Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

Canada? Greece? Canary Islands? Hawaii? Recent and current fires in the northern hemisphere are a sign of the times, and not a very encouraging one…

And we’ve been advised to expect a warm dry summer…We’re not trying to fear monger, or anything, but we thought the map below of Sicily in the last week of July might be of interest.

This is not a fantasy, it’s a fire map of Sicily, July 27: it’s as well to be informed about fire behaviour and risks.(Map from France 2 Television)

So you may be interested in the Bushfire Resilience Inc’s series of webinars on fire safety, which has just started:

‘Dry conditions will increase fire risks next summer, especially grass fires.
Watch the webinars with family and friends and discuss the information and
your plans…Learn how grass fires and bushfires behave and what your
family can do to reduce your risks Viewers can ask questions before or during the webinar, and when you register we’ll also send you a link to videos.’

You can find the full program here, including how to register.

Newstead Landcare is excited to invite you to a special presentation all about spiders! Our guest speaker is Lynne Kelly – researcher, educator, Castlemaine local, and author of ‘Spiders: Learning to love them’. 

Anyone who has been lucky enough to talk spiders with Lynne will know her passion for sharing their secret lives and personalities. Lynne’s presentation will include the story of her journey from arachnophobia to obsession, while introducing us to these extraordinary creatures.

Lynne has authored 19 books, and in the 2022 Australia Day Honours she was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for “significant achievement in science education through writing and research”. Her book, ‘Spiders: Learning to love them’ was judged the “Best book in the category of Natural History” in the 2009 Whitley Awards and awarded a Certificate of Commendation by the Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales. You can read more about the book online here: www.lynnekelly.com.au/Lynne_Kelly/Spiders.html

Please join us at 7:30pm on Tuesday 15 August 2023 at the Newstead Community Centre (9 Lyons St, Newstead VIC). All are welcome, gold coin donations appreciated.

‘The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action wants your feedback on the draft of Victoria’s Bushfire Management Strategy, which will set the vision for bushfire management in Victoria for the next 10 years.’

You can find the strategy here.

And you can make a submission here.

The strategy comes in three parts: people safety, conservation, and Aboriginal management.

There’s plenty of reasonable stuff in this document. Nothing wrong with this aim, for example:

‘To achieve genuine ecosystem resilience and positive nature conservation outcomes, the sector will integrate this improved understanding into decision making. This includes identifying and protecting environmental values and assets during on-ground operations and implementing on[1]ground programs to manage increased threats to environmental values (such as weeds and pests) resulting from the applied fire regime.’

The problem with the document might be that there are too many future tense sentences in it. ‘The sector will improve its knowledge of fire regimes…’ ‘The sector will continue to monitor…’ ‘The sector will ensure the scale of each target is appropriate…’ ‘The sector will support…adaptive management…’ ‘The sector… will…continue to improve…will optimise…will ensure…’ And so on.

A reader already sceptical about the ‘sector’s’ monitoring and adaptive management record will not be impressed by the promise that things will ‘continue to improve.’ Promises like this have been made for years, and it’s hard to be impressed by the results.

Let’s recall the Auditor General’s 2021 report:

‘DELWP advised us that it cannot guarantee the protection of all threatened species given:

• current funding levels
• scientific constraints around how species respond to threats and actions to control these in the wild, particularly in a time of climate change
• the long-term lag effects on Victoria’s biodiversity of over 200 years of colonisation.’

Lack of funding, lack of knowledge…Conservationists have been banging on about these things for years.

Still, if you have the time, it might be worth having a go. We recommend you ask, what is there in the strategy to guarantee that the funding levels identified by the Auditor General as inadequate will be brought up to scratch?

The consultation closes on August 20