National Parks Act Annual Report 2008 Published by the Victorian Government Department of Sustainability and Environment, Melbourne October 2008 © The State of Victoria, Department of Sustainability and Environment 2008 This publication is copyright. No part may be reproduced by any process except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 . Authorised by the Victorian Government, 8 Nicholson Street, East Melbourne 3002 Printed by Stream Solutions Printed on 100% recycled paper ISSN 1031-7899 For further information, contact the DSE Customer Service Centre on 136 186 or the Parks Victoria Information Centre on 13 1963. Disclaimer 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 you relying on any information in this publication. Accessibility If you would like to receive this publication in an accessible format, such as large print or audio, please telephone 136 186 or 1800 122 969 (TTY), or email [email protected]. This document is also available in PDF format on the Internet at <www.dse.vic.gov.au>. Notes UÊ i}Ã>ÌÊÀiviÀÀi`ÊÌÊÊÌ iÊÀi«ÀÌÊÃÊ6VÌÀ>Êi}Ã>Ì° UÊ The Act means the National Parks Act 1975 unless otherwise implied. UÊ Minister means the Minister responsible for administering the National Parks Act 1975 . During the year the responsible Ministers were: − The Hon. John Thwaites, Minister for Water, Environment and Climate Change (1 July 2007 – 29 July 2007) − The Hon. John Brumby, Minister for Water, Environment and Climate Change (30 July 2007 – 2 August 2008) − The Hon. Gavin Jennings, Minister for Environment and Climate Change (3 August 2008 – 30 June 2008). UÊ Secretary means the Secretary to the Department of Sustainability and Environment. UÊ CMA means Catchment Management Authority. UÊ DSE means Department of Sustainability and Environment. UÊ DPI means Department of Primary Industries UÊ EPA means Environment Protection Authority, Victoria. Photographs Source of photographs: misheye photography (cover, pages 1, 17 and 19), Parks Victoria (pages 5, 11 and 14), Thomas Finch (page 3) and Ken Stepnall (page 16) Cover: Mount Buffalo National Park Foreword Triplet Falls, Great Otway National Park This annual report on the working of the National Parks Act There were several achievements relating to park management 1975 for the year ended 30 June 2008 is provided to the planning. The release of the management plan for the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Gavin Jennings three marine national parks in Western Port meant that the ]ÊvÀÊÌ iÊ«ÕÀ«ÃiÊvÊÃiVÌÊÎxÊvÊÌ iÊVÌ° government’s commitment to prepare plans for all 13 marine national parks and 11 marine sanctuaries has been met. There The Act establishes the statutory basis for the protection, use was also considerable community interaction and involvement and management of Victoria’s system of national and other in the development of the draft plans for the new Great Otway parks, a system that has developed over a period of more National Park (and the adjacent Otway Forest Park). than 100 years and which is the cornerstone of biodiversity conservation as well as the source of enjoyment for many An increasing feature of park management is the partnerships people. The government introduced legislation into Parliament that are developing between the park manager, Parks Victoria, in June 2008 to enhance the parks system through the creation and a wide range of organisations and many volunteers. of Cobboboonee National Park (as well as Cobboboonee Forest Notable also is the increasing involvement of Indigenous Park) in far south-west Victoria. communities in park management. All of these contributions are greatly appreciated. The partnerships emerging also reflect During the year, there were again some significant challenges the importance of managing parks as part of the broader for park management. The impacts of the drought continued to landscape in order to achieve the best management outcomes be felt across the state and, while a potentially severe bushfire for the parks. season did not eventuate, there was considerable activity associated with recovering from previous major bushfires and Further information on the many and varied activities the devastating Gippsland floods of mid-2007. The latter, undertaken during the year in areas managed under the coming so soon after the 2006–07 Great Divide fires, resulted in Act can be found elsewhere in this report. a large and complex program involving Parks Victoria and DSE Finally, I thank all those who were involved in delivering staff working in close partnership with the local community. the parks program over the past year for their continuing In addition, efforts to control weeds and pests included the commitment and dedication to our magnificent parks system. major landscape-scale control programs such as the Otway Eden weed control program, the Southern Ark and Glenelg Ark fox control programs and rabbit control programs in Mallee parks. Improvements were made to visitor facilities in several parks as part of government initiatives to increase Victoria’s natural tourism appeal and to renew or replace older facilities. Peter Harris Additional rangers were employed, again a government Secretary to the initiative. Department of Sustainability and Environment 1 Contents Foreword 1 Representative parks system 3 Areas managed under the Act 3 Management planning 3 Natural values management 5 Research 5 Monitoring 7 Environmental management 7 Fire management and fire and flood recovery 11 Bushfires 11 Planned burning 12 Preparing for emergencies 12 Fire and flood recovery 12 Parliamentary Inquiry 13 Cultural values management 14 Indigenous cultural heritage 14 Non-Indigenous cultural heritage 15 Community involvement 16 Volunteers 16 Community Group Grants 16 Visitor and tourism services 17 Information, interpretation and education 17 Enhancing park visits 18 Tour operators 18 Visits to parks 18 Supporting park management 19 Park management 19 Ê i}Ã>ÌÊ £ Authorities granted under the Act 20 Enforcement 22 Interstate cooperation 22 Advisory bodies 23 Appendixes 24 1 – Areas managed under the National Parks Act 24 2 – Pest plant control projects 29 3 – Pest animal control projects 31 Ê {ÊqÊV>ÌÃÊvÊ«>ÀÃÊ>`ÊÌ iÀÊ>Ài>ÃÊ ÎÓ 2 Representative parks system One Tree Hill, Greater Bendigo National Park Areas managed under the Act Management planning As at 30 June 2008, there were 132 areas with a total area of Management plans 3.301 million hectares managed under various provisions of the As at 30 June 2008 there were approved management plans for National Parks Act. Appendix 1 lists the areas and Appendix all, or parts of, 40 national parks, 3 wilderness parks, 27 state 4 shows their location. There were no changes to the parks parks, 17 other parks and reserves, 13 marine national parks system during the year. and 11 marine sanctuaries. The 132 areas comprised: During the year and as listed in Table 1: UÊ ££ÈÊ>Ài>ÃʭΰÓÇÊÊ >®ÊVÌ>i`ÊÊÃV i`ÕiÃÊÌÊÌ iÊ UÊ ÈÊ>««ÀÛi`Ê«>ÃÊVÛiÀ}ÊnÊ«>ÀÃÊÜiÀiÊw>Ãi`Ê>`ÊÀii>Ãi` Act UÊ ÎÊ`À>vÌÊ«>ÃÊVÛiÀ}ÊÎÊ«>ÀÃÊÜiÀiÊÀii>Ãi`ÊvÀÊ«ÕLVÊ – 40 national parks (Schedule Two) comment – 3 wilderness parks (Schedule Two A) UÊ Ì iÊ>>}iiÌÊ«>ÊvÀÊ ÕÞ«Ê-Ì>ÌiÊ*>ÀÊÜ>ÃÊ>i`i`ÊÌÊ – 27 state parks (Schedule Two B) reflect agreed actions of the approved Recreation framework – 5 coastal parks, 3 historic parks, 1 nature conservation for Bunyip public land . reserve, 4 regional parks and Haining Farm (Schedule In addition, the plans for Chiltern-Mt Pilot and Point Nepean Three) national parks were finalised and submitted for approval. It – 3 marine and coastal parks, 2 marine parks, 1 marine was decided to defer finalising the plan for Warby Range State reserve, 1 national heritage park and 1 nature conservation Park (following the earlier release of the draft plan for public reserve (Schedule Four) comment) pending the government’s response to the Victorian – 13 marine national parks (Schedule Seven) Environmental Assessment Council’s River Red Gum Forests – 11 marine sanctuaries (Schedule Eight) Investigation Final Report . UÊ £ÈÊÃV i`Õi`Ê>Ài>ÃÊ­{{{ÎÊ >®ÊÌÊÜ V Ê«>ÀÌVÕ>ÀÊ A process commenced to assess whether older management provisions of the Act apply. plans need to be replaced. An evaluation of the 1996 plan for The Act also defines: Mount Worth State Park concluded that, while there has been UÊ £ÊÜ`iÀiÃÃÊâiÃÊ­-V i`ÕiÊÛi®ÊÜÌ ÊÇÊ>Ì>Ê«>ÀÃÊ significant progress made in implementing the strategies in the (see Appendix 1) plan, the majority of the strategies remain current and the plan should continue to be implemented for a further five years. UÊ ÓÓÊÀiÌiÊ>`Ê>ÌÕÀ>Ê>Ài>ÃÊ­-V i`ÕiÊ-Ý®ÊÜÌ Ê£ÓÊ>Ì>Ê parks (see Appendix 1) UÊ {Ê`iÃ}>Ìi`ÊÜ>ÌiÀÊÃÕ««ÞÊV>ÌV iÌÊ>Ài>ÃÊÜÌ ÊÀi>ÌÊ Otway, Kinglake and Yarra Ranges national parks. 3 Community participation Some new approaches were adopted, including an online The contributions of community members, and particularly e-Forum and community Open Houses (where interested people members of management plan community advisory groups, could ‘drop in’ and find out about the proposals in the draft assisted in the development of draft and final plans. plans and give their comments in a variety of ways, in addition to the traditional method of submitting written comments). A There was extensive consultation around the development total of 327 people attended three Open Houses in Apollo Bay, of the management plan for the Great Otway National Park Gellibrand and Anglesea in April 2008. (together with the adjacent Otway Forest Park). The Otway >`ÃV>«iÊ ÕÌÞÊ ÕV]Ê>««Ìi`ÊLÞÊÌ iÊvÀiÀÊ In May 2008, a range of community members attended a Minister in October 2007 (see Advisory bodies ), worked with community forum to discuss the key issues and management Parks Victoria and DSE to develop the community engagement concerns about St Arnaud Range National Park with planners, program.