain, near Mannibadar.
The company reported the incident to the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities and agreed to spend $305,000 towards the recovery and rehabilitation of grasslands in the region.
Hancock will secure an area of grassland similar to that destroyed and to ensure similar incidents do not reoccur it will train field staff in native grassland identification and review work processes. A coordinator will be employed to protect biodiversity when harvesting timber.
In addition, the company will assess and map conversation values of more than 2500 hectares of its plantation estate on the Volcanic Plains.
Less than five per cent of Victoria’s once widespread Natural Temperate Grassland remains. These grasslands provide a home for threatened species.
