Development of a threatened fauna management framework across Victoria's state forests

Biodiversity conservation is a vital part of ecologically sustainable forest management. It is undeniable that the diversity (of genes, species and ecosystems) is fundamental to ecosystem function and therefore forest health. Victoria's state forests are managed in accordance with some of the world's highest standards of forest management. VicForests, which is responsible for native timber harvesting within Victoria's state forests, has developed a threatened species management framework that is complimentary to the existing legislative requirements governing threatened species management across the state. This management framework involves surveying for threatened fauna species in areas available for timber harvest to further improve the management and protection of key threatened species and their habitat. This paper is a review of VicForests pre-harvest fauna survey process and targeted monitoring projects, outlining the results and survey effort undertaken over the past year, and how this process has ...