The Goulburn Broken region

The Goulburn Broken region in northern Victoria is part of the Murray Darling Basin. It covers about 10 per cent of the State and is home to 181,000 people. The major cities include Mooroopna, Shepparton, Numurkah, Cobram, Yarrawonga, Benalla, Euroa, Nagambie, Mansfield, Alexandra, Yea, Seymour, Broadford, Kilmore and Wallan.

The region covers almost 2.5 million hectares and comprises the Yarra, Alpine and Strathbogie ranges in the south and east, the floodplains and wetlands of the Murray River in the north and the catchments of the Goulburn and Broken Rivers. Areas of particular environmental importance include: the Kinglake, Alpine, Lake Eildon and Barmah National Parks, the Ramsar-listed Barmah-Millewa Forest, parts of Mega Murray flagship area and the Upper Goulburn bio-link.

Many regard the region as the ‘food bowl’ of the Murray Darling Basin. The main primary industries are horticulture, dairy, cropping, viticulture, wool, forestry and grazing of both sheep and cattle. The region also supports a large fruit and vegetable food processing industry centred around Shepparton and Cobram. Tourism, timber and recreation are also vitally important to the region’s economy, particularly in the hills and ranges in the southeast and along the Murray River.

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