The Department of Environment and Primary Industries is responsible for looking after Victoria's forests. We manage Victoria's 3.14 million hectares of State forest, and provide policy guidance for a further 3.98 million hectares of parks and conservation reserves. It also gives conservation guidance and incentives to private landholders who manage 1.2 million hectares of largely native forest and 434,000 hectares of plantation. The Crown Land Area Statement shows the areas of different Crown land categories (tenure) in Victoria.
State forest is managed to balance a variety of uses. These values include conserving flora and fauna, protecting water catchments and water supply, providing timber for sustainable forestry, protecting landscape, archaeological and historic values, and providing recreational and educational opportunities.
Monitoring our forests
A detailed understanding of the condition and health of our public forests and parks is essential for making the right decisions about how we manage these important areas.
The demand for information on our forests is increasing. With expanding towns and cities, a growing population and variable climate, our natural environment is under pressure and keeping it healthy is crucial to our lifestyle and future prosperity.
DEPI has responded to the need for better information about the health and condition of our parks and forests and has established the Victorian Forest Monitoring Program, Australia's most comprehensive statewide public forest monitoring program.
Public Safety on Public Land on Code Red Days
DEPI is responsible for the declaration of Code Red public safety zones. Overview maps and gazette notices of the current State forest public safety zones in the Bureau of Meteorolgy Weather Forecast Districts for Code Red fire danger-rated days are provided