Parks Victoria invites public input on a new management plan for Wilsons Promontory National Park and its surrounding marine areas.

To be developed with Traditional Owners and with ideas and information from visitors, community and stakeholders, the plan will outline how this unique area of land and sea should be protected, visited and celebrated for the next 15 years.

Wilsons Promontory National Park is one of Victoria’s most special places – an Aboriginal cultural landscape and dramatic natural environment brimming with native plants and animals. It’s also hugely popular with visitors, with its mountains, forests, beaches and accommodation drawing hundreds of thousands yearly.

A collection of important marine protected areas surrounds the park, including the Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park, the first in Australia to receive a Global Ocean Refuge award (now ‘Blue Park Award’) for its marine biodiversity protection.

Wilsons Promontory National Park provides essential habitat for native plants and animals, with a geography that offers climate change refuge as temperatures increase.

It’s an Aboriginal cultural landscape that contains physical and intangible heritage and is a significant place for the Boonwurrung, Bunurong and Gunaikurnai Traditional Owner groups, which maintain connections to these lands, waters and places.

Parks Victoria regional director Kerri Villiers said they are delighted to be working on this new plan in consultation with the Boonwurrung, Bunurong and Gunaikurnai Traditional Owner groups.

“The Prom landscape is one of Victoria’s truly special places,” Ms Villiers said.

“Through this consultation, we’ll be discussing how it can be protected, visited and celebrated for future generations.

“Much loved locally and by visitors far and wide, we look forward to discussing the many different challenges, opportunities and views on how to manage this landscape.”

This major piece of work to deliver a new management plan comes at a time of rising challenges for the Prom – and indeed all of the state’s parks and reserves.

Climate change presents multiple management challenges. The increasing risk and intensity of storms, bushfires and coastal erosion will affect how the Prom’s environment, park infrastructure, cultural heritage places, and emergency responses are managed.

Similarly, increasing visitor numbers and interests requires an updated management approach. The plan will explore how to balance sustainable recreation and access to nature with conservation priorities.

Meanwhile, there are great opportunities to work with Traditional Owners to better identify and protect Aboriginal cultural places and celebrate the landscape’s cultural stories and heritage.

The first stage of community consultation to develop a draft plan will run until July 16. Across the eight-week stage, there will be online and in-person workshops where the community can hear about key management considerations and information about the Prom landscape.

Early ideas and feedback will be gathered, including through an online survey at the Engage Victoria website. Later this year, and then into 2024, these early ideas will be refined and then a draft management plan will be developed for public feedback.

For further information about the Prom landscape, key issues, and details on the consultation process and how to get involved, visit Engage Victoria: https://engage.vic.gov.au/project/wilsons-prom/page/landscape-management-plan