Community-led landscape connection
Landholders and nature lovers across South Gippsland are helping shape a regional biolink map designed to strengthen wildlife corridors and protect native and threatened species.
Being developed by the South Gippsland Landcare Network (SGLN), the map will provide a bird’s-eye view of the habitat patches, stepping stones and links that need to be protected, restored or reconnected across the landscape.
The project is a key action from SGLN’s 10-year Biodiversity Protection Plan, developed in 2024 with input from across the conservation sector, including our friends and colleagues at Prom Coast Ecolink.
The need for coordinated action is increasingly urgent. Stretching across 262,000 hectares, from the steep Strzelecki Ranges to the lowland coast, South Gippsland retains just 22% of its native vegetation, while 10% of its native species are now threatened.
After securing funding for two key phases of the project, SGLN appointed mapping specialists to gather baseline data. Through the Habitat Near You website, landholders and community members were invited to identify habitat hotspots, sightings of key species and other areas of ecological importance.
This initial phase ran from May to June 2025, with further community consultation continuing in 2026.
BioDiversity Legacy’s South Gippsland Biolink Coordinator and local community member, Stuart Inchley, contributed to the project. He welcomes SGLN’s commitment to involving landholders and communities in decisions about protecting land and reconnecting landscapes through a community-led, tenure-blind approach.
Once completed, the map will provide a strong evidence base for regional planning, help guide future conservation priorities and support greater investment in the natural values of the South Gippsland landscape.