accommodate public access and recreation activities whilst still maintaining sustainability and environmental responsibility. This plan acts to prioritize vegetation protection and restoration as well as ensure public access to abundant open spaces around Melbourne. The park aims to educate visitors and nearby residents on the importance of the areas cultural and natural values. This helps maintain high levels of respect for the ecosystems and heritage of the area. Environmental priorities within the park include maintaining control programs for introduced species of plant and animal. Other strategies include monitoring species of conservation significance and then developing targeted management regimes for those threatened species. The mapping of the quality and distribution of the various habitats is also vital so that high quality ecological communities can continue to exist in the park. Another important management strategy is working with the local residents and the Wyndham city council to the west of the park and ensure they restrain domestic animals from entering the park and causing harm to the native wildlife. The maintenance of the hydrological cycle for the Cheetham Wetlands is crucial in maintaining a high quality and diverse wetlands. Therefore, additional pumping infrastructure is planned so that a greater quantity of water can be pumped from the Skeleton Creek. Parks Victoria is also working in conjunction with the Wyndham City Council so that urban development on the west side of the park has little or no negative environmental impact. The inclusion of the eastern part of the park in the Port Phillip Bay and Bellarine Peninsula Ramsar Site has also increased the protection levels for the area as it is considered of international conservation importance. Objectives under the Ramsar convention range from protecting and enhancing ecosystem processes and habitats to preventing processes from having adverse effects on the wetlands and coastal communities. Monitoring programs and limiting degrading processes like erosion are crucial for maintaining the high levels of biodiversity in the park as well as providing vital safe habitat for threatened species. Continued levels of high quality habitat both for inland waterways and coastal zones is very important for migratory birds that use the area at certain times of the year. An example of this is the orange-bellied parrot which is critically endangered largely due to habitat loss. See also Protected areas of Victoria References Coastal parks of Victoria (Australia) Geography of Victoria (Australia) Coastline of Victoria (Australia) City of Wyndham