Leadbeater’s Possum interactive map
Frequently asked questions

Interactive map general information 
•	A: Why have an interactive map?
•	Q: In its response to the Leadbeater’s Possum Advisory Group (LPAG) recommendations, government committed to sharing information on the changes it would implement to aid recovery of the Leadbeater’s Possum while maintaining a sustainable native timber industry. The interactive map provides this information to stakeholders and interest groups in a user friendly manner. 

•	A: Who maintains the interactive map?
•	Q: DELWP administers the interactive map with data provided by DEDJTR, VicForests, Parks Victoria and Zoos Victoria. DELWP regularly reviews the information presented on the map to ensure that the latest information is available to the community. 

•	A: Does the map contain all available information?
•	Q: The map represents progress on a number of select actions from the LPAG recommendations. It is illustrative in nature and does not conclusively represent all data and information used by land managers, including but not limited to DELWP and VicForests. 

•	Q: How can I access the spatial layers?
•	A: DELWP intends to make this information available via the Victorian Spatial Data Directory or via DELWP’s Spatial Datamart.

Interactive map spatial layer information
•	A: What is the ‘Central Highlands’ and where is it defined?
•	Q: The Central Highlands of Victoria extends from the Hume Highway in the west, to the Goulburn River in the north, the Goulburn and Thomson Rivers in the east and the Princes Highway in the south. The area spans three Victorian Forest Management Areas (FMAs): Central Gippsland, Dandenong and Central. The FMAs are defined in the Forests Act 1958. The Central Highlands’ boundary is within the meaning of the Central Highlands Regional Forest Agreement (http://www.daff.gov.au/forestry/policies/rfa/regions/vic-centralhighlands).

•	Q: What is a ‘Leadbeater’s Possum Management Unit’?
•	A: Twenty-one Leadbeater’s Possum Management Units (LMUs) delineate the range of the Leadbeater’s Possum in the Central Highlands. The LMUs are based on the extent and spatial distribution of ash-type forest and snow gum woodlands within the range of the species, with boundaries delineated by forest blocks. The LMUs are defined in the Central Highlands Forest Management Plan (CHFMP) 1998.

•	Q: Why is the project area smaller than the Central Highlands?
•	A: The project area is based on the Leadbeater’s Possum Management Units (LMUs). The Leadbeater’s Possum is largely found in a portion of the Central Highlands Regional Forest Agreement area. 

•	Q: What is ‘ash’ forest?
•	A: ‘Ash’ means Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans), Alpine Ash (Eucalyptus delegatenis) and Shining Gum (Eucalyptus nitens). The definition is taken from the CHFMP.

•	Q: What is a ‘TRP’ and how does it work?
•	A: The Timber Release Plan (TRP) is prepared by VicForests in accordance with the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004. It provides a range of information including:
o	A schedule of coupes selected for timber harvesting
o	The location and approximate timing of timber harvesting in the proposed coupes
o	The location of any associated access roads.
The TRP shows the location of areas which may be harvested and regenerated. It must be strictly abided by in the context of all other regulatory requirements. The TRP may be reviewed and changed in accordance with the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act.

•	Q: What is ‘old growth’ and why is it modelled?
•	A: ‘Old growth’ means forest which contains significant amounts of its oldest growth stage ‐ usually senescent (growing old) trees . For forest to qualify as old‐growth, the regrowth growth stage, if present, must be sparse (less than 10% of the total crown cover of the stand). Negligibly disturbed forest is that in which disturbance is known to have occurred, but the disturbance is unlikely to have altered the structure (growth stage and crown cover) or the usual species composition which characterises a given vegetation class; or, if the alteration did occur in the past, it is no longer measurable.
Old growth is modelled by DELWP and presented in the spatial layer ‘MOG 2009’. The model includes information about this forest value based on existing spatial data that, among other factors, considers age class and vegetation type. The information about this forest value is verified during field assessment by the DELWP or VicForests.
•	Q: What is the model of probability of occurrence based on?
•	A: DELWP has produced a predictive model to determine the areas that are most likely to contain populations of Leadbeater’s Possum. The model considers forest structure and was informed by surveys undertaken in 2012.  The map shows the area that the model predicts to have greater than 65% likelihood of the species being present which currently has a timber harvesting moratorium. Refer to the following link for information on the full model and how it was developed.  http://www.depi.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0008/192932/DEPI_ARI_web.pdf

•	Q: Why do the targeted Leadbeater’s Possum surveys include areas outside of the 65% probability of occurrence?
•	A: There is currently a 2 year moratorium on timber harvesting (commenced July 2014) in areas of State forest predicted to have a greater than 65% probability of Leadbeater’s Possum occurring to enable targeted surveys to be undertaken.  Surveys are also being undertaken in nearby areas and adjacent to existing records, to develop clusters of records for protection. Areas that are known to be important for the species and have a high density of records are also targeted by DELWP for survey. 

Leadbeater’s Possum records and exclusion zones
•	Q: How do Leadbeater’s Possum reports become records?
•	A: A report is a documented alleged presence of Leadbeater’s Possum in the Central Highlands.  DELWP accepts reports from all sources and assesses these reports against criteria in the Threatened Species Survey Standard: Leadbeater’s Possum (2015): (http://delwp.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0006/299643/Leadbeater’s Possum-Survey-Standard-2015-artwork.pdf). Once DELWP confirms a report, it becomes a record.

•	Q: I supplied a Leadbeater’s Possum report to DELWP, but I cannot see it on the website?
•	A: DELWP must verify any information supplied of a Leadbeater's Possum report, which can take time. People supplying Leadbeater’s Possum reports to DELWP will be provided with a summary of the verification outcomes as soon as they become available (see the aforementioned survey standard). Once a report is verified it becomes a record and is forwarded for inclusion in the Leadbeater’s Possum spatial dataset and loaded onto the interactive map. Check the date provided on the Leadbeater’s Possum website to see when the map was last updated.

•	Q: But if the information is not shown on the interactive map, and the record resides within State forest, how will VicForests know that they cannot harvest there?
•	A: DELWP undertakes a separate process to inform VicForests about the presence of Leadbeater’s Possum colonies. As soon as DELWP is sent a report that is plausible, VicForests is notified that this report is undergoing verification and any harvesting plans are suspended while the verification is occurring. VF is notified again once a report is confirmed and it becomes a record.

•	Q: Why has a 200m exclusion zone been established?
A: The Leadbeater's Possum Advisory Group recommended that a 200m timber harvesting exclusion zone be established around all recent Leadbeater’s Possum colonies located in State forest, based on records from the last 15 years (prior to February 2014) and all new records, with a review to be undertaken after 200 new colonies are found or 2 years of intensive surveys. This rule is also featured in incorporated documents under the Code of Practice for Timber Production 2014 which form part of the regulatory system for commercial timber harvesting.

•	Q: Why does it appear that some Leadbeater’s Possum records do not have their own exclusion zone?
•	A1: If a new Leadbeater’s Possum record falls within 200 m of an existing Leadbeater’s Possum record (that is, within the buffer of an existing Leadbeater’s Possum record), then that record is deemed to be part of that existing Leadbeater’s Possum colony.
•	A2: During DELWP targeted surveys, two remote cameras were installed at each site. When Leadbeater’s Possums were detected on both cameras, the position of the exclusion zone was selected based on which of the two camera locations provided the greatest level of protection for that colony, and the second camera location is recorded as a ‘duplicate’.

•	Q: I can see a Leadbeater’s Possum exclusion zone over the top of a General Management Zone (GMZ), isn’t this supposed to be a Special Protection Zone (SPZ)?
A: Where a Leadbeater’s Possum exclusion zone falls within State forest, these areas will go through a planning process to rezone the area as an SPZ where appropriate. The zoning process can take some time, so newly discovered records may still be shown as GMZ even though they are protected and VicForests has been notified that these areas cannot be harvested. 

•	Q: What happens if a Leadbeater’s Possum exclusion zone falls over a VF TRP coupe?
•	A: The mapped coupe area is just the gross area, and not all of this area will be harvested. The area covered by the exclusion zone will be excluded from timber harvesting.

•	Q: Then why is this not reflected in the data?
A: The TRP information shown is a point in time dataset. New Leadbeater’s Possum information will trigger an annual review process of coupes on the TRP. For information on the latest proposed changes to the TRP users can visit VicForests website http://www.vicforests.com.au/timber-release-plan