New plan for Victoria needed in wake of the bushfires

What is clear is that these large, intense fires have potentially devastated some of the Victoria’s most endangered animals and plants, raising major concerns for their survival in the future. For example, experts from Birds Australia estimate that up to two million birds have been affected.

Just as the Alfred Hospital’s burns unit reported an unexpectedly low number of people arriving for treatment due the ferocity of the Black Saturday fires, so to did wildlife carers and veterinarians report that few animals and birds made it out of the fires alive.

Many of Victoria’s unique forests and other natural areas have also been extensively burnt and will be unrecognisable for many years to come. One significant example of this is the spectacular giant mountain ash stands of the Central Highlands, which supports a vast array of important communities of plants and animals.

While we cannot yet be certain that climate change was a major cause, we do know that we already live in a world affected by climate change, and scientists including the CSIRO predict that there will be a significant increase in the number of extreme bushfire days in the future.

A joint CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology study in 2007 of the impact of climate change in bushfires found parts of Victoria faced up to 65 per cent more days of extreme fire risk by 2020, and 230 per cent more by mid-century compared to 2007. The implications of this increased risk to people, property, animals and their habitat is a major issue.

That’s why The Wilderness Society has developed a six-point plan to reduce the bushfire risk and help protect people, property, nature and wildlife. This plan consists of:

• improving aerial surveillance to detect bushfires as soon as they start;
• ramping up hi-tech, quick response capability, including more “Elvis” helicopters to fight bushfires as soon as they ignite;
• more research into fire behaviour and the impact of fire on wildlife and their habitat;
• prioritise the protection of life and property with fuel reduction and firebreak management plans around towns and urban areas;
• prioritise the protection of wildlife and their habitat through scientifically based fire management plans in remote areas and National Parks;
• making native forests resistant to mega-fires by protecting old growth forests, rainforests and water catchments from woodchipping and moving logging into existing plantations.

On Sunday, March 22, The Wilderness Society also released a Preliminary Report: Impact of the 2009 Victorian bushfires on nature and wildlife. The report is in no way intended to pre-empt the findings of the Royal Commission - it comes to no specific conclusions about areas of interest and expertise to The Wilderness Society, such as the protection and management of public land in relation to the bushfires.

First, this report provides the facts about what vegetation has been burnt where, and the tenure of this land. This is critical data to inform the current public debate as well as the Royal Commission. The Report addresses the misconception that the fires started in “unmanaged” public land, state forest and National Park. The Kinglake, Churchill and Murrindindi fires, which saw by far the most devastating impacts on human life and property, ignited on private land then burnt extensive areas of private, cleared and grassland, before burning extensively into public land including forested areas. In other words these fires started in private land before burning into public land.

Over the following month until March 6 a greater percentage of public land was burnt, with greater impact for wildlife and their habitat.

Second, this report provides a brief on the likely impact of the bushfires on five endangered speciea and their plight for survival, given the extensive impact of the bushfires on their habitat. These species are the Leadbeater’s possum, sooty owl, barred galaxias, ground parrot and the spotted tree frog.

Third, the report identifies six special places in nature impacted by the fires - Kinglake National Park, Cathedral Range, Yarra Ranges National Park, Lake Mountain Ski area, Keppel Falls and Lady Talbot Drive, Marysville and Wilsons Promontory.