ABSTRACT
Incursions of new populations to peri-urban areas have led to increased development throughout the Global North, a phenomenon frequently labelled as counter-urbanization (Halfacree 2008). It has been noted that in some regions this process is undermining the values that attract people to those areas (Argent et al. 2010, Klepeis et al. 2009). As these processes of population change and urban development unfold, land uses change and formerly productive landscapes and conservation areas transition to satisfy a new range of demands and multiple, concurrent, functions (Argent 2011, Barr 2005, Holmes 2006). One of the increasingly recognized functions and ecological services of peri-urban landscapes is the provision of habitat for biodiversity (Tovey 2008). This function is of particular importance in Australian states, such as Victoria, due to the scarcity of well-preserved remnants of native vegetation (Dettmann et al. 2000, VEAC 2010). At the broader scale, the landscape of the peri-urban is part of a network of natural areas, which, ideally provides the connectedness that is desirable for conservation of many species (Fischer and Lindenmayer 2007). In parallel, the heterogeneous landscape resulting from the mix of multiple land uses and functions characteristic of peri-urban areas is usually valued in a number of ways by local residents and by citizens from elsewhere (Vejre et al. 2010). Simultaneously, a well-managed urban fringe has the potential to reduce exposure of people and properties to wildfire, as it potentially increases the resilience of forested covers to such fire (Buxton et al. 2011).
