Why?

The National Parks Act 1975 requires that the Secretary to the Department of Environment and Primary Industries prepare a plan of management for each national and state park. The Secretary to the Department of Environment and Primary Industries delegates this responsibility to Parks Victoria within a Management Services Agreement between the two agencies. Parks Victoria’s Corporate Plan, approved by the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, lists the parks that require a new management plan in the short term

A more detailed Business Plan is created each year by Parks Victoria which describes the programs that will fulfill the three-year strategies described in the Corporate Plan. Detailed performance targets and measures are outlined in the annual Business Plan and reported on in Parks Victoria’s Annual Report as required under the Parks Victoria Act 1998. The National Parks Act 1975 requires that an annual report be prepared every year on the workings of the Act.

What is a management plan?

Park management plans articulate the vision, goals, outcomes, measures and long-term strategies for parks within planning areas. They are consistent with Parks Victoria and the Department of Environment and Primary Industries corporate documents, legislation, policies and decision-making tools (listed in Statewide Planning Approach). Management plans are prepared in consultation with the community. When approved by the Secretary and the Minister for Environment and Climate Change, plans will guide future management of the park.

Management plans have a 15-year time frame and adopt a landscape-wide approach, so they consider things bordering the park that influence how a park operates. Landscape scale approaches are recognised as fundamental to achieving objectives within and across smaller parcels of land (International Union for the Conservation of Nature and the Department of Sustainability). Zones and overlays provide further prescriptions for management within defined areas. Some zones are defined through legislation, such as Reference Areas, while others are set through the management plan, such as Conservation Zone.