Fact sheet - Reference areas.pub - Parks Victoria

Alpine Planninghelp guide the future of Victoria’s parksFACT SHEETREFERENCE AREASReference Areas are areas of public land that have beenestablished under the Reference Areas Act 1978 (Vic.).Reference Areas include typical examples of land types thathave not been modified for productive uses such asagriculture, mining or timber production in the past.The main management objective of reference areas is thatnatural processes should be allowed to continueundisturbed and that the areas should remain in theirnatural state as far as possible. The reference areas thenact as a references where comparative studies with othersections of land where various activities and types of humaninteraction happen, showing the effects of human alterationand utilisation on the land.Within the Great Alpine National Parks planning area, thereare 22 reference areas: Mountain Creek RA in Snowy RiverNP (1514 ha) is the largest and Baw Baw RA (135 ha) inBaw Baw National Park is the smallest.Most reference areas were identified and recommended tothe Government in the mid 1970s and the 1980s by theLand Conservation Council (LCC). The LCC’s role wasreplaced by the Environment Conservation Council (ECC) in1997 and the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council(VEAC) in 2002.Currently 144 reference areas have been proclaimed underthe Reference Areas Act, and cover an area of over 112 218ha. Of these 116 of these reference areas are in parks andreserves managed by Parks Victoria that totals over 93 858ha.The Reference Areas Act establishes how reference areasare proclaimed, how they should be managed and theestablishment of the Reference Areas Advisory Committee(RAAC). The role of the RAAC is to advise the Minister onwhich reference areas should be proclaimed, protected,controlled and managed.Printed on 100% recycled paper

The Reference Areas Act does not provide managementdirections for reference areas, but does provide for theMinister to publish directives, known as ‘MinisterialDirectives’ for the control, management and protection ofreference areas. The Ministerial Directives covers issuesincluding use of fire, weeds, pests and diseases, access,prohibited activities, indigenous species and monitoring.Where a reference area is part of a larger area of public landcovered by park management plans, such as the referenceareas within the Greater Alpine National Parks planningarea, the management authority (Parks Victoria) mustensure that the plan, where it covers management of thereference area, is in accordance with the MinisterialDirectives.Within a reference area, all activities that are not associatedwith protecting the natural processes of the area,emergency operations or approved research are prohibited.Activities such as grazing, mineral exploration, mining,harvesting of forest produce, all other forms of harvesting(except water), quarrying, bee-keeping, educational use,recreational activities including walking and any otheractivities that can affect the natural processes of areference area, are not allowed within a reference area.Access to reference areas is restricted to personnelundertaking tasks associated with management oremergency operations (including short-term emergencywater supply), and others who have the approval of theMinister. A reference area may be used for researchpurposes related specifically to the area provided thatstudies do not involve environmental manipulation and asuitable alternative for the studies is not available.Researchers require approval from the Minister to work in areference area.Reference Areas in the Greater Alpine National ParksReference AreaAlpine National ParkArea haBeehive Creek RA 796Blue Rag RA 713Boiler Plain RA 827Buenba RA 370Burnside RA 1207East Caledonia RA 493Forest Hill RA 361Hollands Knob RA 358Lagoon Plateau RA 1045Mount McAdam RA 231Mount Pleasant RA 492Porphyry Hill RA 222Shepherds Creek RA 684Tom Groggin RA 897Whiterock Creek RA 222Wombat Creek RA 308Wonnangatta River RA 479Baw Baw National ParkBaw Baw RA 135Mount Buffalo National ParkMount Buffalo RA 1167Snowy River National ParkGelantipy Plateau RA 431Mountain Creek RA 1514Zig Zag Creek RA 595Total 13547Take a fresh approach toplanningJoin us at www.weplan.parks.vic.gov.auor phone 13 1963 for more informationPrinted on 100% recycled paper