The Future
Return to Our Living Wealth contents
| Victorians are already doing much to tackle the risks to biodiversity conservation in the state, but much remains to be done before we can truly say that we are caring for our environment. Despite our recognition of past failures, many species and communities are still in severe danger of extinction, and many processes continue to put species and communities at risk. Land degradation continues to be a major problem, especially in our rural areas. The protection of streams and their catchments has been recognised as being of critical importance for the protection of water quality and the maintenance of our aquatic plants and animals. Biodiversity conservation is a key component of the integrated approach to natural resource management introduced by the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994 and the Coastal Management Act 1995. This management system will be overseen by bodies representing the community, business and government. |  |
Research also continues to be of great importance in gaining a better understanding of our ecosystems. For example, in most of Victoria’s terrestrial ecosystems, little is known of the distribution and ecology of invertebrates and non-vascular plants, although both clearly play important roles in the recycling of nutrients, and as prey or food for vertebrate animals. Our knowledge and understanding of aquatic ecosystems is also rudimentary, and we need to know much more about the processes that threaten them.
This section sets the stage for Victoria’s Biodiversity Strategy by describing the broad ecosystems of the State through their geology, flora and fauna, and natural history, and briefly touches on the major risks to the communities and species within those ecosystems.
Understanding this magnificent natural heritage and learning the lessons of the past are the first steps towards ensuring that native plants and animals retain their full potential for evolutionary development in the wild, so that the future of our rich biodiversity is guaranteed.
The community — every one of us — has the opportunity to take an active role in the conservation of our rich natural heritage. Its future is in our hands.