Port Phillip & Westernport
The Port Phillip & Westernport region bounds Melbourne and its outer reaches in a rough circle skewed to the east, covering approximately 13,000 km2. From Point Wilson on the west side of Port Phillip Bay, it extends north to Korweinguboora, then north east up to Lancefield, down to the south east outside of McMahons Creek, then runs south east in a rough S covering Powelltown, Drouin, Loch and San Remo, and across to Phillip Island and French Island.
Although encompassing the densely populated city of Melbourne and its sprawling surrounding suburbs and towns, the region contains a diverse range of landscapes, from urban bushland to coastal mangroves, tall mountain forests to open woodlands. Port Phillip & Westernport’s biodiversity contains ecosystems such as Rainforests, Coastal Scrubs Grasslands and Woodlands, Herb-rich Woodlands, Box Ironbark Forests or dry/lower fertility Woodlands, Wetlands, Lowland Forests, Plains Grasslands and Chenopod Shrublands, Heathlands, and Wet or Damp Forests.
These ecosystems provide habitat for some of our priority threatened species, like the Southern Brown Bandicoot, Helmeted Honeyeater, Spiny Rice-flower, Leafy Greenhood, and Matted Flax-lily.