Calls for new Victorian national parks

A new report is calling on the Victorian government to better protect nearly 60,000 hectares of land in the state's central west.

Victoria should create new national parks to help protect tens of thousands of hectares in the state's central west, a report says.

The largest of the proposed parks is the 49,553ha Wombat-Lerderderg National Park, northwest of Melbourne.

All up, the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council wants an extra 58,115ha in the state's central west to be declared protected areas.

The includes an expanded Greater Bendigo National Park and the creation of the Pyrenees and Mount Buangor national parks northwest of Ballarat.

Victoria's National Parks Association said the new parks would help boost tourism and protect rivers and threatened species, including the Powerful Owl and Greater Glider.

"It has been almost a decade since the last major additions to our national parks system," the association's executive director Matt Ruchel said.

PROPOSED PARKS

* Wombat-Lerderderg National Park

* Pyrenees National Park

* Mount Buangor National Park

* Greater Bendigo National Park

* Hepburn and Cobaw conservation parks

(Source: Victorian Environmental Assessment Council)