The Department of Sustainability and Environment is responsible for the conservation of Victoria's natural and cultural heritage on public land.
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.
