Biodiversity Strategy

Project: Council is preparing a Biodiversity Strategy to guide how we protect and manage plants, animals, and natural places across Eurobodalla.

Timeframe: Early 2022 to late 2026

Cost and funding:

  • Australian Government grant of $27,000 under the Building Better Regions Fund.
  • Council funding of $27,000.

Page last updated: August 2026

Details

We are working to prepare a Biodiversity Strategy that will help us:

  • identify important plants, animals, and habitats in Eurobodalla
  • understand what threatens biodiversity in our area
  • set out actions Council and the community can take to protect and improve biodiversity
  • set a long-term vision and clear goals to include biodiversity in our planning and projects.

Benefits to the community:

  • actions to protect and improve how biodiversity connects, stays healthy, and recovers after change
  • helps Eurobodalla’s plants and animals thrive as our population grows.

Why biodiversity matters

Biodiversity is the variety of living things. It helps:

  • keep our air, water, and soil healthy
  • support our health and wellbeing
  • provide food and shelter for plants and animals
  • connect Aboriginal people to Country
  • support local industries such as nature-based tourism, farming, forestry, fisheries, and aquaculture.

Background and purpose

Eurobodalla’s natural environment is one of our greatest assets. It supports our lifestyle, economy, and identity. But biodiversity is under pressure from development, climate change, invasive species, and other human activities. The Biodiversity Strategy will help us respond to these pressures and protect the natural places and species we value.

The strategy will help us:

  • protect important species, habitats, and natural areas
  • guide how we plan for growth while protecting biodiversity
  • work with Traditional Owners and the community to care for Country.

The strategy will sit alongside other key plans, including:

  1. Community Strategic Plan
  2. Local Strategic Planning Statement
  3. Eurobodalla's Climate Action Plan 2022-2032.

Read the strategy

Community engagement

The draft Biodiversity Strategy was open for public feedback from Wednesday 1 July 2026 to Friday 14 August 2026. We invited the community to share their views in four ways:

1. Read the draft and give feedback

Visit our public exhibition page to read the draft and submit feedback online.

2. Drop-in sessions

We invited the community to drop in to Council to speak with our natural environment team.

3. Survey

The community could share their thoughts about the strategy and what it means for them. The survey closed on Friday 14 August 2026.

4. Group presentation

Our natural environment team offered to meet with community groups to talk about the strategy and get their feedback.

Next steps

We will review your input from the public exhibition, drop in sessions, survey, and group presentation and use it to update the final strategy. We will then present the strategy to Council to endorse.

Project updates

We value community feedback and use it to help shape the strategy.

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2026

August:

  • Public exhibition of the draft Biodiversity Strategy closed on Friday 14 August 2026.
  • The community survey closed on Friday 14 August 2026.

July:

  • The draft Biodiversity Strategy is open for community feedback from Wednesday 1 July 2026 to Friday 14 August 2026.
  • We invited the community to take a short survey about the strategy and what it means for them. The survey opened on Wednesday 1 July 2026.
  • The community could visit our customer service centre from Wednesday 1 July 2026 to Friday 24 July 2026 to speak with our natural environment team. We also offered to meet with community groups to talk about the strategy and get their feedback.

June:

  • On Tuesday 30 June 2026 at the Ordinary Meeting of Council, councillors approved the draft Biodiversity Strategy for public exhibition for 42 days.

2025

  • We planned to place the draft Biodiversity Strategy on public exhibition for community feedback in early 2026.
  • The strategy took longer to develop so we could work with biodiversity experts and the community.
  • We will use the feedback we receive to prepare a final strategy for Council to adopt.

2024

  • Work continued on finalising the draft strategy.

2023

  • We reviewed the feedback received so far and continued drafting the Biodiversity Strategy.

2022

October:

  • We asked the community and other stakeholders which actions in the strategy matter most. We posted an online survey and held four community information sessions.

April to July:

  • We asked the community and other stakeholders whether biodiversity matters to them. We:
    • posted an online survey
    • held three community workshops
    • held community information sessions for Aboriginal community members
    • received feedback from people who could not attend the community sessions
    • met with NSW Government agencies, Aboriginal community members, Eurobodalla Aboriginal Advisory Committee, ecologists, and environmental consultants.

More information

For more information about the draft Biodiversity Strategy, contact Council’s Division Manager Natural Environment and Sustainability, Heidi Thomson: