Nature Conservation Review
The Victorian National Parks Association has started work on its fourth Nature Conservation Review of Victoria, covering marine, freshwater and terrestrial environments.
The marine report has been released, and can be downloaded from the marine section our website.
Earlier reviews were produced in 1971, 1987 and 2001.
The first three reviews focused on filling gaps in Victoria's protected area (national park) system. The current project will develop an approach to building biodiversity resilience in the face of climate change.
The review will produce three issues papers, on the three natural environments. A workshop will then be held to obtain input from key scientists and managers. This additional information will be fed into the final report, which we aim to complete in 2010.
As part of the investigations, the project will look at current 2030 and 2050 predictions for the likely impacts of climate change on Victoria's environment, including fire regimes, sea-level rise, water availability and species migration.
The main aim will be to identify and outline priority ecosystems for conservation, as well as to highlight key supporting ecological processes.
The papers will also identify and explain the impacts associated with particular threatening processes, and recommend how to address these.
We hope the review will be a vital part of the debate on how we can help build biodiversity resilience into Victoria's natural environment, which faces so many challenges.
We have engaged a marine and coastal consultant, and the process for receiving tenders for the terrestrial and freshwater ecosystem studies has been completed.
Our fourth review, the VNPA Nature Conservation Review: Marine Conservation Priorities and Issues for Victoria, was carried out by Australian Marine Ecology, a scientific organisation specialising in marine ecological research and consulting.
Find out more
The Victorian National Parks Association's third Nature Conservation Review was prepared by Dr Barry Traill and Dr Christine Porter. It examines the state of nature conservation in Victoria in the year 2001. Download Nature Conservation Review Victoria 2001 (797kb pdf)