Author Archives: fobif

Parks Vic 1: budget cuts and staff decline

Posted on 25 January, 2016 by fobif

Attentive readers will have noticed the brief kerfuffle in January on the release of the Parks Victoria 2014-5 Annual Report. You can read the report here. Interest has centred around the fact that Government funding to PV had been slashed … Continue reading →

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Parks Vic 2: ‘God’s in His heaven and all’s well’

Posted on 25 January, 2016 by fobif

Not that you’d know about pressure and stress by reading the Parks Victoria Report. As is the nature of these documents, it’s nicely illustrated, and full of good news. It might be unfair to call the general tone gaga, but … Continue reading →

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Parks Vic 3: so, what’s really happening in heaven?

Posted on 25 January, 2016 by fobif

In the meantime, what’s happening in the Parks themselves? We do have great parks, but this Report, though it does have some useful info, won’t give you a real idea of the serious challenges the park system faces. The Report … Continue reading →

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A great local archive

Posted on 25 January, 2016 by fobif

Webmaster of the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club, Chris Timewell, has put the newsletters of the Club from 1976 online. They can be found here. This archive is a fascinating record of Field Nats observations and reflections on our region over … Continue reading →

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Moss guide goes to reprint edition

Posted on 14 December, 2015 by fobif

FOBIF’s field guide to Mosses of dry forests in south eastern Australia has sold so well we’ve had to go to a reprint edition, adding a few improvements along the way. The new edition is on sale via this website, … Continue reading →

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It’s Australia’s only National Heritage Park: so, should it be managed in a unique way?

Posted on 14 December, 2015 by fobif

What is a heritage landscape, and what difference does the tag ‘heritage’ make to the way a landscape should be managed? Of course, all landscapes are ‘heritage’ or ‘cultural’ landscapes in one way or another: but there’s only one in … Continue reading →

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How do they do it? [1] Making something out of nothing

Posted on 14 December, 2015 by fobif

It’s been a bleak period in our bushlands this year, but even in the bleakest of times, something surprising can be seen: and, as during the millenium drought, one of the most surprising is the sight of this delicate looking … Continue reading →

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How do they do it? [2] Surviving in the pollution soup

Posted on 14 December, 2015 by fobif

The picture below is a Common Long Neck turtle [Chelodina longicolis] sun baking in the horrible pollution soup that is Forest Creek at the Wheeler Street bridge. Turtles have been seen in this unpromising location for many years, and seemed … Continue reading →

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‘Risk management’: what does it mean, in practice?

Posted on 22 November, 2015 by fobif

The recently abolished ‘five per cent target’ policy aimed at burning at least 390, 000 hectares of public land per year. This target was never reached, and was probably never going to be possible. In the last five years, the … Continue reading →

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Lessons from Lancefield [1]: resourcing

Posted on 22 November, 2015 by fobif

The management burn which escaped from the Cobaw State Forest in October with disastrous results was the subject of an independent investigation led by Stuart Carter. His report was released last week. It can be found here. We won’t comment … Continue reading →

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