Regional Planning

A number of management plans which address vegetation management have been written for the region. Some are the responsibility of the North East Catchment Management Authority (external link) and some the Department of Natural Resources & Environment. These include:

Draft North East Salinity Strategy
Draft Conservation Program for Native Grasslands and Grassy Woodlands
Draft North East Region Weed Action Plan
Heritage Rivers and Natural Catchment Areas: Draft Management Plans (NRE, 1997b)
Forest Management Plans (see below)

Public Land

There are a number of policy documents, strategic plans and management plans available that focus on the protection and management of vegetation on public land within the region. This includes vegetation within reserves, state forests and council-owned land.

Parks Victoria (external link) is responsible for the management of reserved areas in Victoria. All National and State Parks are managed according to park management plans, which aim to establish the long term framework to protect important conservation values of these areas and to provide visitor opportunities.

Forest Management Plans

The purpose of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Forest Management Plans in the North East region is to ensure that its natural and cultural values are maintained and the use of forest resources provide long-term community benefit.

These are working plans, put into operation by the Secretary of NRE, pursuant to Section 22 of the Forests Act 1958. They have also been developed to conform with all Victorian land and natural resources legislation, including the National Parks Act 1975, Land Act 1958, Heritage Rivers Act 1992, Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1988, and the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994. Protection of species listed under the Commonwealth Endangered Species Protection Act 1992 are also provided for in these plans. Forest Management Area Plans also fulfil a requirement of the Code of Forest Practices for Timber Production which sets goals and guidelines for the conduct of all commercial timber production activities in Victoria. The Code has recently been revised to incorporate the most recent research on forest protection and management. A Forest Management Plan for the North East has been developed.

Regional Forest Agreements

There are five Regional Forest Agreements (RFA’s) for the State of Victoria and the North East Regional Forest Agreement (external link) is the third to be developed for Victoria. As part of the process of signing this agreement, a Comprehensive Regional Assessment was undertaken in the region. With respect to vegetation management, this assessment found 29 plant species of conservation significance listed (or recommended for listing) as Threatened in Victoria under the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act 1998 and/or listed as nationally Endangered or Vulnerable under Schedule 1 of the Commonwealth Endangered Species Protection Act 1992.

There are fifteen species designated to have a ‘high priority’ in the region based on the vulnerability assessment. Species have been included in this list if the region represents a major part of their distribution and they have been rated as Critically Endangered, Endangered or Vulnerable in the North East region.

For seven of these species listed (Acacia deanei ssp. Deanei, Euphrasia scabra, carex cephalotes, Carex echinata, Colobanthus affinis, craspedia alba and Euchiton nitiulus at least 90% of their population is within conservation reserves. For three other species (Thelypteris confluens, Pomaderris subplicata, and Hibbertia humifusa ssp. Erigens) the majority of their occurrence is on private land. Euphrasia collina ssp. Muelleri has 25-50% of its range in the North East where it is known in the region only from State Forest. For the remaining species (Eucalyptus cadens, Poa hothamensis var. parviflora, and Acacia dallachiana), at least 50% of their occurrence is on other public land.

(C of A and Victorian RFA Steering Committee, 1998)

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