Parks are vital for the protection of native species. Victoria's terrestrial parks are home to some than 4303 native plants and 948 species of native animal. A significant number of species are only known from records in parks including 1282 flora and 177 fauna species.

Marine Species

Compared to terrestrial environments, less is known of species diversity in Victoria's marine environment simply because less people have looked. Slowly but surely we are building our knowledge. Mulitple surveys have been done in most Marine National Parks and Sanctuaries along the outer coast of Victoria. The numbers of species recorded in 3 of the larger marine protected areas are 337 species in Port Phillip Heads, 287 species in Wilsons Promontory and 239 species in Bunurong.

Threatened Species and Communities

A large number of Victoria's native flora and fauna are threatened due to past and present land use practices, impacts of weeds and pest animals and other disturbances. Parks have a key role to play in protecting threatened species. 89 per cent of all of victoria's threatened plants and animals have been recorded in parks and 31 threatened vegetation communities occur in parks.