FEDERAL opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt has joined the call for further federal action to protect disappearing wetlands in Western Port.
This follows pleas by volunteer conservation group Western Port Seagrass Partnership for the establishment of a coastal reserve in the bay's north-east corner, a rural conservation zone east of Koo Wee Rup.
It had observed serious loss of saltmarsh habitat and seagrass meadows as a result of tonnes of mud washing into the bay.
Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke did not comment on whether the government would help establish a coastal reserve.
He said the government had given $60,000 to WPSP for protecting the area, and a further $1.7 million to 33 conservation projects around the bay, including revegetation, pest plant and animal control, sediment control, and water bird protection.
"I know that coastal erosion is an issue in the Western Port area and a concern to the community," Mr Burke said.
"The government, through the Caring for our Country initiative, is investing in protecting Ramsar-listed wetlands across Australia as one of six national priority areas."
Mr Hunt, the member for Flinders, said he had written to Mr Burke for immediate Green Corps funding to rehabilitate and protect the Ramsar-listed coastline. "It's extraordinary that the federal government has failed to assist with this issue," he said.
Complicating the wetlands issue is the fact that, while state government agencies have responsibility for the area, farmers own the coastland.
The state's Department of Sustainability and Environment last month said it was "in the early stages of investigating the possible use of artificial reefs and mangrove revegetation" to determine whether they were effective at reducing the erosion.
WPSP president John Swan said the group had received federal funding for its mangrove planing projects but no response to the pleas for a coastal reserve.
"The Commonwealth's solution seems to be to throw more money at volunteers ... the state agencies are placing too much emphasis on low-cost experimental projects.
"The [state agencies] need to bite the bullet and set up a working group to establish the coastal reserve and invite the Commonwealth as a major partner. We say, get on with it!"
He said the voluntary group had planted "many thousands" of mangrove seeds and seedlings to create a coastal barrier during the past three years but with little success.
"We undertook these projects in the absence of any other measure being taken or being proposed to be taken by responsible agencies."
Mr Hunt also called for greater protection of Western Port in the wake of the state government's fast-tracked plans to expand the Port of Hastings.
He said it was time for the Victorian and federal governments to update the Shapiro Report, a 1970s study of Western Port's ecology, to ensure the bay was protected.
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