The arrival of people on the Australian continent across the northern land bridges from Asia tens of thousands of years ago heralded the beginning of human-induced changes in the Australian landscape. The arrival of Europeans in the 18th century and the consequent urban development, extensive clearing for agriculture, and forestry, brought vast and sometimes adverse changes to the continent, but it took nearly 200 years to appreciate fully the extent of the change. As the perspective of the new Australians developed, the knowledge and sense of value and place increased the appreciation of our continent’s unique biodiversity.

In Victoria, this changing perspective has been at the heart of important government and community initiatives. The establishment of the Land Conservation Council in 1972 enabled the systematic development of a comprehensive, integrated land-use system, including a parks and reserves network that today covers 16% of Victoria’s land area. And community-based conservation programs such as Landcare, Land for Wildlife and Botanic Guardians have succeeded in arresting much land degradation and protecting threatened species and their habitat through local community action.

The Wildlife Act, enacted in 1975, recognised the importance of protecting native wildlife and controlling exotic species. But the establishment of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee in 1988, with its legislative base, went further: it marked not only the formal recognition of the importance of protecting native species, but also the need to protect entire communities and manage processes that could threaten their survival. By 1997, twenty communities and over 350 species had been given special protection, and 22 processes had been declared to be potentially threatening.