Perth and Peel strategic assessment
206. Hon Dr Brad Pettitt to the Minister for the Environment:
I refer to the question without notice I asked on 21 March 2024 that referred to the discontinuation of the strategic assessment of the Perth and Peel regions in December 2022 and the prioritisation of the native vegetation policy instead.
(1) What changes have been made to the native vegetation policy since I last asked this question, noting there was little mention of the Perth and Peel region or the Swan coastal plain in the previous iteration?
(2) How much of the $3.3 million implementation fund has now been spent?
(3) Can the minister please provide an update on action 3.1, "WA native vegetation extent dataset (WAVE)", paragraphs (a) and (b) respectively, in the implementation road map?
(4) If no progress has been made since 21 March 2024, why not?
Hon Matthew Swinbourn replied:
I thank the member for some notice of the question. I provide the following on my own behalf!
(1) Implementation of the native vegetation policy is on track, with initiatives being delivered by the 11 lead agencies. These initiatives include progress on vegetation extent mapping for priority areas within the Swan coastal plain and the Wheatbelt region.
(2)–(4) The three-year WA native vegetation extent (WAVE) pilot is on track. Since March 2024, $1 million has been expended. Progress since March 2024 includes finalisation of an international hackathon coding challenge in partnership with the WA Data Science Innovation Hub; the awarding of a commercial tender for industry participation in the WAVE pilot; establishment of a new research agreement with the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation; the formalising of a new licence agreement with South Australia to test its methodology in the WA context; and the collection of vegetation survey data in the Pilbara for artificial intelligence validation.
