The Rubicon Forest Protection Group applauds the current Change.Org petition urging the Minister for the Environment to stop broadscale burning of native forests. The RFPG urges members and friends to consider signing and circulating the petition. The RFPG also calls on the Minister to expedite the release of the new Victorian Bushfire Management Strategy before the (El Niño) summer of 23/24. 

DEECA (the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action) started the development of a new strategy for bushfire management in Victoria in 2022. This followed Victorian Government commitments made in response to two inquiries into the Black Summer bushfires (2019-20): the report of the IGEM Inquiry into the 2019-20 bushfire season (and subsequnt follow up IGEM reports), and the VAGO Reducing bushfire risks audit: (Reducing Bushfire Risks). 

Like many conservation groups, RFPG has been concerned about the gaps between bushfire science and the policies and practices of planned burns. In April 2023 RFPG wrote to Minister Stitt calling for an ecological review of planned burning policies and practices. 

Lately we have become aware of what we hope might be a turning point, with the apparent decision by your Department to review the manifestly excessive planned burn in the Strathbogie State Forest that threatened more than 400 Greater Gliders. However, the fact that it could even have contemplated such a huge burn shows that its thinking its still stuck in the past.

Our immediate concern has been prompted by the manifestly excessive size of the planned burns in the Upper Goulburn and Big River State Forests over the next two years, but for some time we have been aware that Victoria’s fuel reduction burning regime is based on out-of-date scientific thinking. Our position has been powerfully expressed in an article in the latest issue of VNPA’s magazine, Park Watch, by fire management expert Phil Ingamells. The VNPA, through Mr Ingamells, have been pressing the Government on this for some time, but to no avail.

In April 2023 DEEECA launched a public consultation on Bushfire Management, based on Victoria's Draft Bushfire Management Strategy. The Consultation closed in August 2023 and promised a summary report at the conclusion of this process to be made available on the consultation page by 30 November 2023. 

RFPG made a submission to the consultation (here). However, in preparing the submission, we were intrigued by a remark in VAGO's 2020 audit report which stated that 'DELWP’s fuel type maps and fuel accumulation curves have not undergone any broadscale verification. As a result, their accuracy and precision are not known. This suggests that DELWP may be overestimating or underestimating risk levels when using Phoenix RapidFire to simulate bushfires.'

The audit report also stated that DELWP had reconstructed the eight most significant Black Saturday bushfires as part of its Black Saturday Fire Reconstruction Project to understand how accurately Phoenix RapidFire predicts real bushfires, "The draft report is currently undergoing scientific review and editng and is yet to be finalised."

RFPG wrote to DEECA (here) noting that it was now 3 years since the draft report into the accuracy of Phoenix RapidFire was undergoing scientific review and editing, and inquiring when it might be released.

Given the significance of this work to the current Bushfire Management Strategy consultation, the Rubicon Forest Protection Group requests access to this assessment of Phoenix RapidFire and urges DEECA to post it on its website.

DEECA's response (here) doesn't explain the gap between the advice provided to VAGO in 2020 and the revised work program now in place, but it does include useful information about  work underway to replace Phoenix.   

Our Strathbogie Forest seeks Federal Court injunction under the EPBC Act to protect the Southern Greater Glider

Community concerns regarding broadscale planned burns will only deepen in the summer of 23/24, not least because of the court action intiated by Our Strathbogie Forest. 

Our Stratghbogie Forest seeks an injunction in the Federal Court on the grounds that DEECA's program of planned burns in the Strathbogie Forest would threat large populations of Greater Guiders living in those parts of the forest.

Our Strathbogie Forest is seeking financial support to cover legal costs. RFPG urges members and friends to consider donating to their appeal. 

Bushfire science

YouTube videos by Phil Zylstra

David Lindenmayer video on Forest Hub on YouTube

Posted 27 Nov 2023