Gippsland Environment Group Inc
Lobbying against environmental threats on the unceded lands of the GunaiKurnai, Yaitmathang, Ngarigo and Bidwell Peoples
Fire and Biodiversity Forum
12 March 2015
A public forum on fire will be held on Thursday evening, March 12th at 7pm, at St Mary’s Parish Hall, Bairnsdale to discuss various aspects of fire management including biodiversity loss, forest type, age, fire severity, climate change and public safety, as well options for future management.
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The forum, starting at 7.00 pm, will hear from expert speakers including Dr. Chris Taylor, a Research Fellow at the University of Melbourne’s Sustainable Society Institute, and Phil Ingamells co-ordinator of the Victorian National Parks Association’s (VNPA) Fire Project.
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Dr Chris Taylor is co-author of a recently published scientific study on the relationship between the age of trees and the severity of fires in Mountain Ash forests. This study showed that increasing the area of young Mountain Ash trees can increase the probability of high severity fires in these forests. Dr Taylor will present and discuss the findings of this study and its implications for forest management.
The VNPA’s Fire Project is concerned with improving fire management on all public and private land across the State. Phil Ingamells will outline the dilemmas of fire management, highlight the changes in fire management since the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission, and the knowledge that has been gained since that time. He will suggest ways we can improve fire planning and management, so that we can achieve better protection for the community, and better natural protection for our natural areas.
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The event will be hosted by the Gippsland Environment Group. President, Mr John Hermans said “we are really excited to be able to present this forum to the people of Bairnsdale and the wider East Gippsland community, as it will give them a chance to understand some of the complexities involved in fire management and hopefully provide some hard learned truths which tend to get forgotten in the rush to ‘burn excessively’ in an attempt to protect ourselves from bushfires”.
“This is a great opportunity to hear about some of the latest science coming out of the University of Melbourne, and elsewhere, which can help inform us to make better decisions about fire management and should dispel some myths too” said Mr Hermans. “Anyone with an interest in how fire should be managed, its impact on communities, fuel reduction burning and biodiversity or people just wanting to be better informed about these important issues, are urged to attend”.
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The forum is a free event and everyone is welcome.
