More than 65,000 hectares of forest in central-west Victoria, Australia, have received national park protection, safeguarding habitats for hundreds of rare and threatened species.
Image of glider used for illustrative purposes/By: vinaithong/iStock
The three new parks, Mount Buangor National Park, Pyrenees National Park and Wombat-Lerderderg National Park, officially take effect following legislation passed by the Victorian Parliament in November 2025. Wombat-Lerderderg is the largest of the three.
According to Good News Network, the parks are Victoria’s first substantial new national parks in 15 years, marking a significant milestone for conservation in the state.
The protected forests provide habitat for a range of wildlife, including platypuses, greater gliders, goannas, brush-tailed phascogales, mountain skinks and powerful owls. They also support rare plant species, including Mount Cole grevilleas, as well as numerous fungi.
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Conservation campaigners welcome the new parks
The Victoria National Parks Association (VNPA), alongside community groups including Wombat Forestcare and the Wilderness Society, welcomed the announcement after years of campaigning to protect the forests.
VNPA executive director Matt Ruchel described the new parks as an important achievement for nature and local communities, crediting the state government with securing their protection.
Gayle Osborne, a founding member of Wombat Forestcare, said the forests provide essential habitat for numerous species and that protecting these environments is crucial to ensuring wildlife such as koalas, gliders and owls can survive into the future.
The campaign to protect the forests began in 2010, when Wombat Forestcare organised a public conference in Hepburn to bring the community together around the proposed conservation areas. Volunteers subsequently conducted ecological surveys and compiled reports documenting the importance of the landscape, helping build the case for permanent protection.
Protecting forests with thousands of years of history
The newly established parks lie on the traditional lands of the Dja Dja Wurrung, Eastern Maar, Wadawurrung, Wurundjeri, Gunaikurnai and Taungurung peoples, who have cared for these landscapes for thousands of years.
Parks Victoria will work alongside relevant communities and stakeholders to develop management plans over the next 12 months, with the aim of supporting the forests’ long-term ecological health while ensuring people can continue to enjoy them.
Conservation groups have also pledged to contribute to the planning process, advocating for the resources and management measures needed to protect wildlife and maintain these important habitats.
The creation of the three parks represents a major step towards conserving Victoria’s central-west forests and the diverse species that depend on them.
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