Inglis Bushland Reserve Environmental Management Plan
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DEPARTMENT OF PRIMARY INDUSTRIES Inglis Bushland Reserve Environmental Management Plan Funded by the Department of Primary Industries, the Shepparton Irrigation Region Implementation Committee and the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority through the Shepparton Irrigation Region Catchment Strategy. © State of Victoria, Department of Primary Industries 2005 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. ISBN 1 74146 960 0 This publication may be of assistance to you but the State of Victoria and its employees do not guarantee that the publication is without flaw of any kind or is wholly appropriate for your particular purposes and therefore disclaims all liability for any error, loss or other consequence which may arise from relying on any information in this publication. Environmental Management Program Sustainable Irrigated Landscapes Department of Primary Industries Private Bag 1 TATURA, Victoria, 3616 Produced By Kate Brunt and Allison McCallum ii iii Acknowledgments This Plan could not have been developed without the help and assistance of numerous people. To all the members of the Inglis Bushland Reserve Committee Incorporated, thank you for your dedication to the management of the Reserve. To all the members of the Katandra West Landcare Group, thank you for your interest in the Bushland Reserve and its on-going management. For assisting with the development of this Management Plan the following people are gratefully acknowledged, Jenny Ward, Ron Mason, Margaret Mason, Peter Laws, Ian Klein, Joy and Gary Lawson, George Spring, Emiel van Steeg and Karen Rogers. Departmental staff who have provided great support and input into this plan include: Bruce Wehner and John Kneebone (Parks Victoria), Dustin Lavery (GBCMA), Rolf Weber (DSE) and John Tunn (Aboriginal Affairs Victoria). In particular we wish to acknowledge the efforts of Trudi Mullett and Ann Roberts who have worked hard to put this Plan together. Finally we wish to acknowledge the support and funding provided by the SIR Implementation Committee of the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority. To all the people who provided comment on the draft plan over the years, we are extremely grateful. Acronyms DNRE Department of Natural Resources and Environment, former government department that included the services provided by DPI and DSE. DPI Department of Primary Industries DSE Department of Sustainability and Environment EMP Environmental Management Program; workgroup within DPI GBCMA Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority IBRCI Inglis Bushland Reserve Committee Incorporated LCC Land Conservation Council, former state government department, responsible for recommendations on use of Crown land. KWLCG Katandra West Landcare Group SIR Shepparton Irrigation Region SIRIC Shepparton Irrigation Region Implementation Committee PV Parks Victoria iv Foreword This Terrestrial Management Plan is the culmination of the effort of a number of dedicated people who share the vision of seeing Inglis Bushland Reserve remain as a viable and productive woodland ecosystem. It is intended that the Plan will further foster the partnership between the relevant stakeholders. It identifies the key stakeholders, including government and non-government organisations who accept the management responsibilities assigned to them, through the actions defined in the Management Plan. The Plan has been developed as an adaptive management plan to enable management actions to be modified in response to the monitoring of the key biodiversity values. Therefore all works and actions which may impact on the implementation of the Plan will only be carried out after consultation / approval from the identified key stakeholders and signatories to the Plan. While implementation of the Plan is an adaptive process, the Plan will be formally reviewed when necessary, to ensure that it remains a ‘living’ document. The review process will also be subject to consultation with, and sign off by, the identified key stakeholders. The implementation of this Management Plan will be a prime model for partnership in sustainable ecological management in the Goulburn Broken Catchment. v TABLE OF CONTENTS MANAGEMENT AGREEMENT.............................................................................................................III ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..........................................................................................................................IV ACRONYMS ...............................................................................................................................................IV FOREWORD ................................................................................................................................................V 1 SUMMARY............................................................................................................................................... 8 2 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................... 9 2.1 PURPOSE ........................................................................................................... 9 2.2 CONSULTATION PROCESS ...................................................................................... 9 2.3 PLAN PERIOD AND REVIEW .................................................................................... 10 2.4 LOCATION AND ACCESS ...................................................................................... 10 2.5 RESERVATION STATUS AND MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY ................................................ 12 2.6 INGLIS BUSHLAND RESERVE COMMITTEE INCORPORATED .............................................. 12 2.7 PARKS VICTORIA ............................................................................................... 12 2.8 KATANDRA WEST LANDCARE GROUP ...................................................................... 12 2.9 LEGISLATION .................................................................................................... 12 2.10 STRATEGIES AND POLICIES ................................................................................. 13 3 ECOLOGICAL VALUES .................................................................................................................... 14 3.1 SIGNIFICANCE OF THE RESERVE IN A REGIONAL CONTEXT .............................................. 14 3.2 PHYSICAL ASPECTS............................................................................................. 15 3.2.1 Climate.................................................................................................. 15 3.2.2 Soils Characteristics .............................................................................. 15 3.2.3 Flooding Regimes and Drainage Characteristics..................................... 15 3.3 BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS.......................................................................................... 15 3.3.1 Flora ..................................................................................................... 15 3.4 FAUNA ........................................................................................................... 17 3.4.1 Introduced fauna ................................................................................... 17 4 MANAGEMENT ISSUES ................................................................................................................... 18 4.1 RESERVATION STATUS AND MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY ................................................ 18 4.2 POTENTIAL CHANGES TO RESERVATION STATUS AND MANAGEMENT AUTHORITY ................ 18 4.2.1 Investigation into Box-Ironbark Forests and Woodlands.......................... 18 4.2.2 Native Title Application.......................................................................... 18 4.3 CURRENT LAND USE .......................................................................................... 19 4.3.1 Recreation ............................................................................................. 19 4.3.2 Timber Extraction.................................................................................. 19 4.3.3 Grazing and Soil Disturbance................................................................. 19 4.4 VEGETATION MANAGEMENT ................................................................................. 20 4.4.1 Fire Hazard Management ...................................................................... 20 4.4.2 Weed Management ................................................................................ 20 4.4.3 Revegetation.......................................................................................... 21 4.4.4 Threatened Flora Species Management .................................................. 23 4.5 WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT...................................................................................... 23 4.5.1 Feral Animal Management ..................................................................... 23 4.5.2 Threatened Wildlife Management........................................................... 23 4.6 CULTURAL HERITAGE.......................................................................................... 24 vi 4.7 SALINITY, WATERTABLE AND DRAINAGE................................................................... 24 4.7 SURROUNDING LAND USE .................................................................................... 24 4.8 MONITORING