Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

The 2024-5 bushfire season has started in Victoria, so it might be a good idea to draw attention to one important dimension of management practices. Readers will no doubt be familiar with this kind of notice, attached to trees to notify the public of an upcoming burn:

Note the objective ‘to maintain or improve the resilience of our natural ecosystems.’

Is that objective being achieved? Is it even a serious objective? Whenever we’ve enquired about the purpose of a particular burn, the objectives given to us are to do with life and property, and any mention of ecosystems is vague in the extreme. Some fire officers have expressed outright cynicism about the stated objective!

Now, a new study of the Black Summer fires of 2019-20 suggests that in those fires the most serious damage to biodiversity occurred in areas which had most recently burned:

The study, in the journal Nature, ‘found that sites with high fire frequency (three or more fires in the 40 years preceding 2019–2020) had negative effects that were 87–93% larger compared with sites not burnt or burnt once over the same period. Similarly, when the most recent inter-fire intervals were short (10 years or less), negative effects were 70% larger compared with sites burnt more than 20 years previously.’ These effects were observable even when the previous fires had been mild.

The study also found that frequent fires strongly favour some species. This could lead to the dominance of fire tolerant species and a rapid decline of species more seriously affected by fire. Serious fire also favours feral predators able to move more freely in post fire landscapes.

The study ‘observed the smallest effect sizes at intermediate fire intervals (11-20 years), indicating that communities undergo the least disruption at these intervals. Long intervals are also needed to serve as refuges, create time-dependent habitat attributes such as tree hollows, and support source populations for species that might be lost from areas burnt too frequently.’

(It’s worth noting that, according to a 2010 study by David Cheal, the minimum tolerable fire interval in box/ironbark forests is 12 years after a low severity fire and 30 years after a high severity fire.)

The authors of the study accept the need for fire management action to protect both forest and people: but they urge a change in current strategies: ‘ Given that under extreme weather, prescribed fires have limited capacity to prevent vulnerable areas from burning, widespread and frequent prescribed fire is a poor choice for responding to the growing fire threat. With such a vast area of Australian forests in an early post-fire state, increasing rapid wildfire suppression is now an important alternative strategy for limiting short fire intervals.’

There are, of course, other factors driving fire severity, like drought; and long term warming is an overarching reality, something we feel every summer. The study factors these realities  into its findings. It would be good to think fire officers—and maybe more importantly, politicians—are giving it a good look.

Become our Treasurer!

Are you passionate about nature conservation? Do you have a knack for numbers and a love for protecting our iconic Box-Ironbark forests? The Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests are seeking a Treasurer to join our team of volunteers to help us continue our important work in preserving these vital ecosystems.

About Us:

The Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests is a grassroots conservation group committed to protecting and enhancing the health of Box-Ironbark forests in Victoria. We engage with local communities, raise awareness, and undertake vital conservation projects to safeguard the unique biodiversity of these forests.

Position: Treasurer

Key Responsibilities:

• Oversee the financial management of the organization, ensuring accurate and transparent financial records.
• Prepare financial statements for monthly and annual reporting.
• Ensure compliance with relevant financial regulations, including charity and not-for-profit laws.

What We’re Looking For:

• Attention to detail and the ability to communicate financial information clearly.
• A passion for environmental conservation and the work of the Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests.
• Ability to work collaboratively with a dedicated team of volunteers and members.

Why Join Us?

• Be part of an active, passionate community dedicated to making a real difference in environmental conservation.
• Gain valuable experience in nonprofit financial management.
• Help us ensure the future of Victoria’s Box-Ironbark forests for generations to come.

• How to Apply:

If you are excited to take on this vital role, please get in touch with me, Lisa Hall, Interim Treasurer 0488 102 191, lisanaomihall@gmail.com.

Become an essential part of our mission to protect the Box-Ironbark forests—where every number counts and every effort helps ensure a greener, more sustainable future.

A new study examining plant and animal species after the Black Summer fire season found greater biodiversity loss in areas subject to frequent burning. You can view two articles on the study here, one from The Conversation and one from the ABC.

One of the arguments often put forward to support fuel reduction  burning is that it can prevent or reduce the severity of larger bushfires. The argument goes that even if planned burning causes some impacts, it is less than what would occur during a larger bushfire. However, it is interesting to note that this study found otherwise, that the frequency of fire (e.g. planned burning followed by bushfire rather than bushfire alone) may cause greater harm and “condemns many plants and animals to large, potentially catastrophic declines in the next bushfire”.

The endangered Mountain Skink Liopholis montana needs your help to ensure its future. Wombat Forestcare, a community conservation group with over 200 members based in the Wombat State Forest, Victoria, is seeking donations to contract a reptile scientist to undertake surveys, establish long-term monitoring sites and collect genetic samples.

See https://chuffed.org/project/113833-be-a-champion-for-nature-lets-protect-our-mountain-skink

Up until four years ago, the Mountain Skink was thought to only inhabit high altitude alpine areas from the ACT to Yea in Victoria and only at a limited number of locations. In 2020 a group of herpetologists discovered a family of Mountain Skinks in the Wombat Forest, and at a much lower altitude.

This very exciting discovery led to scientists and Wombat Forestcare locating other populations of this secretive skink.

Research partly funded by Wombat Forestcare demonstrated that the newly discovered Wombat Forest population of Mountain Skinks contained higher levels of genetic diversity and lower levels of inbreeding when compared to the other populations of Mountain Skinks. 

Climate change will threaten the capacity of many alpine creatures to survive, and the Wombat Forest population will be of critical conservation importance should a captive breeding program be undertaken.

Mountain Skinks are also under threat from fuel reduction burns that are regularly undertaken in the Wombat Forest as well as salvage logging and firewood collection. 

In order to protect Mountain Skinks from these activities we need to know where they are located in the Wombat Forest. 

Readers may be interested in this article from The Guardian, which documents how a planned burn proposed for an area of Box Ironbark Forest at Whroo (near Rushworth) has been cancelled following a community-led ecological survey. The planned burn was scheduled to take place in autumn 2025, however the survey, which was commissioned by Kinglake Friends of the Forest, found that the burn area contained the only known site for the endangered Bald-tip Beard-orchid (Calochilus richiae). There are less than 10 plants remaining of this species, and the survey ecologist considered the burn to have a high likelihood of causing its extinction: link to article

FOBIF have been advocating for more sensible fuel reduction burning in our region for many years and are very concerned by the impacts caused to our precious flora and fauna. Over the years we have seen resources for biodiversity monitoring and survey dwindle, and the lack of due diligence, surveys and database checks prior to planned burns is a major issue. In 2019, Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV) planned to burn a large area of Kalimna Park to the east of Castlemaine, however it took another community-led survey to show that several areas within the planned burn area supported the endangered Eltham Copper Butterfly.

We will continue to advocate for FFMV to do their own background work to ensure that sensitive species are excluded from planned burns. If the community can do it, then so can they.

There is currently a planned burn scheduled for the Maldon Historic Reserve for 2025, and we note that one of the regions most endangered plant species, Lanky Buttons (Leptorhynchos elongatus) has previously been recorded within the proposed burn area. We will be writing to FFMV to determine if any surveys have been undertaken to ensure this species is not impacted.

Euan Moore will be leading next Sunday’s walk in the Crusoe Reservoir/Big Hill area. The walk will longer than usual (12km) and there will be some climbing. You  can see more detail on our walks page. 

People should bring lunch and the normal walking gear.  

We will be leaving in convoy as usual at 9.30am from the Castlemaine Community House. However Bendigo people might prefer to meet at Crusoe Reservoir at 10am. The meeting point at Crusoe Reservoir will be the main carpark off Crusoe Road.
https://maps.app.goo.gl/K4xBSTgM8JSUBSta6  Plenty of parking there and a toilet.

Hopefully the weather will be kind and there will be a few flowers out.