Some of the native coastal vegetation is secure on public land but population growth and development will continue to create pressure for clearing at some sites.

In addition, incremental damage to native vegetation from recreation, illegal clearing, vandalism and rubbish dumping are inevitable pressures of increasing resident and visitor populations.

Climate change is expected to expose coasts to:

• Sea level rise
• More frequent, higher storm surges
• Lower and more erratic rainfalls
• Higher hot-day and long-term average temperatures
• Increased fire-weather frequency and intensity.

For more information about potential climate change effects, go to the Downloads section of this website to consult:

• PPWCMA summary of climate change predictions for the Port Phillip and Western Port region June 2016
• Southern Slopes Cluster Report, Climate Change in Australia Projections for Australia’s NRM Regions
• The Victorian Government’s Climate-Ready Victoria brochure for the Greater Melbourne region.

These pressures increase the possibilities of:

• Accelerated coastal erosion
• Erosion and wildfire risks where housing and public facilities abut coastal reserves
• Heightened conflict between human demands for coastal protections such as seawalls and space for natural environments.

Coastal wetlands are among the most valuable, internationally significant natural assets in this region and highly vulnerable to climate change.  Declining freshwater inputs and rising seawater intrusions may degrade and ultimately change coastal wetlands by reducing their size, converting them to dry land or transforming them from (for example) saltmarsh to mangrove swamp.

Invasive weeds and pest animals are major barriers to achieving targets for native vegetation quality along the coast and inland.

Weed invasions compete with native vegetation and damage its ability to provide habitat.  Much of the coastal zone has ongoing weed problems that are difficult to control.

These pressures are now well-established.  Ongoing control is critical but expensive.  It needs to be carefully targeted to maximise its benefits.

Likely targets for control include:

• Known highly invasive and ecologically damaging weeds
• Emerging weeds, detected but not yet established
• Foxes and feral cats.