Environment Programs Reporting

Annual reports are completed and submitted through DEECA Grants Online. Project leads will be provided access to their report template through a unique link.

Acquitting the budget and reporting against the key deliverables as outlined in the agreed project plan is to be completed within the reporting tabs of the project plan spreadsheet.

We strongly encourage you to enter your activity data throughout the year (by April/May at the latest) to allow time for support and data validation in June. Non-compliant data will delay analysis, verification and milestone payment. Doing your spatial reporting early will help you to complete your written report on time and enable us to make your progress payment within the targeted timeframe.

When spatially recording and reporting your activity data, please use your Project ID and select the appropriate program as the funding source:

• Project ID: Please enter OPP-***** (***** your unique project number)
• Funding Source: Please select the appropriate program from the drop-down menu

Submitting spatial data

In simple terms, activity data can be separated into 2 categories:

Category 1: Contributing To Target areas (CTT)

Generally, these are areas of specific control activity or habitat regeneration, and include:

• Feral animal control (Deer, Pig, Rabbit, Fox, Cat, and others)
• Invasive weed control (various weed species)
• Revegetation of native plant species
• Permanent protection of private land

These actions can be reported as areas (in Hectares)

Category 2: Threatened Species Actions (TSA)

These are actions undertaken in the field at various sites, for specific species, and may include:

• Relocation of species to a new location
• Installation of artificial nesting hollows
• Community engagement events or construction of new signage

These actions are generally reported as numbers (not hectares), relating to (a) actions and (b) sites / locations

Preferred method of reporting:

This is done via the 'spatial reporting' mechanisms DEECA has set up.  All the relevant information for spatial data supply to DEECA can be found on the DEECA  Activity Data web page.

DEECA's spatial platform is ArcGIS, and therefore the data format required is the ‘Shapefile’. DEECA has developed a 'template' data file for the Shapefile data to be supplied.  The template files are pre-populated with all the attribute fields required for Bio2037 reporting.

The spatial data templates for Shapefiles can be found on the DEECA  Activity Data web page, under the section “Provide activity data using the 'Biodiversity 2037 activity data requirements' shapefile templates”.

Templates are supplied as a ZIP file.  The data in the spatial templates includes separate files for each activity. Different Shapefile templates should be used for different activities.

For Weed Control and Animal Control activity, spatial data is prepared using the additional guidelines set out in these documents:

• Creating spatial features for reporting: weed control
• Creating spatial features for reporting: animal control

Bio2037_Activity_Reporting_Overview__v7 provides further guidance on how to create Bio2037 compliant data.

Where relevant, shooting activities are to provide additional shapefiles containing all control point data (a point for each animal controlled) identifying species with a date and timestamp, plus track logs. Spatial data for this point data is to be submitted according to the Data Schema and using the shapefile template, provided below, after completion of the activity:

• ShootPointData_SHP_DataSchema
• ShootPointData_SHP_Template.ZIP

An additional requirement for most projects is to submit data relating to observation of specific flora and fauna species, for inclusion in the Victorian Biodiversity Atlas (VBA).  You must attach a species list generated from your ‘VBA project’ when providing your annual report.  This enables acquittal of the VBA component of your reporting.  Instructions on how to do this are included below, and also on the DEECA Activity Data web page, under the sections relating to Shapefile and Geodatabase file templates.

Instructions for using the VBA

Contribution of data to the VBA is open to the public at: https://vba.biodiversity.vic.gov.au/vba/#/

Registration

First time users need to sign up as a contributor ('Sign Up' button) and complete the form. Registration approval is immediate for VicGov staff but may take a couple of days for other organisations. Once approved you will be able to add records to the VBA. Information and guides on the data standard and how to use the VBA can be accessed on the VBA web page.

Recording species

To record your survey work and species you will need to create a VBA project (see guidance documents below) specifically for your program’s activities.

• How to create a project in the VBA
• How to Add a survey and species records to a VBA Project

The VBA web page has many videos and guidance documents to help you use the VBA:

• https://www.environment.vic.gov.au/biodiversity/victorian-biodiversity-atlas/about-the-vba

Recording translocation of species

To assist reporting, the VBA has created a specific project to capture translocation of species (VBA Project ID 5838). Please use this for any translocation activities. Specific details of how to record the movement of individuals are provided in the following document:

• Translocation Guide for VBA

The instructions above (and on the VBA web page) provide detailed guidance for sharing species observations with the VBA.

Batch upload

There are Excel templates for batch upload, which is recommended if you have 5 or more surveys to add. Please email vba.help@deeca.vic.gov.au for templates and help.

For any other queries or issues please email: vba.help@deeca.vic.gov.au.