Category Archives: News

Views can be a wonderful experience, but a double edged one: a house may offer a magnificent view of a nearby hill, but a person sitting on that hill may not be pleased by having to look at the house … Continue reading →

Visitors to local bushlands will have noticed the widespread flowering of our beautiful local Hakea [H. decurrens, or ‘bushy needlewood’—see picture below], which was particularly proliferating in the south end of the Diggings Park visited by our walking group on … Continue reading →

Members strolling in Kalimna recently will have noticed that maintenance work on the Tourist road has just been completed. The works were much needed, because wear and tear, plus water damage after heavy rains, had corrugated and rutted the road. … Continue reading →

In the light of the odd angry shot fired earlier this year at conservation works along our creeks, it is interesting to read a letter in the June issue of the Castlemaine Historical Society Newsletter. The letter, dated 25/9/1934, was … Continue reading →

We are likely to have an exceptional few months of orchids this year. Hundreds of Nodding Greenhood rosettes can already be seen. An early flowering type is the Tall Greenhood Pterostylis longifolia, pictured here. Photos of other local Greenhoods can be viewed in … Continue reading →

On June 19 twenty three hardy souls braved unpromising conditions to tackle FOBIF’s June walk in a remote corner of the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park. In fact, however, the weather held nicely, and the group experienced some great moments … Continue reading →

Fungi field guides can disconcert the newcomer with their specialist vocabulary–in fact, learning about fungi seems to begin with the learning of a lot of new words to describe both the structure and the habit of a particular fungus. Some … Continue reading →

In line with changes to its Code of Practice, and with recommendations of the Bushfire Royal Commission, DSE has reduced the number of fire management zones to four: Asset Protection Strategic wildfire moderation Ecological management Prescribed burning exclusion Asset Protection … Continue reading →

The Victorian Environment Assessment Council pointed out in its recent report that DSE possesses ‘vast’ amounts of information about forest ecology, but suggested that DSE workers are not necessarily in possession of this knowldge when it recommended the implementation of … Continue reading →

Mount Alexander Council budget papers show that $23,000 has been set aside for community education in relation to land management and, we assume, to help with the implementation of the recently adopted Environment Strategy. It seems that the money is … Continue reading →