Rangers and park managers must complete specific programs for all parks managed by Parks Victoria. This may be influenced by existing policy documents, legislation, strategies or decision-making frameworks.

Once a management plan is finalised, an Implementation Plan is drafted in consultation with the broader community and stakeholders. The Implementation Plan is drafted every five years and lists detailed objectives, measures and actions required to implement management plan outcomes.

Annual Action Plans are then developed to specify planned works and funding allocations for the current financial year. Implementation Plans and Annual Action Plans are a useful way to engagein discussion with local communities about day-to-day management as they list more immediate items for action. The figure below articulates the links between these planning documents.

Parks Victoria’s planning framework

Statewide Planning Approach

Decision-making tools

To facilitate effective and efficient management of parks and reserves, Parks Victoria has developed a range of decision-making tools. These tools have been developed to be consistent with over-arching legislation, policy and statewide strategies:

Signs of Healthy Parks

Signs of Healthy Parks aims to ensure more systematic, robust and integrated ecological monitoring across the range of the State’s ecosystems. The Signs of Healthy Parks program will establish a comprehensive system of natural values monitoring to evaluate the condition of parks and ecosystems over time. It will also evaluate the effectiveness of management actions and provide an early warning of emerging threats. The program will facilitate adaptive management of natural values and threats and help in setting and reviewing targets and measures in the Implementation Plan and Annual Action Plan.

Levels of Service

The Levels of Service (LoS) framework helps Parks Victoria focus visitor management effort where it is needed most. Under LoS, parks are rated in a statewide context according to their importance for visitation and the level of service that visitors should expect at each location. LoS park ratings range from A1, where parks are considered of statewide significance for visitors, to C, where parks are of local significance. Within each park, visitor sites are rated from ‘Very Basic’, where few facilities are provided such as at a remote bush camp site, to ‘Very High’, where visitors can expect a higher level of service, such as at Tidal River.

Levels of Protection

Levels of Protection (LoP) is a tool that groups parks according to biodiversity criteria, allocates conservation objectives and establishes a hierarchy of management responses to guide park managers in determining the management effort and resourcing priorities in a statewide context. Parks and reserves are rated from A, for parks with high biodiversity, to E for parks with a lower biodiversity.

Working with other agencies

Although Parks Victoria is responsible for overall management of parks, other agencies are responsible for planning, managing or regulating certain activities in parks and on other public land. All activities relating to parks that are carried out by Parks Victoria or other agencies need to accord with legislation and government policy and, as far as practicable, be consistent with agencies’ policies and guidelines. To ensure this occurs, park staff must work closely with staff of relevant agencies and collaborate in implementing activities where appropriate.