Final Report - Victorian Environmental Assessment Council

RECOMMENDATIONSimpacts on how ecosystems and species are managed.Key aspects requiring urgent research include:• refining and improving our knowledge of the waterrequirements of ecological vegetation classes (EVCs)and threatened species, including frequency, duration,drying intervals• identifying the factors affecting the recoveryof threatened species such as basin-wide andlandscape-scale aspects (habitat continuity), habitatcondition, climate change, species richness, and• establishing a basis for prioritising different values forenvironmental watering.There is a particular need to review the conservation statusof species and EVCs in light of the ongoing and increasingthreat posed by altered flow regimes. Although reducedwatering is the greatest threat to the natural values of thefloodplain, and is predicted to worsen, it has largely notbeen incorporated into current assessments of conservationstatus. It is important that this research be publicly available.Another important focus of VEAC’s nature conservationconsiderations is coarse woody debris—sticks, logs andwood on the ground. This material provides essentialhabitat for many ground-dwelling animals. The estimatedcurrent level of coarse woody debris in River Red Gumforests is approximately 20 tonnes per hectare on average,reduced from a pre-European average of about 125 tonnesper hectare. The main cause of this reduction is firewoodcollection. Some animals dependent on coarse woodydebris such as the Yellow-footed Antechinus only occur atsites with more than 45 tonnes per hectare. Accordingly,VEAC believes that it is important to re-establish groundlayer habitats and proposes that land managers seek toretain mosaics of coarse woody debris accumulationsacross riverine forests and parks, with a target of at least50 tonnes per hectare on average.RECOMMENDATIONSNature conservationSeveral recommendations to improve nature conservation in the River Red Gum forests and associated ecosystemsapply to specific public land use categories and are formally documented later in this report as follows:– The reserve system itself is recommended as a series of national parks (recommendations A1–A9), some regionalparks (recommendations B4-B7), nature conservation reserves (recommendations D1-D50), reference areas(recommendation F1) and some natural features reserves (recommendations G1-G81).– Removal of domestic stock grazing from most public land in the investigation area (recommendation R38)– Development of an adaptive management approach based on clearly defined, transparent and scientificallysupported ecological objectives (e.g. ecological burning to promote certain fire-dependent ecosystems,ecological thinning and short-term grazing for ecological or management purposes such as targetedweed control (recommendations A(d) and B(d))– Re-establish habitat crucial to a number of species of woodland fauna; a target of retaining an average of at least50 tonnes per hectare of coarse woody debris in riverine parks and state forests is proposed (recommendation R36)– Planning for provision of environmental flows that maintain and improve the health and long-term viability offloodplain-dependent ecosystems (recommendations R13–R14)Specific recommendations for nature conservation not detailed elsewhere are:R9 That ongoing scientific research be conducted into terrestrial floodplain ecology to provide a basis foradaptive management of floodplain watering.R10R11R12That the conservation status of ecological vegetation classes and flora and fauna be reviewed in lightof threats posed by insufficient floodplain watering.That government protect and restore River Red Gum forests and other vegetation communities onprivate land, using incentives and market-based mechanisms, particularly where these areas adjoinor link public land blocks and (where opportunities exist) acquire areas in order to consolidate vegetationor wildlife corridors.That voluntary Conservation Management Networks be established by the relevant catchment managementauthority, in partnership with private landholders, public land managers and other interested parties,at suitable locations.Examples of suitable locations include the Avoca Plains, Lower Goulburn floodplain, areas between theWarby Range and Ovens River forests, Loddon floodplain between Leaghur and Wandella forests andnorth of Kerang.28 River Red Gum Forests Investigation July 2008