If you missed Phil Zylstra’s recent talk, check out the summary from FOBIF here. It includes links to his presentation – with Uncle Dave Wandin (Wurundjeri) – at the Royal Society, along with links to published accounts of his argument.
The big question is how do we progressively let our forests age to a mature state where they are ecologically product and increasing more and more ‘fire safe’?
A decade ago a small group of us went with Doug Ralph into an area of relatively long-unburnt Box Ironbark forest. I hold that in my mind as a vision for our future forests (see images below) but how do we get there? How do we reverse the current public land fire regime?
Kinglake Friends of the Forests, Friends of Box Ironbark Forests, Friends of the Whipstick and the Whroo Goldfields Conservation Network have engaged Dr Zylstra to speak at a public meeting at the Castlemaine Senior Citizens Centre at 7pm on Tuesday 20th August to explain his studies and model of bushfire behaviour. We are hopeful that a greater understanding of fire behaviour will lead to a review of the practice of prescribed burning, greater protection for the flora and fauna of the forests and a reduced risk of bushfires for communities. ALL WELCOME
Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMV) plan to burn 10,000 Ha of forest in the Murray -Goldfields districts in the next 2 years. This is despite acknowledgement by the Victorian state department of Environment, Energy and Climate Action, DEECA that “Box-Ironbark forests are considered not prone to recurrent fires, making them possibly atypical of dry, sclerophyllous vegetation in Australia.”
With climate change creating more extreme fires and a longer fire season, governments have ramped up “hazard-reduction” burning. New research however shows the practice can actually make forests more flammable. Over time, some forests tend to thin out and become less likely to burn – hazard reduction burning disrupts this process.
Dr Philip Zylstra is a fire behaviour scientist and Adjunct Associate Professor from Curtin University. In his former work as a remote area fire fighter, he realised that planned burns for fire mitigation were not only causing immediate environmental harm, but could increase fire risk to communities in subsequent years. As many others noted, the bush responded to these burns with a dense flush of understorey growth. As a result, Dr Zylstra undertook Australia’s first detailed and systematic attempt to link the mechanisms that drive fire behaviour in forest environments, developing the only peer-reviewed model to show how forest structure and composition drives fire behaviour in Australian forests.
According to Prof Zylstra: “The open understorey and historical rarity of bushfires in the Box-ironbark near Whroo are a reminder that some forests are natural advantages for controlling fire. Disturbances such as burning and logging can break down these valuable defences, causing regrowth that drives a pulse of elevated fire risk which can last for decades. The fires in the Pyrenees are a tragic example of this, as the average annual area of bushfires has nearly tripled since widespread logging began in that area. Certainly climate change is a major influence, but it doesn’t let us off the hook. The old modelling which drives the push to disturb forest does not account for the natural controls that undisturbed forests have placed on fire since the days of Gondwana.” (Zylstra, P. 2024, pers. comm., Feb 26)
A review meeting on the Strategic Fire Break (SFB) in the Muckleford Forest has prompted several key local groups to write to DELWP to provide feedback: the letter was initiated by Castlemaine Field Naturalists Club with Muckleford Catchment Landcare; Castlemaine Landcare Group; Muckleford Forest Friends Group; and Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests.
In the letter to DELWP, the groups thanked Justine Leahy and her team for the time spent working together and their willingness to take issues raised by the groups into account.
A site visit to the Bells Lane SFB (Muckleford Forest) with Justine Leahy reviewed the work undertaken, noting that the experimental section carried out with brush-cutters gave a better result than the slashing, with the vegetation reduced to an acceptable height for the break while still maintaining a good ground cover of living vegetation, meaning less impact overall on the forest. This contrasted with other areas that had been subjected to tractor-mounted slashing where there was much greater impact on the shrub layer and significant amounts of soil disturbance from vehicle tracks. Soil disturbance has the potential to increase erosion during heavy rainfall events as well as encouraging the establishment of annual introduced grasses and other weeds.
The letter also expressed concerns about other proposed SFBs in floristically rich areas south of Castlemaine, expressing the hope that similar levels of consultation and flexibility using staff with high levels of local expertise will be maintained in the future with respect to both SFBs and other forest management programs.
Rescheduled due to rain and Muckleford Creek flooding.
Bells Lane, Muckleford Forest (May 2022)
DELWP have established an east-west strategic fuel break along Bells Lane Track in the Muckleford Forest. The process involved cutting and mulching for a distance either side of the track, except where the vegetation was judged to be of a high quality or had strong habitat values, particularly in the Conservation Reserve section. Only understorey plants were cut and mulched. DELWP did some pre-work consultation in May 2022 and community members provided their views on sections where cutting and mulching should be minimized.
On Thursday 20 October (new date), there is an opportunity for anyone interested to find out more through:
a look at the works done along Bells Lane Track – meet at 11.30am at the eastern end of the track at the corner of Bells Lane Track and Muckleford School Road (45 mins)
a presentation by DELWP plus discussion – Newstead Community Centre (Lyons Street, Newstead) – 12.30-2pm
DELWP have established an east-west strategic fuel break along Bells Lane Track in the Muckleford Forest. The process involved cutting and mulching for a distance either side of the track, except where the vegetation was judged to be of a high quality or had strong habitat values, particularly in the Conservation Reserve section. Only understorey plants were cut and mulched. DELWP did some pre-work consultation in May 2022 and community members provided their views on sections where cutting and mulching should be minimized.
On Thursday 6 October, there is an opportunity for anyone interested to find out more through:
a look at the works done along Bells Lane Track – meet at 11.30am at the eastern end of the track at the corner of Bells Lane Track and Muckleford School Road (45 mins)
a presentation by DELWP plus discussion – Newstead Community Centre (Lyons Street, Newstead) – 12.30-2pm
New research reported in The Conversation (23.3.2022) demonstrates that hazard-reduction burning (‘planned burns’) can make forests more flammable. It found that over time, some forests ‘thin’ themselves and become less likely to burn. Hazard-reduction burning – referred to as ‘planned burns’ in Victoria – disrupts this process. The article also briefly compares traditional Indigenous burning to these large-scale hazard reduction burns.
The research examined forests in south-western Australia where hazard-reduction burns are very frequent.
Interested in learning how can fire help us create healthy Country? What kind of fire? Used when, how and by whom?
Head over to the Talking Fire website to find out more about the latest project and upcoming workshops.
Talking Fire is partnering with Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation to create opportunities for our community to deepen and transform our understanding of how to care for our local landscape. Djaara knowledge and experience will be shared through a practical experience of using fire as a way of caring for Country.
Together we want to enhance biodiversity, build community awareness and confidence in the use of fire, support new land holder skills, address community safety, and support Djaara in increasing their capacity to apply Djandak Wi to public and private land. A big agenda!
The project will be structured around three on-Country workshops – the first workshop is 14 August. Head over to Talking Fire to find out more.
Its been amazing over the last couple of years to see our local communities come together to document birds in the Muckleford Forest.
Other communities are doing courageous things in the face of fire – so I thought I’d share this one from some communities in northern NSW – the Mt Nardi community fire defenders – community and firies working hand in hand.
PHOTO Siddha Farm community organiser Nicole Raward used a flowchart to help keep volunteers safe as they worked to contain the Mt Nardi fire.
Hope everyone who follows this blog has a happy and safe festive season … and don’t forgot those bird surveys!
You might like to read this summary from the Phase 2 consultation that demonstrates that people across Victoria – and importantly in our region – want a ‘whole of landscape’ approach – or in the jargon ‘tenure blind’ and that means taking action where it counts most – that might be a cool burn (‘good fire’) in the forest, or asking a private landowner to graze down a ‘firebreak’ next to a precious ecological remnant, or in a multitude of other ways that e can now start to explore.
Read here – or look for the links when you do the bushfire management survey on the Engage Victoria website.
The Vic Government is asking for your view on the Loddon Mallee plan for ‘bushfire management’. But I’d rather ask: How should we use fire as a tool to help manage our landscapes for all of the things we value – ecology, people, productivity, safety, culture, aesthetics, recreation?’
The online consultation closes on Monday 12 August and it’s an important opportunity to contribute. Here is the link to the survey.
There are some great steps towards ‘good fire’ in the plan – for example: burn when its needed because of risk and fuel levels, not by an ‘every 5 years’ type of schedule; think ‘whole of landscape’ when working out where fire or other land management actions can help keep people and towns safe – this might mean reducing fuel loads on public land, on private land or both; designate areas with high ecological values and treat them differently.
Traditional Aboriginal burning – today. (Photo Julie Millowick)
This new plan looks like a step forward on the right path, and it would be great to get a heap more responses in before the online consultation closes on Monday
The Vic Government is asking for your view on the Loddon Mallee plan for ‘bushfire management’. But I’d rather ask: How should we use fire as a tool to help manage our landscapes for all of the things we value – ecology, people, productivity, safety, culture, aesthetics, recreation?’
Muckleford Forest 