Central Victorian Uplands

A vision to protect, restore and reconnect the natural heritage of Central Victoria.

This very special part of Australia straddles over 400 kms along the southern extremity of the Great Dividing Range. It includes wet and dry forests, Box-Ironbark woodlands, endangered grasslands, mountain peaks over 1,000 metres, diverse soils, many endangered animals and rivers flowing north into the Murray Darling Basin.

We need to create a landscape biolink to protect this unique environment - join us to make this vision a reality!

Victoria's natural landscape: worth protecting

The current mass extinction of the world's flora and fauna is creating a lonelier planet. Australia is a major culprit - we have the worst record of mammal extinctions over the last 200 years.

Victoria's natural landscape is the most cleared and in the poorest condition of any state in Australia. Victoria is facing an extinction crisis with over 44% of our native plants and 30% of our wildlife extinct or threatened.

Widespread fragmentation of habitat and degradation of our water, air and soil are undermining nature's ability to adapt to our rapidly changing climate. This not only has consequences for wildlife, but our way of life - our access to water, the maintenance of our agricultural industries and the survival of rural communities.

Solutions need to be as big as problems they solve. In Victoria, Australia's most cleared state, the challenge is even more urgent. The science is now telling us that connected landscapes have greater resilience and the brightest future.

Securing our future starts with protecting remaining native vegetation and wildlife habitat in dedicated reserves with proper management; restoring environmental flows into rivers; improving land management (agricultural systems, water use and fire management); and removing threats like feral animals and weeds.

This creates an interconnected landscape: a mosaic of sustainable agriculture, rivers and wetlands, parks and protected areas.

Sustainable land use and communities

To achieve this, we need to bring communities together towards a shared vision. Partnerships between conservation NGOs, farmers and private land owners, scientists, land managers and local government mean that we can combine our expertise to protect nature and ecosystems on private and public land, while building stronger rural communities. This not only benefits nature and the agricultural economy, but the tourism, health and education sectors also.

Combining world class science with local knowledge

We need to draw upon the expertise of leading conservation scientists at the continental scale. Local scientists and land managers need to develop a conservation plan for the region, with clear and achievable goals and measurable targets that all partners can contribute to.

CLICK TO ENLARGE. The Central VicBiolink is a vision to protect, restore and reconnect ecosystems in the central Victorian uplands.

The Central VicBiolink

The Central VicBiolink is an ambitious vision to work with NGOs, private and public land managers, farmers and land owners to protect, restore and reconnect habitats and ecosystems in the central Victorian uplands between Geriwerd (Grampians) and Lake Eildon.

The connectivity challenge

It will take time and money, but we need to start now if we want to achieve a sustainable future for Victoria.

The community, government and business all need to get involved.

We need to:

• Protect remnant grasslands, forests and woodlands on public land;
• Reconnect existing and future protected areas to create wildlife links by developing partnerships with private land holders;
• Remove weeds and feral animals, which kill and outcompete native plants and animals, from the landscape;
• Restore, improve and lessen the impact of agricultural practices; help protect nature; improve fire management to lessen its impact, and become more efficient in our use of precious water supplies.

Join us

You can make a difference to help protect nature, water, rural communities and agricultural industries.

Many people are already building local links and undertaking revegetation and other works. Building a landscape link will not happen over night and will require leadership and hard work from the community. We are seeking support from community groups to endorse the vision, whether you are landcare or friends group or an individual you can make a difference to help protect nature, water, rural communities and agricultural industries.

Join us a make this vision a reality. Please contact one of the organisations below for more information.

Contacts

Hedley Thomson hedleythomson@gmail.com Ph: 0438 660 561
Ballarat Environment Network www.ben.org.au

Stuart Fraser kathfraser50@hotmail.com Ph: (03) 5443 2316
Bendigo and District Environment Council

Luke Chamberlain luke.chamberlain@wilderness.org.au Ph: (03) 9038 0888
The Wilderness Society www.wilderness.org.au/victoria

Matt Ruchel mattruchel@vnpa.org.au Ph: (03) 9347 5788
Victorian National Parks Association www.vnpa.org.au

Gayle Osborne gayle.osborne@bigpond.com
Wombat Forestcare www.wombatforestcare.org.au

Resources

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