Victoria to restore area five times size of Melbourne with $31m boost to private land conservation

The Victorian government plans to restore an area five times the size of Melbourne as part of a new scheme to increase conservation on private land.

The scheme, known as BushBank, will fund organisations such as Greening Australia, Bush Heritage, Trust for Nature, and traditional owner groups to work with private landowners to restore habitat and increase carbon storage.

On Monday, it will call for expressions of interest to cover the first 20,000 hectares to be restored through the scheme.

The $31m in funding available for the first stage will include $7m in grants for traditional owner corporations for restoration on country.

The government has set a target of eventually restoring 200,000 hectares of private land for conservation as part of the 20-year biodiversity strategy it launched in 2017.

The state has set a target of reducing its emissions by 45-50% on 2005 levels by 2030 and has a net zero by 2050 target.

The announcement comes at a time when the Andrews government has been under scrutiny for its management of threatened habitat, particular in areas affected by logging that are currently the subject of several legal challenges.

Jody Gunn, the chief executive of the Australian Land Conservation Alliance, said the investment in private land conservation was welcome.

She said more than 60% of land in Australia was privately held but less than 2% of this area was managed for nature.

Gunn said state governments had taken the lead on private land conservation and there was a need for more federal investment in this area.

She said the alliance was calling on parties at the federal election to commit to more funding for private land conservation in partnership with state governments.