Author Archives: fobif

The new plan does make some advances on the old on the twin questions of environmental damage and Aboriginal dispossession. For a start, it explicitly tries to incorporate a role for indigenous questions in park interpretation: ‘In 2013 settlement of … Continue reading →

VEAC has released its final recommendations on the Central West forest. The full report with the executive summary and related documents can be found here. The final recommendations take account of responses to the draft, issued last year: but the … Continue reading →

Here’s a quote from the Australian National Outlook study released by the CSIRO last week: ‘While water use is projected to double by 2050, this growth can be met while enhancing urban water security and avoiding increased environmental pressures through increased … Continue reading →

It has a pretty name, and a pretty flower—after all, it was introduced into this country as a garden plant. Now it’s one of the worst invasive weeds in the country, a menace to the environment and agriculture. You guessed … Continue reading →

How long should we plan for? An interesting hint can be found in the May issue of the newsletter of the Australian Forest History Society, in a story by Roger Underwood, about New College Oxford, founded in 1379: ‘The chapel … Continue reading →

The Castlemaine Botanical Gardens are an important part of our community, but it’s fair to say that the flora and fauna reserve section of the gardens is a bit of a poor relation, even though it has tremendous interest in … Continue reading →

Parks Victoria has flagged the possibility of ambitious celebrations to mark the 170th anniversary of the discovery of gold in this region. They would take place in spring 2021. Another celebration possibility could be the 20th anniversary of the opening … Continue reading →

Users of Expedition Pass reservoir over the last year or so have noticed signs of serious stress in the Red Gums at the south western end of the dam wall, near the Golden Point Road. Reasons for the stress are … Continue reading →

Last year Macquarie Uni’s Andrew Gissing and Fran Molloy offered this comment on driver behaviour and flood deaths: ‘Research by the Bushfire and Natural Hazards Cooperative Research Centre found that most of the 178 flood-related deaths in Australia since 2000 have … Continue reading →