A new conservation area will be established in the Yarra Ranges and the Cardinia Shire after the Victorian Government’s 2025-26 budget set the proposal in stone with $3.8 million in funding allocated.
The Yellingbo (Liwik Barring) Landscape Conservation Area (LCA) is a series of conservation areas connected by rivers and creeks and is 3000 hectares in size.
The conservation areas aim to conserve the Crown land along waterways, enhance its unique biodiversity, water quality and provide more recreational opportunities.
Friends of Hoddles Creek (FOHC) president Laurence Gaffney said the group supported the establishment of the conservation area and listed the many benefits it would bring.
“It will protect and enhance the high value of existing local reserves, for nature and for the health of the Birrarung (Yarra) Waterway, not to mention the reduction of pollution into Melbourne’s water supply,” Mr Gaffney said.
The name Liwik Barring, which means Ancestors’ trail, was chosen by Traditional Owners, the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation to reflect the First Peoples history and connection to the land and waterways.
The conservation area will also support the implementation of Leadbeater’s possums and Helmeted Honeyeater recovery plans.
Because there are large amounts of public land occupied by adjacent landowners that falls within the conservation area, a key priority for the plan will be to assist landowners with separating livestock from the waterways.
