Connected habitats

Habitat connectivity is important in urban environments. Traffic, pollution, heat, and lack of food and shelter prevent non-humans from flourishing. Connecting green spaces and habitats via protected corridors improves interconnectivity.

• Report recommends
  • Connecting Westgate Park with new parks under Todd Rd, benefitting:
    • Provides safe passage for
      • Growling grass frog
      • Blue-tongue lizard
      • Fungi
    • Specifies
      • 500mm to 1000mm wide and 500mm deep
      • Gridded underpass to allow light penetration
      • Permeable base to allow water drainage and vegetation growth
      • Kept moist or wet
      • Lipped drift fence or funnel to direct animal movement away from traffic
      • Open onto understory garden beds in connected parks
  • Establish a green bridge by vegetating planned path and cycleways over Westgate Freeway
    • Providing habitats for
      • Blue banded bee
      • Superb fairy-wren
      • Blue-tongue lizard
  • Establish a new habitat and cycling corridor
    • Specified as:
      • Contiguous native habitat buffered from cycle path
    • Can benefit:
      • All species
  • Opportunities for interaction with nature
• Other connectivity solutions could include
  • Hume Highway wildlife crossings
    • Provides safe passage over traffic corridors for possums
  • Melbourne Pollinator Corridor
  • Intelligent lighting networks

Examples

• Melbourne Pollinator Corridor
• Hume Highway wildlife crossings
• Animal underpasses
• Intelligent lighting networks