Victoria is Set to Create 3 New National Parks

 

The Victorian Government has tabled legislation to create three new national parks in the state’s Central West, protecting threatened species like the Swift parrot and Greater glider.

After decades of environmental advocacy, new legislation was introduced to the Victorian Parliament proposing to create new national and conservation parks and protect over 65,000 hectares of land from logging and conservation threats.

The new parks include Mount Buangor, Pyrenees, and Wombat-Lerderderg National Parks, Cobaw and Hepburn Conservation Parks, and the expansion of Bendigo Regional Park. Mirboo North Immediate Protection Area will also be permanently protected as a new conservation park.

‘We’re protecting what Victorians love most about our great outdoors, so that they can continue to experience and enjoy nature and attract more visitors to the regions’, said Minister for Environment of Victoria, Steve Dimopoulos.

‘The new parks provide safe homes for our famous wildlife and boost local regional economies by keeping Victoria at the top of every visitor’s bucket list.’

A Great glider in Wombat State Forest | Photo by Gayle Osborne

The parks are home to some of Victoria’s iconic native flora, like Mount Cole grevillea and Pyrenees gum, as well as over 380 rare and threatened plants, animals, and fungi, including the Powerful owl, Barking owl, Swift parrot, and Southern Greater glider.

A Pyrenees wildflower | Photo by James Cordwell

The new legislation coincides with Victoria’s groundbreaking Treaty process, following nearly a decade of work between the Victorian Government and the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria. This creates opportunities for Traditional Owner co-management of Country, aligning with the Traditional Owner Settlement Act 2010.

Concerns Over New Parks Legislation

Gayle Osborne, spokesperson for Wombat Forestcare, said that the new parks legislation is ‘just the beginning’.

‘Decades of logging and neglect have left these forests vulnerable’, said Osborne. ‘We need substantial investment in ecological restoration, weed, and feral species control.’

Logging damage in Wombat State Forest | Photo by Victorian National Parks Association

Environmental groups such as the Victorian National Parks Association, Invasive Species Council, and Environment East Gippsland have also condemned the government’s decision to open up 130,000 hectares of Victoria’s Errinundra and Snowy River National Parks to seasonal deer hunting. The designated hunting areas are intended to help control deer populations that damage the parks’ ecosystems and allow hunters to take part in recreational activity.

‘We don’t need deer control as just a sport’, said Victorian National Parks Association Executive Director Matt Ruchel. ‘We need bigger, coordinated control programs with integrated aerial control and supervised, accredited or professional hunters, especially for the most important habitats.’

What’s next?

The creation of the new parks comes two months after the Victorian Government announced it wouldn’t create the proposed Great Forest National Park, which conservationists have campaigned for and recreationists have petitioned against. The Great Forest National Park was proposed to cover from Kinglake to Lake Eildon and from Healesville to Mt Baw Baw, and the Victorian Government has reiterated that it will not be creating any additional national parks.

‘After the establishment of the three new national parks, the Government will prioritise maintaining existing national parks and public land for all Victorians to visit and enjoy and will not be creating any new national parks’, the statement read.

For more information, visit the Victoria State Government’s Forests and Reserves website.

Feature photo by David Tatnall