The group has received $1.8 million from the state government’s Biodiversity Response Planning to support programs that help retain the national park’s plant diversity and protect threatened species.

Parks Victoria acting area chief ranger Tammy Schoo said the Grampians was a nationally-listed reserve and the most important area for floristic richness and endemism in south-eastern Australia 

“That means we have a really high concentration of plants and animals that only live here,” she said.

“We also have the highest amount of cultural heritage in south-eastern Australia.

“This funding is the most we've ever had for environmental and conversation programs.

“It will go a long way to extinguishing some of the devastating impacts that feral cats and foxes have, and also go a long way to reducing habitat damage from deer, goats and rabbits. It will also help us start to restore some of those systems that really rely on having no pest animals within them.”

Mrs Schoo said the funding would allow Parks Victoria to run three key projects: a Grampians sallow wattle containment program; an integrated herbivore management program; and an introduced predators program.

“We are waiting on final approvals through the government, but we're hoping that in a month or two we'll hit the ground running,” she said.

Deer and feral animals such as goats pose a risk to Aboriginal rock art sites in the Grampians, and also damage vegetation.

Sallow wattle is a species of acacia that has spread in northern sections of the Grampians.

Mrs Schoo said the issue was that once the plant reached 30 per cent cover abundance, it caused a significant decline in other floristic species.

She said the containment program would ensure the wattle’s spread did not increase beyond the area it covered in 2016.

The Grampians funding is part of a $11.2-million package for Parks Victoria programs across the state over the next three years.

The organisation will work with Traditional Owners; the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning; Trust for Nature; catchment management authorities; and other organisations to roll out the projects.

Parks Victoria chief conservation scientist Mark Norman said the organisation was thrilled with the boost for urgent nature conservation needs.

“These include stemming the massive wildlife toll taken by feral cats and foxes, reducing the habitat damage caused by expanding deer, pig, rabbit and goat populations, and managing and restoring the beautiful wild places and critical habitats throughout Victoria,” he said.

“It’s the strongest support for nature and wildlife that the state’s received in decades, if ever.”