Environment Plan 2012–2017
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Environment Plan Environment Environment Plan 2012–2017 2012 – 2017 Coastal Tussock Grass Poa poiformis Phillip Island Nature Parks Environment Plan 2012–2017 is available online www.penguins.org.au PO Box 97 Cowes, Victoria 3922 Australia | Telephone: +61 3 5951 2820 Fax: +61 3 5956 8394 | Email: [email protected] Phillip Island Nature Parks EnvironmentPhillip Plan Island 2012–2017 Nature Parks Environment Plan 2012–2017 Contents 1 From the CEO 5 2 Introduction 6 2.1 Mission and Vision 7 2.2 Planning Context 7 2.2.1 Organisational Planning Context 7 2.2.2 Environment Plan 2012–2017 8 2.3 Partnerships 9 2.4 Regulatory Setting 9 2.4.1 Phillip Island Nature Parks Regulations 9 2.5 Structure of the Environment Plan 10 3 Park-wide Planning, Conservation and Partnerships 11 3.1 Island-wide Planning Strategies 12 3.1.1 Whole of Island Paths and Tracks, Assets and Access Planning 12 3.1.2 Visual Amenity 13 3.1.3 Public Land Tour Operator and Activity Provider Licences and Event Permits 13 4 Conservation 14 4.1 Climate Variation 14 4.2 Whole of Island Biodiversity Management 15 4.3 Native Flora and Fauna 15 4.3.1 Little Penguins 17 4.3.2 Short-tailed Shearwaters 18 4.3.3 Hooded Plovers 18 4.3.4 Other Birds 19 4.3.5 Australian Fur Seals 19 4.3.6 Bats 19 4.3.7 Reptiles and Amphibians 20 4.3.8 Freshwater Fish and Macro-invertebrates 20 4.3.9 Koalas 20 4.3.10 Swamp Wallabies 21 4.3.11 Cape Barren Geese 21 4.4 Management of Threats to Flora and Fauna 22 4.4.1 Weeds and Introduced Plants 22 4.4.2 Feral and Domestic Animals 23 4.4.3 Viruses, Bacteria and Fungi 25 4.5 Habitat Protection and Risk Management 26 4.5.1 Fire 26 4.5.2 Marine Pollution 27 4.5.3 Aircraft 27 4.6 Heritage Conservation 28 4.6 .1 Archaeological Sites 28 4.6.2 European Historic Sites 28 5 Community Partnerships 30 5.1.1 Wildlife Rehabilitation 30 5.1.2 Grants, Sponsorships and Partnerships 30 6 Key Area Management 32 6.1 Introduction 33 6.2 Key Areas 34 6.2.1 Values 34 6.2.2 Map of all Key Areas 35 7 Key Area A: Summerland Peninsula 36 7.1 Sub-Area A1: Seal Rock and Black Rock 38 7.2 Sub-Area A2: The Nobbies and South Coast 39 7.3 Sub-Area A3: The Nobbies Centre 40 7.4 Sub-Area A4: Summerland Plateau 41 7.5 Sub-Area A5: Solent Avenue to Cowrie Beach 42 7.6 Sub-Area A6: Green Lake and Flynn Dunes 43 7.7 Sub-Area A7: Penguin Parade (Summerland Bay) 44 7.8 Sub-Area A8: Swan Lake and Surrounds 45 Page 2 Phillip Island Nature Parks 8 Key Area B: North-west Beaches 46 8.1 Sub-Area B1: Devon Avenue to Cadogan Avenue 47 8.2 Sub-Area B2: Woolshed Bight to Flynn Reef 48 9 Key Area C: South Coast Beaches 50 9.1 Sub-Area C1: Kitty Millers Bay (Kennon Head to Watts Point) 52 9.2 Sub-Area C2: Thorny Beach and Hutchinson Beach (Watts Point to Wild Dog Bluff) 53 9.3 Sub-Area C3: Berry Beach 54 9.4 Sub-Area C4: Pyramid Rock 55 9.5 Sub-Area C5: Pyramid Rock to YCW Beach 56 9.6 Sub-Area C6: YCW Beach and Smiths Beach 57 9.7 Sub-Area C7: Sunderland Bay to Surfies Point 59 9.8 Sub-Area C8: Surfies Point to Bruce Avenue 60 9.9 Sub-Area C9: Forrest Caves 61 9.10 Sub-Area C10: The Colonnades 62 10 Key Area D: Woodlands 64 10.1 Sub-Area D1: Ventnor Koala Reserve 67 10.2 Sub-Area D2: Five Ways Reserve 68 10.3 Sub-Area D3: Koala Conservation Centre (public area) 69 10.4 Sub-Area D4: Koala Conservation Centre (Plantation, Wetlands and Surrounds) 70 10.5 Sub-Area D5: Oswin Roberts Reserve 71 10.6 Sub-Area D6: Conservation Hill 72 11 Key area E: Rhyll Inlet and Silverleaves Beach 74 11.1 Sub-Area E1: Rhyll and Rowell Swamps 75 11.2 Sub-Area E2: Former Rhyll Landfill and Transfer Station 76 11.3 Sub-Area E3: Rhyll Inlet 77 11.4 Sub-Area E4: Silverleaves – Banksia Woodland 78 11.5 Sub-Area E5: Silverleaves Beach 79 11.6 Sub-Area E6: Observation Point and Ghetto Rocks 80 12 Key Area F: Churchill Island and Surrounds 81 12.1 Sub-Area F1: Churchill Island Woodlands and Coast 83 12.2 Sub-Area F2: Churchill Island Historic Farm 84 12.3 Sub-Area F3: Rhyll to Churchill Road Saltmarsh and Swan Bay 86 12.4 Sub-Area F4: Fisher’s Wetland to Boys Home Road 87 12.5 Sub-Area F5: Newhaven Wetland 88 13 Key Area G: Cape Woolamai 90 13.1 Sub-Area G1: Princeton Avenue Block 92 13.2 Sub-Area G2: Cape Woolamai Tombolo 93 13.3 Sub-Area G3: Cape Woolamai Plateau 95 14 Appendices and References 96 14.1 Appendix 1: Existing Plans/Reports 97 14.2 Appendix 2: Written Submissions 98 14.3 Appendix 3: Partnerships Summary 98 14.4 Appendix 4: Regulatory Setting 99 14.4.1 International Treaties and Obligations 99 14.4.2 Federal Legislation 100 14.4.3 State Legislation and management frameworks 101 14.4.4 Biosphere Reserve 102 14.4.5 Special Management Areas – Rhyll & Summerland 102 14.5 Appendix 5: Triple-Bottom-Line values considered for coastal and marine assets 103 14.6 Appendix 6: Intertidal species found on the Nobbies Rock platform 107 15 References and Abbreviations 107 Environment Plan 2012–2017 Page 3 Abbreviations The following abbreviations have been used within this plan: Name Abbreviation Aboriginal Affairs Victoria AAV Australian Maritime Safety Authority AMSA Bass Coast Shire Council BCSC or the Council Barbara Martin Bush Bank BMBB Civil Aviation Safety Authority CASA Country Fire Authority CFA Churchill Island CI Committee of Management CoM Department of Transport DOT Department of Primary Industries DPI Department of Sustainability and Environment DSE Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, Australia, 1999 EPBC Phillip Island Nature Parks Environment Plan 2012-2017 Environment Plan Ecological Vegetation Classes EVCs Fauna & Flora Guarantee Act, Victoria 1988 FFG Friends of Churchill Island Society Inc. FOCIS Friends of the Koalas FOK International Union for Conservation of Nature IUCN Koala Conservation Centre KCC Phillip Island Nature Parks Nature Parks Phillip Island and District Historical Society PIDHS Port Phillip and Western Port Catchment Management Authority PPWPCMA Phillip Island Boardriders Club PIBC Parks Victoria PV Phillip Island Nature Parks Strategic Plan 2012–2017 SP Victorian Advisory Lists of Rare or Threatened Species (Plants, Vertebrate Fauna or Invertebrate Fauna) VAL Victorian List of Rare or Threatened Plant Species VROT Western Port Biosphere WPB Phillip Island Nature Parks Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre WRC Woolamai Beach Surf Life Saving Club WSLSC The terms Administration, Education, Finance, Marketing, Operations or Research Department are used to indicate departments within the Phillip Island Nature Parks organisation. Notes IUCN An international organisation that compiles information from a network of conservation bodies across the world. It maintains listings of the world’s most rare and endangered species. EPBC Act The Australian Government’s central piece of environmental legislation, providing a framework to protect and manage nationally and internationally important flora, fauna, ecological communities and heritage places. EVCs The basic mapping units used for biodiversity planning and conservation assessment at landscape, regional and broader scales in Victoria. EVCs are given a Bioregional Conservation Status (BCS) which is an assessment of the conservation status of the native vegetation type (EVC) in the context of a particular bioregion, taking account of how commonly it originally occurred, the current level of depletion and the level of degradation of condition typical of remaining stands. VAL & VROT Developed by DSE advisory committees, based on technical information and advice obtained from a range of experts. FFG The FFG Act 1988 is State legislation that provides for the listing of threatened species and communities to aid the management of threatening processes. Page 4 Phillip Island Nature Parks 1 | From the CEO The remarkable diversity and quality of ecosystems found within Phillip Island Nature Parks means that this is one of Victoria’s truly special places. The responsibility to conserve and enhance these important natural values is our organisation’s key priority. This is undertaken in partnership with other natural resource managers, the many volunteers that support our work and our wider community. Our Environment Department leads the planning and implementation of this Plan. This is the division’s major Five Year Plan specifically focussing on environmental objectives and outcomes for the Nature Parks. This Plan draws on the Nature Parks’ extensive understanding developed by our organisation through our scientific research and on-the-ground experience. Our environment staff have worked with our research and education teams, and consulted with specialist advisors, key stakeholders and community groups, to achieve the most comprehensive evaluation of the current status, priority needs and potential threats to the Nature Parks’ natural assets ever produced. The Environment Plan demonstrates the increasingly sophisticated methodologies being adopted by natural resource managers across Australia. In particular, it introduces an ‘Assets Based Framework’: an approach which allows us to capture a vast range of information about the ecological, cultural and economic values of the Nature Parks, grouped within a total of seven key areas and forty sub-areas. The completion of this Framework is a long-term process, and is an important initiative which will ensure the Nature Parks is at the leading edge of environmental management now and into the future.