Parks Victoria - Annual Report 2009-10

❚ Treating more than 6,000 hectares of Blackberry inparks such as Alpine, Burrowa-Pine Mountain, FrenchIsland, Yarra Ranges, Coopracambra, Mitchell River,Snowy River and Errinundra national parks❚ Treating invasive pine wildlings that survived fuelreduction burns as well as Blackberry and SweetPittosporum in Cobboboonee National Park❚ Undertaking field surveys of 14 priority areastotalling around 40,000 hectares of public land,which included 24,700 of Parks Victoria managedland as part of the Glenelg Eden program. Parksincluded Lower Glenelg and Mount Richmondnational parks and Cape Nelson State Park.Information on the pattern of weed dispersal wasgathered to help identify key weed hotspots❚ Treating 774 weed infestations in the Great OtwayNational Park, Otway Forest Park, Anglesea Heathand other crown land reserves with DSE and theColac Otway Shire as part of the Otway Edenprogram.Pest animal managementPest animals have a major impact on native animals andare a significant threat to biodiversity. To reduce theharm caused by pest animals, Parks Victoria implementsextensive control programs throughout Victoria’s parks.The Grampians Ark fox baiting program, now in itseighth year, covers 150,000 hectares of public land,including the Grampians National Park. The programis delivering tangible results with nearly five timesmore native animals found in baited areas. On averagethere have been 28 animals trapped at baited sitescompared to six at non-baited sites. The decline in thefox population is also supported by a lower number ofbaits being taken – down by 52 per cent – and a 30 percent reduction in the amount of fox tracks seen in sandpads. Each fox consumes around 180kg of live foodannually and a significant proportion of that is nativesmall mammals. Significantly reducing the number offoxes makes a real difference to native animals.as Chiltern-Mt Pilot, The Lakes and Little Desert nationalparks, as part of the Southern Ark program.Parks Victoria continued to work with the SportingShooters Association of Australia in pest animal controlprograms. At Murray-Sunset National Park, a programhas been running since November 2003, involving 23volunteers from the Nhill branch. Over 2,000 feral goatshave now been eliminated from the park and volunteershave dedicated over 6,000 hours to the program.Parks Victoria treated over 190,000 hectares forrabbits using a number of methods – baiting, warrendestruction and fumigation. Around 90 per cent of thearea treated was in the Mallee national parks. Sincethe Mallee Bounce Back program began in 2004, rabbitpopulations in the Mallee have declined significantlyand the condition of the semi-arid woodlands hasimproved.Environmental wateringThe prolonged drought has had a significant impact onVictoria’s parks. The environmental watering programhelps keep important ecosystems alive and creates anetwork of drought refuges across the state. Water forthe program is provided by the Australian Government,the Murray-Darling Basin Association and the VictorianGovernment. This year more than 25,000 million litresof environmental water was delivered to prioritysites, including Lindsay Island and Websters Lagoon inMurray-Sunset National Park, as well as Chalka Creekand the Hattah Lakes in Hattah-Kulkyne National Park.Protecting marine valuesParks Victoria participated in the Two Bays program thissummer. Now in its fifth year, the successful program isrun by Pelican Expeditions and its partners to assess thehealth of Port Phillip and Western Port. The programprovides a great opportunity for bay managers,community groups and other stakeholders to worktogether.Fox control continued in the south-west of Victoria, inparks including Discovery Bay Coastal Park and LowerGlenelg and Cobboboonee national parks as part of theGlenelg Ark program. Fox control was also undertakenin East Gippsland in parks where there are highnumbers of fauna species susceptible to predation, suchParks Victoria participated in a number of researchprojects throughout the program, including one led bythe DSE using sea-floor elevation models to producehabitat maps for much of Victoria’s near shore waters.This mapping helps to identify areas that may be at riskfrom human activities.Parks Victoria - Annual Report 2009-10 17