Where Are the Important Hotspots for Forest Biodiversity? A Detailed Spatial Analysis for the Australian State of Victoria

ABSTRACT Identifying areas of high biodiversity value is critical for effective conservation. Similarly, identifying gaps in existing protected area networks is fundamental to determining where new areas are needed to better conserve biodiversity. We conducted a spatial prioritisation analysis for forest and woodland‐dependent species across Victoria using the program Zonation, integrating datasets on IBRA bioregions, EVC groups, forest disturbance and habitat models for rare and threatened taxa. Our study addressed three questions: (Q1) Where are the highest priority areas for rare and threatened forest and woodland species? (Q2) Where are the highest priority areas in relation to the current protected area network across particular regions? (Q3) Are there additional high‐priority areas that would need to be included in the protected area network? Our results highlighted key IBRA subregions with the highest conservation priority for forest and woodland dependent species, including Murray Fans, Gippsland Plain, Otway Ranges, Strzelecki Ranges, Goldfields, Highlands ‐ Northern Fall and East Gippsland Lowlands. Unprotected state forests previously zoned for logging were consistently associated with lower conservation value scores, likely due to degraded forest condition. In contrast, state forests zoned as special protection zones (SPZs) achieved the same scores as those assigned protection under IUCN category II, such as national parks. Natural Features Reserves and IUCN protected area categories III and V featured the highest scoring land tenures. Our gap analysis revealed that for several IBRA subregions, most top‐priority areas (Zonation bin scores 0.9–1.0) were in unprotected land tenures, particularly state forests. These included the IBRA subregions of the Highlands ‐ Southern Fall and Highlands ‐ Northern Fall. Our findings underscore the need to extend formal protection to high conservation value areas in underrepresented IBRA subregions, primarily through the expansion of national parks and other kinds of legislated conservation reserves across specific subregions.