The Victorian Environmental Assessment Council recently released for public comment its draft proposals for future conservation and use of public land in the River Red Gum Forests area. VEAC has been investigating the River Red Gum Forests since April 2005 across an area in the Murray River corridor from Lake Hume to the South Australian border.
The draft proposals include five new national parks (Barmah, Gunbower, Lower Goulburn, Warby Range-Ovens River, Leaghur-Koorangie and a significant addition to Murray-Sunset) and five new regional or other parks. It is proposed that the Murray River Reserve and a number of existing regional parks including Echuca, Tocumwal, Cobram, Yarrawonga and Wodonga be consolidated into a new Murray River Park. The total area of national and state parks is proposed to increase from 62,000 hectares to 152,000 hectares. There are also significant proposals for increasing the environmental water allocation along the Murray, increasing Indigenous involvement in public land management, and reducing grazing and timber extraction.
A summary and full version of the draft proposals is available at VEAC’s website: www.veac.vic.gov.au/riverredgum.htm