Remnant Vegetation: the State Government responds to VEAC

Posted on 14 December, 2011 by fobif

The State Government has released its response to the Victorian Environment Assessment Council’s  Remnant Native Vegetation report [see our May 24 Post on this].

VEAC made 13 recommendations, all designed to improve ecological connectivity between small parcels of land, encourage community involvement in management, maximise knowledge of biodiversity values and protect waterway frontages. The Government has supported twelve of the recommendations ‘in principle’, the exception being recommendation 12, to investigate the creation of new protected area systems in the North Western Victoria, Gippsland and the Central Victorian Uplands. What the in principle support means in practice remains to be seen.

VEAC’s recommendations and the Government’s responses can be found here. All are of interest. Among other things, the Council recommended that within 10 years ‘at least 75 per cent of public stream frontages abutting private land be managed, under grazing licence or other arrangements, primarily for biodiversity and water quality’ via measures like fencing out of stock, revegetation, and management incentives.

The Government also accepted recommendation 6, that ‘Managers, contractors and on-ground workers are made aware of their responsibilities and appropriate work

Lichen--probably Xanthoria sp--on a Cassinia stem in the Guildford Bushland Reserve. Such small parcels of public land are often unknown or hard to find, and their values unrecorded. VEAC has recommended that their ecological value be identified, mapped and made public. Photo:Bernard Slattery, December 2011

protocols whilst working around native vegetation, and that mandatory formal education and training be incorporated into all accredited training courses.’  Such training programs already exist, though they are patchy in their effectiveness, if we are to believe the evidence of road works and other activities in our local bushlands: but we can hope that the State Government’s ‘in principle’ acceptance of VEAC’s recommendations will bring about some improvement in the culture of land management.

 

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VCAT decides on Diamond Gully subdivision

Posted on 11 December, 2011 by fobif
Local residents supported by FOBIF went to VCAT to review a Council decision to grant a permit for a 7 lot subdivision in high conservation bush at Diamond Gully (on the western edge of Castlemaine). The development will involve the clearance of 2.4 hectares of bush that has been recognized by the DSE as being used by the threatened Brush-tailed Phascogale. On the 22nd November, VCAT decided to support the subdivision but with conditions.
Recent VCAT decisions have tended to reject housing estate proposals for areas containing high conservation significant vegetation. In this instance the VCAT member decided to allow the subdivision to proceed, but applied conditions which he thought would produce positive environmental outcomes:
· The development is to be a cat free zone.
· The number of lots is reduced to 6.
· There is to be no internal fencing between lots, other than fencing off domestic areas. This is to encourage wildlife movement.
· Part of a Management Plan will be to install nesting boxes on the site.
FOBIF remains concerned that in this Shire, the only way to get permit conditions on a development proposal that respect the environmental conditions on the site, is to seek a review of a Council permit at VCAT.
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Sharing the same nesting area

Posted on 9 December, 2011 by fobif

Eroded creek banks, although a blot on the landscape in some ways, also have their upside. At this time of year two quite different species utilise the eroded walls to build their nests at the end of tunnels in the soil. Whilst checking out the Rainbow Birds the other day I also saw two Striated Pardalotes diving in and out of their nest, quite close to the larger tunnel of some Rainbow Birds. One of the pardalotes spent quite a bit of time with wings outstretched as in the photo. Not sure why, but it made for a nice shot.

Rainbow Bird. Photo by Damian Kelly

Striated Pardalote with wings stretched. Photo by Damian Kelly

Nearby another small bird was calling – the Mistletoe Bird. Small, but quite striking in coloration. These birds are probably more common than you might think, but because they flit quickly high up in the foliage they are often hard to see.

Mistletoe Bird. Photo by Damian Kelly

A raptor at Kalimna

At the other end of the size scale, this beautiful Black-shouldered Kite has been resident on the edge of Kalimna for the past few weeks, often to be seen early in the morning sitting up high surveying the grass for its next meal, and watching me as I water my vegetable garden.

Black-shoulderd Kite. Photo by Damian Kelly

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How good is the new Code of Practice?

Posted on 6 December, 2011 by fobif

DSE’s new Code of Practice for Fire Management on Public Land has been out for consultation for some time now. The document can be found here. As we signalled in a previous post, we have had preliminary misgivings about the new draft.

Our misgivings relate to compliance matters [how can we be sure workers on the ground are going to observe the Code?], and about weakening of requirements for ecological management in Zone 2 burns. It is also unfortunate that the sensible requirement that priority be given to protection of human life has, it seems, been seen as a licence to sacrifice ecological values–which are also, in the long term, crucial to human life.

Our final submission on the Draft document is given below. The headings are the ones supplied by DSE as a template for all submissions:

1. Does the Draft Code provide an effective framework to achieve its purpose? [This purpose is set out in paragraph 3 page 1 of the Draft]

The question should be, Does the Code provide a sufficiently effective framework? Although there are good features in the draft, the framework throughout, especially in its fuel management chapter, assumes that we will act now [to ‘reduce fuel’] and find out later whether what we are doing is effective or counterproductive. It is significant that there is nowhere  in the document any reference to what DSE has found out about its fuel reduction programs over the last forty or so years. This is probably because the research required by the 2006 Code has never been done, that the long proclaimed policy of

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Put it on the wall

Posted on 5 December, 2011 by fobif

FOBIF and Connecting Country have produced a good quality colourful A2 poster containing 63 photos highlighting the beauty of our local bushlands. Members of FOBIF and/or Connecting Country can buy it for $15 from Connecting Country at The Hub 14/233b Barker St (entry through glass door on Templeton St— Please bring exact money). The poster is also available from Stonemans Bookroom and the Castlemaine Tourist Information Centre in the Market Building. Click here to see a larger version of the poster.

 

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