Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

In 2022, a few of us on the FOBIF committee collaborated with Uncle Rick Nelson to develop a seasonal calendar for the Mount Alexander region by providing some of the ecological background. The seasons have now been printed onto tea towels, postcards and posters, accompanied by the stunning artwork of Daikota Nelson. A limited supply is now available at the Castlemaine Information Center and all proceeds go to Daikota and Uncle Rick. The seasons can also be viewed on the Council website here. 

Dja Dja Wurrung Seasons tea towel, now available at the Castlemaine Information Center

When Europeans first arrived in Australia, they transplanted their traditional concept of the four seasons that had been developed in the northern hemisphere over millennia. But the continent of Australia is a vastly different place to Europe, with different weather patterns and unique species of plants and animals. One of the most striking differences can be found in autumn, which in Europe arrives as the deciduous trees begin to lose their leaves before the cold winter arrives. But in the Australian bush, there are very few native deciduous trees, so the concept of autumn is not so relevant. Similarly, winter in much of Europe is a very cold time when many animals hibernate. But in southern Australia, this is a very productive time when many animals breed and plants flower.

First Nations people have their own calendars, which are closely tied to the life cycles of local plants and animals. The Dja Dja Wurrung recognise at least six seasons, illustrating how different the local weather and ecology are from Europe.

Dja Dja Wurrung Seasons poster, now available at the Castlemaine Information Center

In late February, the Victorian Labor Government finalised its housing targets for 2051. The target is for the development of 2.24 million more homes for Victoria, which would nearly double the current number of homes for the state. 

For Mount Alexander, the target is for approximately 4,500 new homes before 2051, on top of the existing number of approximately 9000 (a 50% increase). To put that into perspective, in 23-24 financial year, there were 111 new homes approved for the Shire. Based on the 2051 target, there would be on average somewhere around 170-180 new homes approved every year. Locals would have noticed how rapidly the Shire has grown in the last few years and the pressure that has put on many services. Just imagine what this kind of growth would look and feel like. 

The most alarming aspect of the governments approach is its threats to local Councils to change their local planning schemes to open land up for development. Taken from Premier Jacinta Allan’s webpage:

“It’s up to councils to work together with Government and industry to unlock this capacity in a way that’s right for the community. But if councils have no interest in doing so, there will be consequences. The landmark Plan for Victoria, to be released soon, will contain a declaration that Government will hold councils accountable with explicit directions to change planning schemes if they are not providing enough housing capacity – and, if required, the Government will step in to update planning schemes. It means that if councils don’t start doing the planning work now to meet these targets, the Government will intervene and unlock space for more homes – including through rezoning. The Minister for Planning will also retain her powers to intervene or fast-track developments.”

Woah, hang on a minute, can the State Government even do that?! Well apparently they can – in 2023, new reforms were introduced that allow the State Government to override councils to meet housing targets, so this has obviously been planned for a few years.

It is widely acknowledged that if we are to heave any chance at addressing the biodiversity and climate crisis, we need to drastically reduce land clearing. But if you look around our Shire, it is very obvious that a 50% increase in the number of houses would require huge amounts of land clearing – destruction of native vegetation and wildlife habitat. We just don’t have enough bare paddocks to accommodate so many houses. What we do have are extensive areas of bushland and a network of important biodiversity corridors, all that would be at great risk from such rapid development.

Local planning schemes have long played a pivotal role in putting the breaks on development and protecting important natural areas, including through zoning and the placement of Environmental Significance Overlays. The Government’s threat to throw all that out the window to allow unhindered development makes a mockery of all their other policies about tackling climate change and environmental protection. Yes, we have a housing crisis which urgently needs addressing, but there are many other ways that this can be addressed that would not involve such irreversible destruction to our natural heritage.

FOBIF will be writing a submission to the State Government on this issue and will continue to advocate for more appropriate planning and development in our region.

Aerial photo of Castlemaine, showing the current matrix of bushland and habitat corridors surrounding the town.

We want to thank two members of our committee, who are both leaving due to personal commitments. Asha Bannon joined the committee in 2023 is a former Landcare coordinator and NCCMA employee. She was a valued committee member who contributed to FOBIF a broad range of knowledge and experience. Cassia Read brought her expertise as an ecologist, educator, garden designer & Moss book colaborator, to FOBIF over a number of years.

We invite anyone who is interested in joining us, to get in touch; we meet each monthly for one hour. 

We are also looking for a Treasurer and are happy to support you in this role (no previous experience necessary, apart from the ability to work a calculator!).

Committee members play a critical role in furthering the goals of the organization, ensuring the forests are well-protected and fostering strong community involvement in local environmental issues.

Call Lisa Hall, Secretary 0488 102 191 or email info@fobif.org.au

Castlemaine spider orchid, photo by Noel Young

The FOBIF committee will be participating in a workshop with John Bonnice (Co-Chair of the Bendigo Reconciliation Committee) on Thursday 13th March at 10am in McKenzie Hill. The workshop takes 2.5 hours.

We have free spots available for the first 14 people to email us on info@fobif.org.au.

• This workshop emerged from feedback from Aboriginal colleagues that groups/organisations need to promote self-reflection within staff regarding their attitudes and beliefs surrounding white privilege and racism as these beliefs and attitudes were a barrier to the partnership work with Aboriginal people and organisations. It was also expressed that non-Aboriginal people needed to carry responsibility for this conversation.

  The aim of the workshop is to enable people/groups/organisations to reflect on mainstream culture/white privilege/racism and its impact on the relationship and work with Aboriginal people and communities and our understanding of what has happened/is happening for First Nations people.

• The workshops are a conversation using a self-reflection process
• It is not cultural awareness training but does certainly help people prepare for cultural awareness training and further learning.
• The workshop works best when it is done in person and not online.Sedimentary rock. Photo by Frances Cincotta 

We remember Richard Piesse,

Champion Castlemaine Naturalist and Volunteer

Saturday 15th February, 3-5pm.

Tea Rooms, Castlemaine Botanical Gardens

You are invited to join with the Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club and staff and volunteers from the Castlemaine Visitor Information Centre for an informal gathering to remember Richard Piesse, who died on 28th December, 2024.

Richard was a long-term active member of CFNC and loyal volunteer with the Castlemaine Visitor Information Centre. He knew our bushlands well through managing the building of the Leanganook as well as the Lerderderg tracks of the Great Dividing Trail Network, and his knowledge of the flora of the region was extraordinary. He was a generous and kind mentor and a passionate advocate for our local bush.

Please join us to share memories of and to celebrate Richard’s life and contributions over afternoon tea. Afterwards, there will be an option for a walk in the Castlemaine Botanical Gardens Nature Reserve, one of the many bushlands that has benefitted from Richard’s efforts.

ALL WELCOME

Meet: Saturday 15th February, 3-5pm, Tea Rooms, Castlemaine Botanical Gardens.

Parking: First car park along Downes Rd from Walker St.

Bring a small plate to share for afternoon tea. Tea and coffee will be provided.

Readers will have noticed prominent coverage in the national press of Federal support for the proposal to get UNESCO world heritage nomination for the Victorian goldfields.

FOBIF has taken a keen interest in the ongoing work on this proposal. You can find our 2024 submission to the World Heritage bid team here

Summing up the values that might justify listing is a tricky business, because ‘listing’ can very easily be understood as ‘celebrating’, and plenty of what happened during the gold rushes definitely should not be celebrated: the ongoing dispossession of First Nations people, and the complete trashing of our environment come to mind. World Heritage listing does NOT necessarily mean celebration: it’s worth noting that the Auschwitz death camp is on the list.

Cobblers Gully puddling wheel: such things are charming curiosities now–but Captain Bull tried unsuccessfully to ban them in 1855 because they poured sludge into creeks, polluting the region’s water.

The bid team have declared their full awareness of the complexity of goldfields history, and their determination to avoid a cheap glorification of gold which would gloss over the human and environmental costs of mining. In this, they’re in for a bit of a high wire [or is it juggling?] act, and will have to contend with the apparent ignorance or carelessness of politicians addicted to hype.  A good example might be a statement by Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek:

‘The Victorian Goldfields tell so many stories – of waves of immigration, of building beautiful towns from a harsh landscape, that have stood the test of time.’

The central Victorian landscapes were not ‘harsh’ when the diggers arrived. They became so after they were torn to pieces in the search for gold. The Environment Minister should know this, and be careful of slipping into one of the worst clichés of Australian history: that new arrivals had to struggle with a hostile landscape.

The Age/SMH article linked above is a good example of Gold boosterism—perhaps a consequence of reporter ignorance, but common enough anyway. The article is illustrated by an evocative picture of the Porcupine gold dredge; the writer forgot to caption the article with info to the effect that dredging was a major factor in the destruction of our rivers.

Further, it’s well to be cautious about promotion of World Heritage for economic reasons. We’re told that ‘A 2024 economic assessment found that the listing could see 2.5 million new visitors to the Victorian Goldfields Region over 10 years, with an estimated visitor spending increase into local economies of over $500 million.’ Will those visitors be enticed to the region with challenging tales of a region in turmoil, of wholesale ethnic cleansing, and ravaged landscapes? Or will the invitation emphasise nice verandas, picturesque ruins and good coffee?

And there’s an irony here: coffee and verandas aside, the powerful charm of the Castlemaine Diggings NHP is dependent on its haunted sense of abandonment. Would that sense of loneliness and loss survive a campaign of mass tourism? It’s doubtful.

Of course, it’s the complex picture that’s the more interesting one: as FOBIF noted in a submission on National Heritage in 2004, ‘ the unique experience provided by the Diggings Park is the sense it gives of the devastation of the past and the gradual and inspiring recovery of the landscape. Visitors who see the very rare ancient trees, the rich understorey and the regrowth on mining sites can appreciate this remarkable phenomenon, not as a thing of the past, but as a reality now.’

The tourism industry doesn’t usually go for complexity, however, and from a monetary point of view, they might be right.

Section of a sign board, Eureka Reef: the story told is a complex one, and is all the more interesting for that.

On a more positive note, it’s encouraging to see a better informed comment from Premier Jacinta Allen:

“When you consider what makes this part of the world the unique place that it is, there is the unique natural environment, the Box Ironbark Forest where you can see the cultural markers of the original custodians of the Dja Dja Wurrung people,” Ms Allan said.
“From the historic streets of Bendigo to the grand buildings of Castlemaine and the untouched mining landscapes of Walhalla – the Goldfields stand as a living testament to those who came to Victoria, seeking a better life and how they transformed the state.”

What is at stake here is the question of truth in history. It goes past the cheap business of ‘balance’, or the crude classifications of the ‘black armband’ and ‘three cheers’ views of our past. It has to do with who we really are as a community.

Over 150 years ago Ernest Renan argued that ‘forgetfulness, and I would even say historical error, are essential in the creation of a nation.’ In other words, people should tell themselves comforting lies about their history, so they can pretend that they have no responsibility to correct the injustices of the past. If it’s not properly managed, World Heritage could become such a comforting lie. The bid team face a tricky task if they’re to put up a proposal that avoids the clichés, and chooses a narrative that’s truthful, challenging and exhilarating.