Bush Forever is a

Western Australian Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

government initiative and plan, aimed at preserving a "comprehensive, adequate and representative" 10 percent of each vegetation complex on the

Swan Coastal Plain The Swan Coastal Plain in Western Australia is the geographic feature which contains the Swan River as it travels west to the Indian Ocean. The coastal plain continues well beyond the boundaries of the Swan River and its tributaries, as a geol ...

within the

Perth metropolitan region The Perth metropolitan region or the Perth metropolitan area is the administrative area and geographical extent of the Western Australian capital city of Perth and its conurbation. It generally includes the coastal strip from Two Rocks in th ...

. Introduced in 2000, the plan was to achieve this through a network of reserves by 2010.

History

A 1998 Western Australian State of the Environment Report highlighted that the

loss of biodiversity Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, de ...

and habitats caused by habitat degradation and clearing, human interference and the introduction of pests and weeds was one of Western Australia’s most serious environmental problem. The concept of Bush Forever dates back to the year 2000, when it was introduced by the Western Australian State Government. The strategic plan, introduced by the State Government in December 2000, was to protect regionally significant bush land of the Swan Coastal Plain in 287 Bush Forever sites with a combined area of about 51,200

hectares The hectare (; SI symbol: ha) is a non-SI metric unit of area equal to a square with 100-metre sides (1 hm2), or 10,000 m2, and is primarily used in the measurement of land. There are 100 hectares in one square kilometre. An acre is ab ...

. All up, Bush Forever sites amounted to 18 percent of the original vegetation of the Swan Coastal Plain within the metropolitan Perth area. The Western Australian Ministry for Planning was the lead agency for the implementation of Bush Forever. Initially, progress with four permanent employees was to plan but stalled after a few years. A$100 million were allocated for the acquisition and development of sites, with completion envisioned by 2010.

Threat

Despite being classified as Bush Forever, sites have come under threat from development. With the population of metropolitan Perth and the Peel Region projected to grow by 70 percent by 2050, to 3.5 million, this population explosion could potentially threaten Bush Forever sites. The practice of allowing the destruction of some Bush Forever sites by developers in exchange for financial compensation or by environmentally repairing another area was criticised by the Urban Bushland Council of Western Australia.

References

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External links

Bush Forever
Urban Bushland Council WA
Bush forever policy
Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage
Bush Forever maps
Swan Coastal Plain Nature conservation in Western Australia