Large wood (snags) and native vegetation (instream, bank and riparian) play an important role in influencing the health of rivers, estuaries and wetlands. Taking wood or removing trees, shrubs and reeds from the bed and banks of waterways and from riparian land typically leads to poorer water quality, eroded riverbanks and degraded environments. In many parts of Victoria, catchment management authorities (CMAs) and Melbourne Water are working in partnership with local communities and landholders to put wood and vegetation back into our waterways and riparian areas.

A large fallen tree in a river creates a healthy riparian landscape

A large tree sits fallen across the banks of Gellibrand River of the Corangamite catchment

These photographs show examples of healthy rivers with good instream large wood (left) and healthy riparian land (right). Photos courtesy Jim Barrett (left) and Corangamite CMA (right).

Landholders are sometimes concerned about the potential for flooding which may be caused by instream wood and vegetation in and around a waterway. Consequently, DELWP has developed a series of fact sheets which include information for the community about managing vegetation and information about approvals that may be required in its management:

Page last updated: 05/06/19