Victorian Alps
Bioregion: Victorian Alps

The Bioregional Landscape
The Natural Capital of the Landscape
Land Management Themes
Biodiversity Condition
Management Responses
Tables and Charts for the Victorian Alps

The Bioregional Landscape
The Victorian Alps bioregion extends over 3000 square kilometres above 1200 m in altitude, and is part of the Australian Alps IBRA region. The IBRA region consists of a series of high plateaus and peaks along the Great Dividing Range from the Baw Baw Plateau in the south to the Snowy Mountains of New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory in the north. The IBRA region contains all of mainland Australia’s highest peaks and most of the area above 1500 metres. The true alpine treeless area consists of a series of disjunct high altitude plateaus of which the Bogong High Plains is by far the largest, representing 60 per cent of the area. Many of Victoria’s major river systems, including the Murray, Goulburn, Ovens, King, Kiewa and Mitchell, have their sources in the alpine and sub-alpine areas.

At the time of European settlement, the high country was not occupied by Aboriginal people throughout the year; however many of the groups who spent part of their time in the highlands or even the lowland plains would have visited the Alps in their annual movements. The high country was of great importance during the brief summer months, when up to hundreds of several language groups north and south of the Alps congregated to feast on the seasonally abundant Bogong Moths. This time was important for cultural exchange between groups who occupied exclusive areas in the foothills and lowlands for most of the year.

The major land uses in the bioregion are conservation, recreation (commercial tourism), forestry, hydro electricity generation and seasonal grazing. The alpine areas have no large permanent settlements except for the five Alpine Resort Areas. Almost all of the bioregion is public land. The major parks in the area are the Alpine National Park, Baw Baw National Park and Mount Buffalo National Park.

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The Natural Capital of the Landscape
In the Australian context the alpine area represents a very small area of a unique environment on a dry, low continent. The Victorian Alps Bioregion consists of a complex mosaic of ecological communities determined by soils, climate and topography. There are treeless sub-alpine communities, grasslands, shrublands, heathlands, and bogs on the highest ground and in ‘frost hollows’ in high valleys. These areas form islands separated from each other by the sub-alpine Snowgum woodlands and, at lower altitudes Alpine Ash forest and river valleys. These woodlands and forests adjoin the South Eastern Highlands IBRA region. The extent of the true alpine treeless area is only about 180 square kilometres, yet this area contains many distinct communities. Many of these communities are extremely limited in extent, and often the characteristic species of alpine biota are themselves restricted to only one or two of these communities. The bioregion has a distinctive flora and fauna. On the Bogong High Plains, which comprise the largest block of treeless vegetation in the bioregion, 23 vegetation types have been identified. Of these types, thirteen are restricted to one per cent or less of the area. Three, the Podocarpus heathland, fen-bog pool and Poa hothamensis rocky grasslands have fauna endemic to the community. The dissected nature of the bioregion means that the isolated ‘islands’ often have their own unique species or sub-species — such as the Baw Baw Frog and a suite of invertebrate species. Different parts of the alpine bioregion exhibit different ecological features, for example the Baw Baw Plateau Sphagnum bogs are more extensive than elsewhere.

Much of the area may be snow-covered for up to four months of the year. Approximately 600 higher plants and 246 vertebrate species have been identified within the bioregion. Many of these species are associated with the subalpine woodlands and forest. The Australian Alps have many species which are specially adapted to, and limited by, the harsh climate. They include the Mountain Pygmy-possum, the Alpine Water Skink, the Baw Baw Frog, the Mt Stirling Stonefly, the Cushion Carraway and the Small Star-Plantain. Many of the endemic or threatened fauna species in the alps are associated with very restricted habitats or freshwater environments (e.g. bogs). The short summer growing season leads to a profusion of flowering in the Victorian Alps. Over the period from November to February this display is a very obvious and appealing aspect of the region’s biodiversity.

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Land Management Themes
Nearly all of the bioregion remains as public land which, although historically managed for different purposes has remained relatively intact. Inaccessibility, rugged topography and the hostile climate of the alpine area inhibited large-scale permanent settlement, but the high plateaus have been used regularly as summer pasture for cattle and sheep from the 1850s. Early settlements developed in the valleys during the gold rushes of last century were abandoned.

Biodiversity appreciation and conservation has evolved to become a major theme of this bioregion. The Alpine National Park is the largest in Victoria, having been expanded to its present size over many decades, and is a major tourist focal area. The Park encompasses all the major vegetation types of the bioregion with some types having very high representation in the reserve system. The Australian Alps Liaison Committee, comprising representatives of NSW, Victoria, ACT, and the Commonwealth ensures the co-ordination of strategic management across the entire alpine area of Australia. A comprehensive management plan, including biodiversity conservation is being implemented for the park which also provides a broad variety of recreational and tourism experiences. Some parts of the park are leased for the summer grazing of cattle.

The expansion of forestry operations in the Victorian Alps from the 1940s led to the development of an extensive road system through the area, which in turn permitted easier access for other users, particularly recreational users. Hardwood production and fire protection in the region, are both undertaken within Forest Management Plans and Fire Management Plans, planning processes that include biodiversity conservation.

From beginnings in the 1950s skiing has expanded to become a major recreational industry in this bioregion. A rapid increase in popularity of skiing during the 1970s and 1980s created a demand for new skiing areas. Five resort areas support the downhill skiing industry and are focal points for cross country skiing, bushwalking and other recreational activities. The environmental attributes which make an area attractive to the skiing industry (high altitude slopes) correlate with those of some of the restricted habitats of threatened flora and fauna. Historically there have been some land management conflicts in the resorts. Recent developments have demonstrated that biodiversity conservation can be incorporated into some developments, e.g. ski-lifts at Mount Hotham have been constructed without eliminating the threatened Snowpatch community.

While much of the alpine area remains intact, the harsh climate, topography, short growing season, and extremely limited extent make many of the ecological communities found in the bioregion particularly sensitive to disturbance.

Water production and catchment protection are important themes of this region. Being situated at the top of many catchments means that land use management must recognise both down stream benefits and effects. Dams and a series of aquaducts were constructed on the Bogong High Plains for the generation of hydro-electricity in the Kiewa scheme.

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Biodiversity Condition
The Victorian Alps bioregion remains largely uncleared and is in relatively good health. The large expanses, climate and the intactness of adjacent areas have all contributed to health of the bioregion and its naturalness remains a valued feature for all visitors. There have been no recorded extinctions of alpine flora or fauna although some populations of species have been eliminated from some locales. Most of the natural ecological processes continue to operate across the broad landscape and land managers have been able to learn from the past.

The removal of sheep grazing earlier this century assisted recovery of many ecological communities and reduced soil degradation. Cattle grazing continues across over half of the region and stocking rates are controlled under seven year licences. Cattle grazing does not occur in many significant areas, such as Mount Hotham, Mount Bogong, the northern Bogong High Plains and the Baw Baw Plateau.

The ecological communities of the alpine areas, although evolved to survive in this harsh environment, are also highly sensitive to some forms of change. Invasion by environmental weeds is a present and potential problem. Some weeds may be kept in check by present climate or other factors, however some are aggressive invaders (e.g. English Broom) particularly where the soil is disturbed.

The five ski resort areas represent the most developed and altered areas of the Victorian Alps bioregion. While the total area of the resorts is relatively small it forms a significant proportion of the treeless area.

Developments in these areas need to be carefully planned and implemented. Codes of practice and environmental policies have been developed to safeguard areas of ecological significance and sensitivity. In some instances ameliorative actions have repaired past damage (e.g. the tunnel to restore habitat connectivity for the Mountain Pygmy-possum).

The bioregion has become increasingly popular for a wide range of other recreational activities such as camping, horseback tours, bushwalking and four-wheel driving. These activities require management so as to avoid sensitive areas and to ensure that participants do not become vectors for spreading environmental weeds.

Alpine species and communities are amongst those most vulnerable to the effects of enhanced greenhouse climate change resulting from global warming. Alpine communities have been "retreating" up the mountains as a result of warming since the last ice age. The robustness of these communities to climate change is enhanced by maintaining them in as healthy a condition as possible.

Of the 64 known threatened species and undetermined number of threatened ecological communities in this bioregion there are:

• 32 listed vertebrates and plants, of which 18 have Action Statements;
• five listed invertebrates, of which none has an Action Statement;
• four listed communities, of which none has an Action Statement.

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Management Responses
The Victorian Alps bioregion and the surrounding forest areas of the highlands form the largest continuous area of public land in the State. It is also the largest area where native vegetation predominates. These two factors offer flexible management opportunities not available in the fragmented landscapes found across much of Victoria. The current Regional Forest Agreement, National Park management processes and the use of planning schemes in the resort areas provide the opportunity to set a benchmark for integrated conservation in land management. The monitoring of the different uses and their impacts are integral to the management process.

The higher altitude ecological communities are the most sensitive and fragile in the bioregion. It is these areas that have the most pressure upon them; predominantly skiing, other recreation activities and grazing. The natural rarity and restricted nature of many of these alpine habitats requires careful management including identification, planning "around" sensitive habitats and high standards when modifying the environment for development. A high level of knowledge of the requirements of these species and particularly sensitive planning and management are required when developing infrastructure in these areas. Getting the biodiversity information into the planning processes as early as possible is a feature of biodiversity conservation in resort and park developments. Appropriate risk management, particularly for feral predators and environmental weeds requires coordinated and strategic efforts by all land managers in this bioregion.

Visitor management across parks, resorts and forests is an important theme in this bioregion. The Australian Alps Liaison Committee has initiated management and community education actions to ensure that the increasing visitor loads does not damage the natural values which visitors come to experience. The incorporation of biodiversity conservation into their business management planning by other industries and businesses will further contribute to protecting the specific values of the Victorian Alps.

Together with the state-wide key directions outlined earlier, land and water managers and planners in the bioregion should consider the following priorities.

• Continue the Australian Alps Liaison Committee bioregional cooperative management program for the alpine national parks.
• Implement cooperative and integrated environmental weed control programs, with emphasis on the high altitude treeless areas.
• Complete GIS mapping of the Ecological Vegetation Classes and sites of biological significance to enhance management planning to protect endemic and threatened alpine species and communities.
• Ensure biodiversity data is available to all land use planning processes.
• Monitor levels of recreational use of the Victorian Alps and manage to minimise impacts on biodiversity values.
• Continue to develop and promote ‘best practice’ in land management and develop appropriate codes of practice, particularly where it involves habitat and soil disturbance.
• Target predator control to specific populations of threatened species (Mountain Pygmy-possum, Broad-toothed Rat).