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National Parks
Introduction
 During
the nineteenth century, a belief that wild and natural places should be
preserved for posterity and for the enjoyment of the community led to the
development of a worldwide national parks movement.
Scientists and naturalists became
increasingly vocal in their demands for the protection of wildlife and
the establishment of national parks to preserve areas of 'unspoilt nature'.
The public also became aware of the natural world. National parks would
become places where people could retreat for spiritual renewal, or for
aesthetic pleasure.
Victoria's first national park
was set aside at Tower Hill, near Warrnambool. It became a national park
in 1892. Six years later Wilson's Promontory and Mount Buffalo were reserved
as national parks.
 The
first decade of the twentieth century gave rise to a more vigorous and
coordinated conservation effort. There were several successful campaigns
for new national parks including Bulga, Tarra Valley. Wyperfeld and in
the east of the State, Mallacoota Inlet. In 1908, a number of organisations
and individuals came together to form the National Parks Association,
possibly the first association of its kind in the world.
By 1930, Victoria had thirteen
national parks covering over 126,000 hectares. These national parks were
administered by committees of management which were appointed under the
Land Act and were composed almost entirely of unpaid individuals. Few
committees could afford the services of a paid ranger, the exceptions
being those at Wilson's Promontory, Mount Buffalo, Tarra Valley, Bulga
and Kinglake.
It was not until 1956 that legislation
was enacted to manage and protect Victoria's national parks. The National
Parks Act was the first specific legislation for the control of national
parks in Australia. It included a schedule of thirteen national parks
and appointed a National Parks Authority to administer the legislation.
Philip Crosbie Morrison was appointed the Authority's first Director.
He managed a staff of fourteen, comprising a secretary, a stenographer
and twelve park rangers distributed throughout the thirteen national parks.
Since 1970 additions to the
national park system have followed the recommendations of the Land Conservation
Council (now Environment Conservation Council). LCC recommendations led
to the reservation of 20 new parks in 1978, which increased the protected
area from 283,000 hectares to 774,000 hectares. The new parks ranged from
desert wilderness to fragile coastline and small recreation areas close
to Melbourne. For the first time, four parks were joined with others in
New South Wales and South Australia.
 Today
there are 35 national parks in Victoria covering over 2.5 million hectares.
These include the newly created Chiltern-Box Ironbark and French Island
National Parks.
Additional Resources
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