Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

Here’s a factor which should not be forgotten: human causes of fire. We’re not talking only about arson: carelessness or sheer ignorance are factors. The fire which seriously threatened the Canberra suburbs recently was caused by an army helicopter…And it was a helicopter involved in fire protection!

It’s unfair to blame the army for this, but there’s there’s something farcical about it, although we don’t think Canberra residents would have been laughing. The lesson of it, maybe, is that for increasing lengths of time throughout the year, past ways of doing things don’t work…that the way we do things has to change. Let’s see how the Royal Commission approaches that one.

Come along to the launch of Trace Balla’s latest book — Landing With Wings — set right here on Dja Dja Wurrung Country.

The Castlemaine Garden Club has invited FOBIF members and supporters to their March meeting:

We have been lucky enough to secure Dr Alison Pouliot as our speaker. Alison is an honorary fellow at Australian National University, and has published The Allure of Fungi. She runs fungi workshops, seminars & forays around Victoria.

Her photography is spectacular and her knowledge of fungi is amazing.

Cost for attendees is $5 which covers the talk and supper.

Please RSVP to castlemainegardenclub@gmail.com

Date: Tuesday 24 March at 7:30 pm,
Place: Wesley Hill Hall. Duke Street, Castlemaine

Dr Alison Pouliot

Atheniella aurantiidisca © Alison Pouliot

Cortinarius tragunus © Alison Pouliot

The Andrews government has closed an “outdated” legal loophole that allowed people to kill wombats without a permit in eastern Victoria.

More than 4000 wombats are killed each year, according to the Victorian Greens, because of a decades-old rule that allowed landowners to control the marsupial’s population at 193 parishes in Gippsland.

The amendment to the Wildlife Act 1975  officially revokes an outdated law that declared wombats unprotected in some parts of the state.

It follows a state government inquiry into wombat protection laws that was triggered by public outrage after it was revealed that wealthy international tourists were being invited to a farm in northern Victoria to hunt the animals.

Wombats are present in large numbers in the protected environment of Wilsons Promontory National Park. Photo Bronwyn Silver, 2019.

We recently sent a fobif newsletter to our members. We have reprinted a version here for our members and supporters who may not have received it.

Welcome to 2020 – a year with a difference and with many challenges across Victoria and Australia. The smoke haze is a reminder of the current and future threat of fires and the damage that they bring to communities and to our natural environment. We will continue to put relevant posts on the FOBIF website – please send any links that you think will add to our understanding.

Join or renew FOBIF memberships
The 2020 membership form is now available. Please note that you need to return this form by email or post if your contact details have changed or if you are a new member. If you are paying by bank transfer use your surname for the code. Membership paid in the last 3 months of 2019 with cover 2020. 

Open committee meetings
Remember FOBIF committee meetings are open to all members. They are held at the Castlemaine Community House building, Templeton Street, Castlemaine, on the second Monday of every month from February to November, at 6pm. Come along and have a say.

FOBIF 2020 walks program
Thanks to the organising team, the 2020 Walks Program has been planned to cover a wide range of locations and interests Check the website before each walk for any alterations. 

FOBIF books and greeting cards
This year saw a new printing of our Wattles of the Mount Alexander Region. This book as well as Eucalypts of the Mount Alexander Region and Mosses of Dry Forests can be purchased through our website or at Stoneman’s Bookroom

We also produced eight greeting cards which feature photographs of our local bushlands. Photographers are Joy Clusker, Patrick Kavanagh, Damian Kelly, Geoff Park, Bronwyn Silver, Bernard Slattery and Noel Young. They are available through our website as a set of eight for $20 including postage. 

Marie Jones
FOBIF President

As a follow up to our note on the BOM/CSIRO local climate guides, we’ve come across a Bendigo Advertiser 1991 table of rainfall in Bendigo over the period 1863 to 1990.

The average annual rainfall over that 127 year period was 553 mls. The average for the period 1989 to 2018 has been 460 mls–a drop of 93 mls per year. So, if you’re old enough to have decided things are getting dryer around here, you’re probably right…