Victoria has more than 4 million hectares, or 14 per cent of the state, which
are wilderness, state and regional park and reserve areas.
Parks Victoria manages national, wilderness, state and regional parks,
Melbourne's metropolitan parks and open space network as well as the Lower
Yarra, Maribyrnong and Patterson Rivers and Port Phillip and Western Port Bays.
A key feature of Victoria's parks and reserves is the diversity of ecosytems
protected.
Victoria is a small state by Australian standards, but Victoria's natural
habitats range from alpine to semi-arid, from coastal environments to temperate
rainforests and rolling grasslands.
This diversity is reflected in Victoria's parks and reserve system where areas
have been selected on the basis that all of the State's major ecosystem types
are represented and protected.
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.
Victorias first national park was set aside at Tower Hill, near Warrnambool. It
became a national park in 1892. Six years later Wilsons 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 Wilsons Promontory, Mount Buffalo, Tarra Valley,
Bulga and Kinglake.
It was not until 1956 that legislation was enacted to manage and protect
Victorias 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
Authoritys 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.
Archeological evidence reveals a connection extending beyond 40,000 years.
Ancestors of todays communities witnessed volcanic eruptions of Tapook (Mt.
Napier) in the west. They also hunted giant kangaroos and worried over the
rising seas, which marked the end of the last Ice Age.
Today, Aboriginal concerns are about self-determination, restoring their lands
and living their culture.
It is estimated that between 20,000 and 60,000 people, speaking over 30
languages, lived throughout 'Victoria' when Europeans arrived in 1835. The rapid
colonisation resulted in a devastating loss of languages, traditions and lives.
During this violent period of Victorian history, families were forced off their
lands and on to missions. These were bitter-sweet places. They were a home and
haven from the violence but also a place where there was little choice except
conformity with Christianity and Western ways. Ironically, it was from these
missions that well-known activists rose to fight for better conditions for their
people.
Today well over 25,000 Aboriginal people live throughout Victoria, and this
number is growing.
