One south-west council says "future-proofing" its shire against climate change relies largely on the actions of its private landowners.
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Corangamite Shire residents are being urged to re-vegetate their land in the council's 10-year draft environment and sustainability strategy.
The council's 2022 review of its previous strategy noted a "significant increase in awareness across the community" of climate change and a spike in the "community's desire to be part of the solutions".
Its latest document called upon that interest.
"Since most of the shire is private land, much of the remnant native habitat for flora and fauna is on private land," it states.
"Consequently, private landholders are the primary stewards of the region's natural assets."
It comes amid predictions from the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action that human activities would have caused about 1.5 degrees of global warming between 2030 and 2052, posing "significant" changes for the south-west.
Mayor Kate Makin said that was why future-proofing was important.
"Future-proofing our communities in the face of climate change was one of the highest priorities to come out of the community vision three years ago," she said.
"We recognise that a healthy environment is critical to the wellbeing of our population and a key part of our economy and needs to be protected.
"...Loss of native vegetation and biodiversity is a significant challenge across Corangamite Shire.
"It's important we protect, but also work together to restore habitat and improve biodiversity on both public and private land."
She said the council would also do its part, particularly through reducing its own carbon emissions and diverting more waste from landfill.
Agriculture is the shire's largest emissions source at 889,000 tonnes.
"There is an expectation that council lead by example in our communities - so it is important that we make genuine efforts to reduce emissions from our operations and help our communities plan and respond to climate change," Cr Makin said.
"This means moving towards renewable power for council plant, machinery and fleet, and more energy efficiency measures on council facilities.
"We also need to help our communities reduce, re-use and recycle by providing effective tools to change behaviour."
The draft document is open for public comment until Friday, March 5.
