Author Archives: fobif

BirdLife International has identified areas of conservation importance around the world as Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs). This includes KBAs right here in our region. Our KBAs were designated especially for their importance for two special birds, Diamond Firetail and Swift … Continue reading →

FOBIF has made a reluctant submission to the current government consultation on forest management. Our reluctance is based on two concerns: These consultations increasingly look like popularity polls, along the lines of the Herald Sun’s daily polls on subjects like, … Continue reading →

FOBIF has made a late submission to the Bushfire Management consultation [see our previous post], after our representatives attended ‘drop in’ consultations in Castlemaine and Bendigo this month. The substance of our submission is set out below: The poor quality … Continue reading →

Travellers on the Pyrenees Highway east of Newstead will have noticed that work is under way on Vicroads’ wire rope project. A last minute series of meetings between local residents and road engineers has failed to bring any further modification … Continue reading →

Vicroads engineers met again with residents in Newstead last week to go over objections to tree removals along the Pyrenees Highway [see our previous posts]. Numerous objections to the basis of the project were raised. Some were accepted as legitimate—statistics … Continue reading →

Connecting Country is preparing a grant application to Mount Alexander Shire Council for an Eltham Copper Butterfly project, working with local ecologists Elaine Bayes and Karl Just, seeking funding to monitor and protect this threatened species. FOBIF has agreed to … Continue reading →

FOBIF has just received the following communique from Newstead 2021: Community group Newstead 2021 Inc today has been informed by Bendigo West MP Maree Edwards that VicRoads’ proposed Pyrenees Highway Safety Improvements project between Newstead and Muckleford South have been … Continue reading →

Mal ‘Jase’ Haysom has produced yet another useful map of our area: this time, roads and tracks in the Taradale Nature Conservation Reserve and [almost] adjacent State Forest. The map can be found online here, or a paper version can … Continue reading →