Areas of estuarine waters derived and updated by the Index of Estuary Condition funded by the Department Environment, Land, Water and Planning. Underlying estuarine areas were produced by Deakin University as part of the projects: "Linking catchments to the sea: Understanding how human activities impact on Victorian estuaries" funded by the National Heritage Trust (Barton et al., 2008) and the Department of Sustainability and Environment and the Trial Implementation of the Index of Estuary Condition, funded by the Department of Sustainability and Environment and Deakin University (Pope et al., 2015).

Investigation Area's used in the VicPlan Mapshare site

Coastal Wave Model Statistics dataset is a high-resolution third-generation wave model based on unstructured grids. WAVEWATCH III was used to investigate the wave climate of Bass Strait and South-East Australia over the period 1981 to 2020. The model results are extensively validated against a network of coastal buoys and demonstrate that the model can capture the overall wave characteristics in this region. Analyses of model outputs across the 40-year period show that significant wave height has increased by approximately 5% and a slight counterclockwise rotation of peak wave direction has occurred with likely implications for coastal processes. Seasonal variations show higher significant wave height in winter compared to summer, which is driven by dominant Southern Ocean swell. The peak wave direction in the eastern region shifts from south-westerly in winter to south-easterly in summer. In autumn and winter, there is a statistically significant correlation between wave conditions and the Southern Annular Mode. During these seasons, a southward movement of Southern Ocean low pressure systems is associated with increased significant wave height, an increase in the peak wave period and a counterclockwise rotation of the peak wave direction. 1. Liu, J., Meucci, A., Liu, Q., Babanin, A. V., Ierodiaconou, D., & Young, I. R. (2022), The wave climate of Bass Strait and south-east Australia. Ocean Modelling, 172, 101980. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ocemod.2022.101980. 2. Tran, H. Q., Provis, D., & Babanin, A. V. (2021), Hydrodynamic Climate of Port Phillip Bay. Journal of Marine Science and Engineering, 9(8), 898. https://doi.org/10.3390/jmse9080898

IEC2021_BARRIERS indicates locations of estuarine barriers (partial and complete) that were used in the 2021 Index of Estuarine Condition. A combination of existing data sources and field data collection was used to identify the existence of artificial barriers and whether these structures represented partial or complete barriers (Pope et al. 2015). Partial barriers were those that were considered to allow limited or intermittent movement of biota. Complete barriers were those that represented an absolute and permanent barrier to biota. Where artificial barriers were identified, the most likely location of the natural (pre-1750) inland extent (length) of the estuary was derived from historical documents, field observations, elevation data and geomorphology to provide a `natural estuary length¿.

The Statewide Marine Habitat Map 2023 was developed by DEECA applying novel machine learning methods that model and predict habitat distributions as well as a mosaic of former mapping products (listed below). The Statewide map represents 24 marine and coastal habitats complexes at Level 3, Victoria's Combined Biotope Classification Scheme (CBiCS) described by Edmunds and Flynn (2015, 2018; 2021). The final map comprises of 83% its area from predictive modelling, with the remaining 17% of area from synthesised existing habitat maps. Predictive Model: A total of 32,998 habitat survey sites (ground-truth records) were used within the model, along with 28 environmental properties mapped at a 10m resolution (including a Digital Elevation Model DEM (VCDEM2021), computed benthic terrain characteristics (toolkit: Walbridge et al. 2018), Chlorophyl a (IMOS 2000a), Sea Surface Temperature SST (IMOS 2000a), Net Primary Productivity NPP (IMOS 2000b), Sediments (Geoscience Australia; Li et al. 2011a,b,c), waves (Liu et al. 2022). To predict the distribution of habitats across Victorian waters the powerful and flexible Random Forest machine learning algorithm was applied. Random Forest is an ensemble model using bagging as the ensemble method and decision trees as the individual model (Breiman 2001). The modelling produced an accuracy (Out-of-bag) of 89%. Map Synthesis: A mosaic of former mapping products that provided higher resolution mapping by aerial imagery, field observations and high-resolution modelling were integrated into the map, classifying habitat according to the CBICS habitat classification scheme at level 3. Assessed and synthesised maps and citations include: Corangamite Coast Marine Habitat December 2009 (ANZVI0803005530); East Gippsland Marine Habitats November 2009 (ANZVI0803003974); Discovery Bay Marine National Park habitat mapping 2006 (ANZVI0803004053); Portland Coastal Habitats (ANZVI0803004236) ; Corner Inlet Mapping Marine National Park North and South 2004 (ANZVI0803004051) ; Merri Marine Sanctuary 2004 (ANZVI0803004058); Western Port Bay Biotope Mapping Fathom Pacific (2016) CBiCS-Mapping. Central Victoria Coastal Habitats (ANZVI0803004135); Mallacoota Coastal Habitats (ANZVI0803004235); Western Port Rhodolite (ANZVI0803005430) & Western Port Biogenic Reefs; Port Phillip Bay Habitat Map 2021 (ANZVI0803009278); Saltmarsh and Mangrove Habitats; DELWP 2021 Statewide Marine Habitat Map 2021 (ANZVI0803009286) and relevant citations: Ball (1999), Ball et al. (2010). Ball & Blake (2007a), Ball & Blake (2007b), Blake and Ball (2001), Blake et al. (2013), Boon et al. (2011), Cohen et al (2000), Deakin Marine Mapping (Zavalas, R et al. 2018), DELWP (1994), Edmunds &Flynn (2015), Fathom Pacific (2020), Ford et al (2016), GeoHab Victoria Estuaries Geomorphology (2010), Ierodiaconou 2007, Ierodiaconou et al. 2018, Mazor et al. (2021), Monk et al. (2011), Poore (1992), Roob and Ball (1997), Victoria Department of Transport (1999), Young et al. 2022, Zavalas, R et al. 2018. Applications: The Statewide Marine Habitat Map 2023 provides broad habitat complexes across the state and provides greater knowledge of the ecological diversity across Victoria¿s waters. The map should be used at broad scales of >25 m, and where information of larger habitat complexes is needed. This work can support the management of large-scale habitats, their condition, marine spatial planning, strategic management prospect (SMP), FeAST risk assessments, and other broad scale applications to support management decisions across Victoria. The habitat model and resulting map provides an updated broad-scale habitat map across Victoria¿s state waters and provides a baseline for future data to build upon. Full Methodology: Citation: Mazor, T., Watermeyer, K., Hobley, T., Grinter, V., Holden, R., MacDonald, K. and Ferns, L. (2023). Statewide Marine Habitat Map. Habitat Complex Modelling Method (CBiCS Level 3). The State of

The Allocation Order 2013 made under section 13 of the Sustainable Forests (Timber) Act 2004 allocates and vests specified timber in State forests to VicForests for the purpose of harvesting and selling. This dataset specifies the spatial extent and location of these timber resources, by forest stand type. The Allocation Order 2013 was amended in October 2014 and April 2019. The dataset VicForests_Allocation_Apr2019 specifies the spatial extent and location of the vested timber resources according to the April 2019 amendment, gazetted on 24 April 2019.

This layer contains divisions of Victorian biounits as classified to CBICs Level 4 biotope complexes as polygons. At this level of the hierarchy, biotopes are grouped into sets with similar physical and biological characteristics.

Victorian State-wide dataset containing features of interest including boating clubs, camping grounds, caravan parks, historic sites, lifesaving clubs and lookouts as identified by the Victorian Regional Coastal Boards and reviewed as part of the Future Coasts SECAP project.

Dataset containing an indication of the geographic extent covered by Coastal Plans. The need for this information was identified by Stakeholders of the DSE Future Coasts "Spatially Enabling Coastal Assets" (SECAP) project in 2011/12. The dataset contains attributes identifying the report title, year of the report, unique identifier assigned to report, link that allows the report to be directly referenced, and link to source website page used to locate and obtain document. To support the capture of a suitable geographic extent covered by Coastal Plans each plan was reviewed and categorised in terms of the area it covered. For plans covering a local government area, Catchment Management Authority, Coastal Management Board area, or township, a nominal buffer was applied around the spatial extent of these administrative units. For reports containing a clear study area, this boundary was captured and used to depict the geographical area covered by the report.

Biologically Important Area data are spatially defined areas where aggregations of individuals of a regionally significant species are known to display biologically important behaviours such as breeding, foraging, resting or migration. This layer was originally produced by the Commonwealth of Australia (Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment, 2015), and has been cropped to Victoria's state boundaries, and queried for temperate east marine regions (SEMR- south east marine region).