The Invasive Species Council has welcomed confirmation of $4.4 million in ongoing annual funding for deer control in Victoria, alongside an additional $1.7 million investment announced this week.
The new funding will expand deer control across Melbourne’s eastern fringe and Wilsons Promontory, while delivering a new statewide deer population estimate.
‘This is a significant investment in tackling Victoria’s feral deer problem and a very welcome commitment from the Victorian government,’ Invasive Species Council Conservation Advocate John Kelly said.
‘Importantly, we now have confirmation that the existing $4.4 million for the Victorian Deer Control Strategy will continue every year, with this additional $1.7 million providing a substantial boost to work on the ground.
‘Communities and land managers have been calling for stronger and sustained action on feral deer for years, and it is good to see the Victorian government listening and investing in practical control.
‘Feral deer are causing serious damage to native vegetation, waterways, wildlife habitat and farmland, particularly across eastern Victoria. Consistent funding is critical because bringing deer numbers under control requires sustained effort year after year.
‘The additional investment in the Dandenong and Yarra ranges and Wilsons Promontory will help protect some of Victoria’s most important natural areas and reduce the impacts deer are having on surrounding communities and landholders.
‘This is real progress, and we now want to see the government build on it by restoring community deer coordinator roles, investing in eradication in western Victoria and removing regulatory barriers to deer control like the anachronistic ‘protected status’.
‘Victoria’s base deer funding has never been indexed and would now be around $6.5 million a year, so making this additional funding permanent would be another important step forward.
‘We now call on all other parties contesting this election to commit to further action on bringing feral deer numbers under control.’
Victorian Farmers Federation CEO Charlie Thomas said:
‘In western Victoria, deer numbers are still relatively low and eradication remains achievable. Acting now gives Victoria the opportunity to prevent deer becoming the enormous and expensive problem in the west that they already are in eastern Victoria.
‘Keeping deer out of western Victoria will be far cheaper than trying to bring widespread populations under control later, and will prevent avoidable damage to farms, waterways and native vegetation.
Environment Victoria Campaigns Director Alex Merory said:
‘This is a welcome step from the Victorian government to tackle Victoria’s spiralling feral deer problem. Feral deer are not only harming communities and farmers, but trashing the environment, waterways, and precious threatened species habitat.
‘Today’s announcement gives Victoria a much stronger foundation for tackling feral deer. We look forward to working with the government to build on it with community coordination, action in western Victoria and reforms that make deer control easier to deliver.
‘The government must now remove the ridiculous protected status of deer, so we can tackle this problem without regulatory barriers.’
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