The East Gippsland Rainforest Conservation Management Network (CMN) this week welcomed the release by the Federal Government of the National Recovery Plan for Littoral Rainforest, urging the Victorian Government to do better in managing Littoral Rainforest and other precious rainforest ecosystems.
“It has been 10 years since this unique type of coastal rainforest was first listed as ‘critically endangered’, only one step away from extinct, by the Federal Government,” Tom Crook, programs manager for the East Gippsland Rainforest CMN, said.
“So it’s high time the plan, which details guidelines to protect and manage littoral rainforest, was formally released.”
The rainforest CMN, based in Bairnsdale, has been representing Victoria as part of the national working group on this plant community, which included attending an interstate meeting in Port Macquarie as well as working with other rainforest experts from around the country to ensure a consistent national approach is taken.
The primary purpose of the National Recovery Plan is to provide details on the actions necessary to stop the decline of littoral rainforest and support its recovery, maximising the chances of its long-term survival.
“This recovery plan establishes a national framework to guide and coordinate the recovery of littoral rainforest throughout its range in Australia and identifies management priorities necessary to assist the long-term recovery of this precious ecological community,” Paul Harvey, Rainforest CMN president, said.
“East Gippsland is the only place in Victoria that has littoral rainforest, which occurs in small patches from North Queensland all the way down the east coast to about Lakes Entrance.
“While Victoria only has a small amount of this unique rainforest type – somewhere between 300 and 500 hectares – it is very significant as our ‘estate’ represents the western and southernmost extents of its known worldwide geographic range.”
Rainforests in East Gippsland are hotspots for biodiversity, containing large numbers of rare plants and animals relative to their area, some of which occur nowhere else on earth.
Littoral rainforest is only one of many rainforest types found in the region and it alone provides habitat for more than 70 threatened species, as well as providing an important buffer to coastal erosion and wind damage.
While East Gippsland is lucky enough to have around two thirds of all rainforest in Victoria, rainforests in the region are unfortunately still being impacted upon by threats such as logging, weeds, exotic wild deer and those associated with climate changes, such as increasing fire frequency and intensity.
Rainforests are also a tourist drawcard the world over, and as the region continues to embrace the shift toward a new conservation-related economy, rainforests are becoming more valuable by the day as carbon stores, water purifiers and tourism destinations.
The East Gippsland Rainforest CMN is a community group that works with anyone who shares an interest in rainforest, and encourages people to become members of the organisation.
Pictured: Local rainforest experts, Tom Crook and Paul Harvey, from the Rainforest CMN, who contributed to the new recovery plan.
