Park Watch June 2012 - No 249

60

VNPA

th

Anniversary

Happy Birthday

to the wonderful supporters of the VNPA for 60 diamond years.

Victoria’s plants and animals thank you!

Signed, the (vulnerable) Diamond Firetail

The VNPA turns 60 Saving the murnong Fire target wrong All at sea with marine management Our VNPA founders Blue Whales in Victoria Dandenong Ranges NP

June 2012 No 249

Namadgi

A National Park for the National Capital This book, lovingly written, compiled and illustrated by the National Parks Association of the ACT, should be in the home of anyone interested in the natural world.

With magnificent contributions from 24 photographers, and a truly interesting text, the book not only covers the natural and cultural history of the park but is also full of suggestions for walks and excursions.

Anyone who might have dismissed Namadgi as simply the tail end of the alps would have to think again after looking through its 80 inviting pages.

Namadgi National Park occupies 106,000 hectares, almost half of the ACT, and makes an invaluable contribution to the chain of national parks that make up the mainland Australian Alps National Parks.

Like the book, the park’s reservation is a great credit to the National Parks Association of the ACT, not least because that organisation remains a completely volunteer group.

Phil Ingamells

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The NPA ACT is offering the book to VNPA members at a reduced price of $20. Even with the necessary added postage of $12 a copy, it’s a real bargain.

You can order the book by phoning and leaving a message at (02) 6229 3201, or by emailing admin@npaact.org.au

Be part of nature PRESIDENT Fred Gerardson DIRECTOR Matt Ruchel

Contents

Level 3, 60 Leicester Street Carlton, VIC 3053 ABN 34 217 717 593 Telephone: (03) 9347 5188 Facsimile: (03) 9347 5199 E-mail: vnpa@vnpa.org.au Web: www.vnpa.org.au

4

From the President

4

From the Editor

5

The VNPA turns 60

6-7

The Green Tape agenda – Abbott and Gillard agree

VNPA’S VISION We share a vision of Victoria as a place with a diverse, secure and healthy natural environment cared for and appreciated by all.

8-9

VNPA’s NatureWatch helps save a staple food plant

10-11

Grow West to restore vegetation along Myrniong Creek

12-13

Get cracking to the 15th Hindmarsh planting weekend!

14

Australia can save its woodland birds!

15

Government’s lukewarm response to VEAC investigation

16-17

Statewide fuel reduction target threatens biodiversity

17

Park management plan update: the alps and the SW

18-19

Another hawkweed found in the Alpine National Park

20

Reef Watch Sea Science seminars

20-21

All at sea with marine management

22-23

Crosbie Morrison and the formation of the VNPA

24-25

J. Ros Garnet and scenery preservation

26-27

VNPA takes part in Arthurs Seat weed project

28-29

Blue Whales on the edge in SW Victoria

30-31

Shaping the landscape: natural or human factors?

32-33

Logging will deface Mt St Leonard

34-35

Dandenong Ranges National Park: values and challenges

36-37

Tribute: David Scott

37

New VEAC appointments announced

38

BWAG news

EDITORIAL COMMITTEE Ann Strunks, Matt Ruchel, Philip Ingamells, Michael Howes.

ADVERTISING Ann Strunks, anns@vnpa.org.au GETTING INVOLVED IN VNPA Everyone can help in the conservation of Victoria’s wild and beautiful places. You can: • • • •

make a donation become a regular giver or member volunteer. You’ll be welcome in the office, on a campaign or in a park leave a bequest to VNPA in your will.

PUBLISHING POLICY All advertisements should be compatible with VNPA policies.

Publication of an advertisement does not imply endorsement by the VNPA Inc. of the advertised product or service. The VNPA reserves the right to refuse any advertisement at any time.

Park Watch may be quoted without permission provided that acknowledgement is made. The opinions of contributors are not necessarily those of the VNPA Inc. GUIDELINES FOR CONTRIBUTORS You’re always welcome to contact the editor to discuss ideas for articles.

Phone the VNPA or email michaelh@vnpa.org.au. Articles may be submitted by email, on disk or as hard copy. Include your contact details and brief biographical information. Photos, maps and drawings are needed too. Digital photos should be 300dpi and around 8cm by 12cm.

COPY DEADLINE for September 2012 Park Watch is 30 July 2012.

DESIGN Mary Ferlin PRINTING Tara Press FRONT AND BACK COVERS Diamond Firetail photos courtesy Chris Tzaros, BirdLife Australia.

Classified as ‘vulnerable’, these seed- and insect-eating birds favour undisturbed open woodlands and are threatened by habitat loss and degradation such as by firewood collection. See p. 14 for how we can help save them!

Park Watch ISSN 1324-4361

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The VNPA – 60 years of achievement, and the way forward

Photo: VNPA

In difficult financial times many of our larger benefactors and philanthropic trusts are experiencing short-term financial pain which restricts their ability to continue funding us at the levels which they would wish. We continue to run on the proverbial ‘smell of an oily rag’ thanks our dedicated volunteers and staff who continue to give so generously of their time and expertise.

From the President Sixty years, what an achievement! To celebrate our birthday, this bumper edition of Park Watch pays homage to the vision, strength and resilience of our founders and supporters.

For the VNPA to achieve its vision over the next 60 years we need to be well led, well supported and well resourced.

We have been blessed with fantastic leadership over our first 60 years, and continue to attract high-calibre people on our Council and committees, to lead our activities and events, and as paid professional staff delivering the longerterm campaigns and services which we cannot achieve with volunteers alone.

We honour both the foresight of our founding members and our ongoing role in protecting our unique environment for the long-term benefit of current and future generations against those who seek to exploit it for short-term gain.

We have also been blessed with an active and solid supporter base over our long and proud history. With such a positive message to deliver our aim will be to expand this base greatly over the coming years.

We reflect on the thousands of events and activities which we have run, and continue to run, to bring the joy of nature to our supporters, and recognise the work of thousands of volunteers and staff in fighting over the years for Victoria’s unique flora and fauna which have no voice of their own.

Our resourcing has always been a vexed issue. Our objectives always require more resources as we constantly strive to achieve more.

From the Editor 4

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Photo: VNPA

Welcome to our new-look June Park Watch! You’ll find a great range of articles and photos inside, with a special feature on two of the VNPA’s key founders, stories on the coming Grow West and Hindmarsh plantings, a tribute to the late David Scott, and much more.

We welcome our new designer Mary Ferlin, who as well as being a professional graphic designer is a VNPA member and BWAG walk leader. She brings a fresh approach which we hope will help Park Watch to be more widely read, both as a printed journal and on line.

The best way of achieving funding security is to broaden our base by having many hands giving small but regular donations.

This is the aim of our newly rebadged Regular Giving program – ‘Give Naturally’.

For our Give Naturally program to make us financially self-sustaining it would only need 1000 supporters to give $25 per month and 500 to give $50 per month – less than one in ten of our current supporter base! We ask you to be one of those to make us stronger, as we head into the next 60 years, by signing up for this program. Forms are available in each of our publications, by phone or online.

Finally, you’ll see our new logo and tagline, and a new design, in this edition of Park Watch. They reflect our determination to be even more positive and relevant in our messaging in future, for the way to win our battles over the next 60 years is to speak more clearly of the benefits of conserving nature, and to let those who are not yet supporters of our vision know that they have a great deal to gain by connecting with Victoria’s unique natural environment. Let’s celebrate! • PW Fred Gerardson

Sincere thanks go to Mark Carter of markmaking, who designed Park Watch from March 2004 to March this year – a total of eight years. Guided by Mark over that time, Park Watch became a full-colour, easy to read, professionally designed and attractive publication. Thank you, Mark!

As always I’d like to thank all our contributors, and invite other readers to consider contributing comments, letters, articles and photos. • PW Michael Howes

Photo of Crosbie Morrison: VNPA • Photo of Ros Garnet: John Garnet

The VNPA turns 60 “…if we do not have a post-war New Deal for the fauna and flora, the birthright of coming generations will have gone, and, once gone, it can be replaced by neither money nor toil nor tears.”

(Wild Life magazine, May 1946)

With these ringing words, famous naturalist, journalist and broadcaster Philip Crosbie Morrison began a movement that culminated six years later in the formation of the Victorian National Parks Association.

This year we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the Association with a number of events and publications, and invite you to participate in the celebrations!

60th anniversary dinner This will be held in the Swanston Room, Lower Melbourne Town Hall, on Thursday 9 August. For information about bookings and tickets, please contact Lara Hookham on 9341 6501 or email larah@vnpa.org.au

60th anniversary VNPA Caring for Nature Day picnic Planned for Sunday 18 November, the picnic will be at an accessible park location in or near Melbourne and will feature family activities, guided walks and more. Full details to come soon!

60th anniversary History of the VNPA Associate Professor Don Garden of the University of Melbourne has completed the first section of his history of the VNPA, taking the story to 1956 and the passage of Victoria’s first National Parks Act. This section will soon be available on our website, together with other relevant historical articles from past issues of Park Watch.

Crosbie Morrison

In addition, Prof. Garden has specially written articles for this Park Watch on two of the VNPA’s key founders, Crosbie Morrison and John Roslyn (Ros.) Garnet. See pages 22-25.

Send in your favourite photos!

You can make a valuable contribution to the 60th anniversary by sending or bringing in your photos of past VNPA activities and people. With your permission, we’ll use some in the History and others in Park Watch and elsewhere. We can scan prints, or you can send digital photos.

Contact the VNPA office if you’d like to discuss this.

History of the National Parks Authority The VNPA is publishing on line a history of the Victorian National Parks Authority by Dr Leonard Hart Smith, Director of National Parks from 1958 to 1975. (He followed the first Director, Crosbie Morrison, who died in March 1958.)

The publication of this book is supported by Dr Smith’s daughter Helen Kosky and son John Smith, and it will be on line later this year.

60th anniversary appeal You would have received a letter about this special appeal, aimed at helping the VNPA continue the great work of the past 60 years. Thank you if you have already supported this appeal.

Otherwise, please see enclosed appeal slip or contact the VNPA office.

Ros Garnet Into the future – the next 60 years Over the last 60 years we have worked successfully to establish National Parks legislation and a dedicated government management authority, and have played a major role in establishing many new parks to protect Victoria’s special places, including the Grampians, the Alpine region, box-ironbark forests, red gum wetlands, and marine and coastal areas.

But after 60 years of positive achievements, the work of the VNPA is far from finished.

There will always be a need for such an organisation to promote thoughtful policy solutions to government, support parks and nature conservation, engage the community in enjoying and appreciating nature, and act as a community catalyst and watchdog.

The best way we can honour the work of our founders, and all those who have worked so hard over the past 60 years, is to continue their efforts and commitment, and renew the organisation so that we are even stronger in the future.

VNPA Statement of Purposes In the spirit of renewal, we have been working hard to try and build the organisation, including refreshing our brand, logo and publications.

The VNPA Council has also been working hard on updating our policies and procedures, and over the last 12 months we have reviewed our Statement of Purposes. Council is now seeking your views on the revised Statement of Purposes. For details, see the information sheet enclosed with this Park Watch or contact the VNPA office. • PW

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VNPA Executive Director Matt Ruchel explains why federal environmental protection should be strengthened, not handed over to the states.

The Green Tape agenda – Abbott and Gillard agree Julia Gillard and Tony Abbot have finally agreed on something – to walk away from protecting Australia’s natural environment, by planning to hand federal environment powers to the states.

On 13 April the Council of Australian Governments agreed to a major reform of environmental laws across Australia.

These reforms are directed at both federal and state laws, particularly those that assess new developments, and include: • withdrawal of federal involvement in the approval of environmentally sensitive developments under federal environmental laws, through accelerated accreditation of state processes • fast-tracking of approvals of major developments in each state • ‘rationalising’ or removing energy efficiency and climate change schemes in each state • removal of other environmental laws seen as ‘unnecessary’ and ‘costly for business’.

The proposal was put forward by business groups via COAG’s new Business Advisory Forum. (No such forum exists for any other sector of the community.) And the reforms are directed squarely at reducing what big business sees as ‘unnecessary delays’ and costs for business, or so-called ‘Green Tape’.

Review This move has been building over the last couple of years, following a tenyear review of the federal Environment Protection and Biodiversity

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Conservation Act (1999) carried out in 2010. This independent review, led

by Dr Allan Hawke, made a number of recommendations for improving federal environmental laws, most of which were rejected by the Rudd and Gillard governments.

The review proposed a reform package to streamline development, balanced by better environmental provisions and increased transparency, oversight and public participation.

But the Gillard Government rejected most of these ‘balancing’ reforms in 2011, ignoring the relevant checks involved and placing the environment at greater risk than it is under the present Act. Politicians swear that it’s not about lowering standards. But nobody has demonstrated that these changes will not lower standards of environmental protection. Where’s the evidence that you can get the same ecological outcomes if you largely abdicate responsibility for having a direct role in environmental regulation?

The simple fact is that there is no compelling environmental case that can be put forward.

At a national summit of environment groups on the threats to environmental laws, major groups including the VNPA (through our national body the National Parks Australia Council) agreed in a communiqué that: “We support measures that can improve the effectiveness and efficiency of environmental regulation, and reject the concept of ‘green tape’ as an industry-based

construct, a Trojan horse that is designed to achieve the winding back of almost 40 years of hard-fought environmental protection measures for short–term economic gain ...

“Environmental policies and laws must protect our special places and should result in their protection, not loss. This protection must be underpinned by science and evidence based measures. Decisions around the protection of these species should not be fast-tracked or streamlined but given adequate time and funding to allow full consideration of all available evidence and scientific data.”

Patchy The whole reason for having national environmental laws is that the performance of state governments on environmental management is patchy at best.

State governments tend to be captured by special interests or financial constraints, or otherwise drop the ball on ensuring that national environmental treasures are protected for the future, especially when development dollars are waved around.

A recent report by the Environment Defenders Office (Victoria) on the state’s Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act illustrates

Left: VNPA members and supporters protesting at the Prom in 1996 against a proposed luxury lodge at Tidal River. Such threats to our natural heritage underline the need for strong laws at both state and federal levels.

exempted from national environmental laws through an agreement with the federal government in the outdated and flawed Regional Forest Agreements.

Grassland trade-off

Photo: VNPA

Victoria, and Melbourne’s urban growth areas in particular, have already been guinea-pigs for the proposed reforms through a joint Commonwealth-State Strategic Assessment process – exactly the type of streamlined process being discussed by the Gillard Government.

This process has taken over three years already, has cost many millions of dollars, and is yet to be finalised.

the point. The report finds that Action Statements have still not been prepared for 374 of the 675 threatened species and communities, and threatening processes, listed under the Act, despite a clear legal obligation to do so. In the past year, only one draft statement has been released.

The analysis, which comes three years after the Auditor-General released a damning report on the implementation of the FFG Act, also found that the legal powers set out in the Act to protect threatened species are almost never used, and that both the FFG Act and the Wildlife Act are administered without transparency or accountability.

It’s therefore vital to have strong federal checks and balances to ensure consistency in delivering international environmental obligations, and also to protect the natural heritage interests of all Australians, and our special places.

Since 1993 Australia has been a party to the global Convention on Biological Diversity. Under the Australian constitution, the federal government is responsible for delivering on international obligations.

The states, on the other hand, are largely responsible for land management,

a point formalised in the InterGovernmental Agreement on the Environment in the early 1990s. This agreement has largely failed – with indicators of the health of the natural environment continuing to show decline.

Rethink What we need is a major rethink and strengthening of our environmental laws and the arrangements between the states and the Commonwealth on these fundamental governance issues.

States and territories have shown time and time again that, essentially, they can’t be trusted to fulfil international obligations or consistently protect the environment. The Baillieu Government in Victoria is a case in point.

The Baillieu Government’s ‘scientific’ alpine cattle grazing trial has proved to be the first of a whole list of actions to chip away at core environmental protection controls in Victoria.

In the last 12 months there have been moves by the Baillieu Government to change the Code of Practice for Timber Production to allow logging areas to be exempt from state threatened species laws. The state government could do this because logging areas have already been

Although this approach has been a windfall for property developers, as the state pays for ecological assessment and locks in development rights for up to 60 years, the assessment did also propose habitat protection for some significant areas of critically endangered native grassland, and threatened species such as the Growling Grass Frog and Southern Brown Bandicoot. But this is a trade-off for clearing at least 5000 hectares of one of the most endangered habitats in the nation.

Today, only about 0.2% of the original extent of nationally significant temperate grassland in Victoria remains, and only half of that is in good condition.

Business might be sometimes frustrated with duplications and complexity, but federal and state regulations are there for a reason. Ensuring the survival of native plants and animals involves complex scientific issues. In any case, some habitats and species are of national and international significance, and therefore deserve the highest possible levels of consideration and assessment.

Handing over federal environmental regulation to the states is a dangerous move, and a backward step which could see our natural areas and unique native plants and animals suffer and decline, and which could deny our children and grandchildren the chance of seeing and enjoying them as we have done.

When all’s said and done, our natural heritage belongs to all Australians – and to the world. • PW

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The dandelion-like Plains Yam Daisy or Murnong was a major food source for Aboriginal people, but it is now rare. VNPA NatureWatch volunteers are helping to study and save it.

Resembling an undernourished dandelion, the Plains Yam Daisy is not a glamorous plant. But its fat starchy roots were a staple foodstuff of the Aboriginal people of Victoria’s volcanic plains.

Once abundant, it is now a rare species whose conservation needs are poorly understood. The VNPA’s NatureWatch program has helped to get an investigation going into this special plant.

The confusion of the Plains Yam Daisy with similar species has contributed to our ignorance of this plant’s needs.

Four main forms of Yam Daisy are found in Australia and New Zealand, each growing in a different landscape.

Until recently, they were all lumped together as a single variable species.

In mainland Australia, the Plains Yam Daisy occurs on Victoria’s basalt plains and in Tasmania, and a Foothills form with large flowers is widespread across Victoria. There is also an Alpine Yam Daisy. Genetic analysis published in 2004 determined that these three species are distinct.

The Plains Yam Daisy retains one of the earlier scientific names (Microseris scapigera) by which all the Australian Microseris were once known, while the Alpine Yam Daisy holds another of the former names Microseris lanceolata.

Foothills Yam Daisy is known by the interim identification ‘Microseris species 3’.

Understandably, many people fascinated by the cultural aspects of the plant are yet to catch up with these changes. An Aboriginal name, ‘Murnong’, is currently used in Victoria for yam daisies of all persuasions.

The splitting of these species is not just a trivial matter for botanists. The

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VNPA’s NatureWatch helps save a staple food plant

by Brian Bainbridge, Merri Creek Management Committee Juli Atkinson, president of the La Trobe University Naturalist Society, tags a murnong plant. A group of Society members attended this NatureWatch project.

differences in appearance between the Plains Yam Daisy and other species are slight, but a vital difference to its conservation is that it readily selfpollinates, while its cousins require cross-pollination to produce fertile seed.

We now also realise that the loss of traditional Aboriginal husbandry with fire and cultivation almost certainly impacted on the surviving Murnongs. The plant struggles to survive within grasslands that now lack both fire and soil disturbance.

Despite this, its population is in decline.

Several attempts to re-establish this species in artificial and semi-natural situations in the last twenty years have failed. Have these failures been a consequence of natural population fluctuations? Or planting into unsuitable situations, or a lack of critical ecological intervention? What about the influence of exotic pests such as the Redlegged Earth-mite?

Plants and people The decline of Murnong is one of the early ecological consequences of the introduction of stock to Victoria in the 1830s. Sheep quickly ate and destroyed the luscious plants, roots and all, and the loss of this staple food plant contributed to tragic consequences for Aboriginal people and their traditional way of life.

Observation of the plants in a remaining ‘natural’ population by NatureWatch and the Merri Creek Management Committee

Photo: Caitlin Griffith

Identity crisis

(MCMC) may help us to understand the particular conservation needs of this species.

By the early 2000s, taxonomists looking at the genetics of Microseris had only a handful of sites from which to collect the Plains Yam Daisy. The researchers expressed concern at the conservation status of the ‘new’ species.

MCMC knows of five sites with remnant Plains Yam Daisy in the Merri Creek valley, but it has not been observed at two of these sites for over ten years.

Monitoring A population of Plains Yam Daisy at Kalkallo, north of Melbourne, is in the most secure and viable of remaining sites in the Merri Creek valley. For decades, this Crown Land reserve was ‘crash-grazed’ for a short period each year, which inadvertently approximated to the ecological effect of traditional Aboriginal practices such as burning.

MCMC has an ongoing interest in the upkeep of the Kalkallo Common grassland. Short-term grants had enabled some weed control and ecological burns to happen in the 9ha reserve in the early 2000s.

However, with the recent completion of a management plan, support from the

Australian Government’s Caring for our Country program, and the local council accepting Committee of Management responsibility, regular ongoing management has commenced.

Ongoing monitoring aims to understand the plant’s response to variations in seasonal rainfall, ecological burning, and interventions such as soil disturbance and competition reduction.

VNPA NatureWatch volunteers have been assisting with monitoring at Kalkallo since 2010. Results include:

Ultimately we hope to confidently choose management options that favour Microseris survival within biodiverse grasslands, and to establish translocated populations of the plant at other secure reserves. • PW

• mapping and marking of over 100 individual plants, making it possible to estimate sustainable seed collection levels and lifecycle details.

Over 30 of these were found during the NatureWatch supported event in April this year.

Bush tucker

• confirmation that autumn and winter are important germination periods

‘Yam daisy’ (murnong) roots were collected in bowls made of eucalyptus bark. All WurundjeriWillam women carried a long firehardened digging stick made from wattle wood, known as a kannan, to dig up the root or tuber of the murnong, thus turning over the soil and thinning out the root clumps, two ways of encouraging plant production.

• identification of monitoring limitations and protocols such as restricting access during wetter months to avoid trampling young germinating plants in boggy conditions • confirmation that the weeks after ecological burning are the most efficient time to locate Murnong plants, owing to their relatively rapid regrowth

Aboriginal people believed that the roots of the murnong should not be collected before the plants flower.

During the drier winter period before springtime flowering, the roots would not be fully developed.

• flowering and seeding are continuous throughout the summer, but peak in late summer and early autumn.

They are strongly suppressed by surrounding competition.

From Wurundjeri Elder Alice Kolasa

Photos: Brian Bainbridge, Merri Creek Coordinating Committee

Murnong flower (below) and seed head (right).

About NatureWatch NatureWatch, the VNPA’s community biodiversity monitoring program, is currently running three projects: ‘Caught on Camera’, using motion-sensing cameras to monitor mammals in response to fire; grasstree monitoring; and our Grassland Threatened Species project.

For regular updates on NatureWatch activities, join our email list by emailing caitling@vnpa.org.au, or phone 9347 5188. ‘Like’ the VNPA Facebook page to view some of our latest ‘Caught on Camera’ images from Wombat State Forest.

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Grow West

to restore vegetation along Myrniong Creek

Grow West scorecard 2004-2012 Total area planted (hectares)

955 ha

Total number of trees planted

955,000

Number of properties involved in revegetation works

57

Average site size for revegetation (hectares)

5.4 ha

Annual Grow West Community Planting days

7

Number of Victorian residents volunteering

Over 800

Total area planted at community planting days over the past seven years

42 ha

Indigenous seedlings planted at the community planting days

42,000

David Muir, property owner of “Hafton”.

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Main photo and above: This pleasant rural landscape at ‘Hafton’ is suffering severe erosion and has no young and regenerating trees or creekside vegetation.

Who can help fix that? You can, on 15 July!

This year’s Grow West Community Planting Day is on Sunday 15 July, when we’ll be planting over 6500 native seedlings along the Myrniong Creek (in the hills west of Bacchus Marsh) as part of the Pentland Hills Landcare Group Biolinks Project.

These planting events, which have been running for seven years with generous funding support from Computer Share eTree, assist in connecting areas of ecological and landscape value on private properties in the Upper Werribee catchment.

Hope to see you there!

This year’s planting site will be at ‘Hafton’, an 800 acre property owned by David Muir which has been in the family for four generations. David grew up on the farm with his three siblings, and has a 12-year-old son.

Previous sites involved include the Lidgett property in the Pentland Hills, the W. James Whyte Reserve (‘The Island’) owned by Conservation Volunteers Australia, Noel Vincent’s Ingliston Park, and the Yaloak Estate.

David’s farm is a mixed farming enterprise of sheep, cattle and cropping, and he successfully grows fat lambs. He runs the property himself, a full-time job.

He says that he has always wanted to fence out Myrniong Creek in his property, as it became more prone to erosion after the Muir’s Road bridge was altered. He is very keen to regenerate the creek banks and preserve remnant trees on ‘Hafton’.

David’s site is part of a larger Landcare project called the Myrniong and Korkuperrimul Biolinks Project, which is being co-funded by Melbourne Water’s Stream Frontage Program and DSE’s Vision for Werribee Plains, and facilitated by the Pentland Hills Landcare Group with support from Port Phillip and Westernport CMA’s Grow West Project.

The project will build and enhance community capacity by engaging with local consultants, contractors and farmers.

It also includes the broader community in the Pentland Hills Landholder Expo, demonstration field days, and workshops on natural resource management issues.

Grow West Environmental Projects Coordinator Helena Lindorff says she’s excited that 2km of Myrniong Creek are going to be fenced and revegetated.

“Rehabilitating local waterways has a multitude of benefits for the local environment, as well as downstream. It will improve water quality and reduce soil erosion and siltation, as well as providing a wonderful corridor for the passage of local fauna,” she said.

Helena, who has been involved in Grow West since the inaugural Community Planting Day, is also excited to have the Pentland Hills Landcare Group as a partner for this year’s planting day.

“It’s great to have the local Landcare Group on board to support this event. The planting day is a wonderful opportunity for local landholders to assist in a local project and help their neighbours,” she said.

If you’d like to volunteer for the day, or be a team leader, please contact Helena by email on helena.lindorff@ppwcma.vic.gov.au or phone her on 0437 195 511.

You need to register online for the event at www.growwest.com.au by Tuesday 10 July.

If you have any problems with registering, contact the VNPA office on 9347 5188. • PW

Photos courtesy Helena Lindorff

Established in 2010, the Biolink Project aims to improve the ecological health of land adjoining Myrniong and Korkuperrimul Creeks by fencing out domestic livestock,

revegetating degraded areas and protecting remnant native vegetation from the impacts of rabbits and weeds along 10km of waterways.

Grow West, grow fast! Coordinator Helena Lindorff in April this year with a tree planted as a seedling at Yaloak in 2011.

Chris and Charlotte Lindorff were among over 100 planters at the Yaloak estate last year.

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Father and daughter have fun in the wet at last year’s Hindmarsh weekend.

Get cracking to the 15th Hindmarsh planting weekend!

Marsh This Way! You may have heard about it, but have you actually thought about coming along?

‘Mum’s Paddock’ today – a woodland complete with kangaroos, birds and reptiles.

Seed is collected from the site for other local revegetation projects. Fantastic!

After planting all those trees, maybe he deserves a break.

That’s right: the Project Hindmarsh community planting weekend, supported by the VNPA since 1997, is on again on the weekend of 18-19 August 2012, with buses heading to the Wimmera from Melbourne on Friday 17th and returning on the Sunday evening.

It’s a golden opportunity to volunteer and attend one of Victoria’s, if not Australia’s, longest-running and most iconic Landcare projects.

The Hindmarsh Landcare Network board and planting committee, aided by new staff members Katy Marriot and Phillip Falcke, are planning a huge weekend to celebrate the 15th year of

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Project Hindmarsh planting weekends and environmental restoration.

As tradition dictates, our planting base will be the Little Desert Nature Lodge on the edge of Little Desert National Park, near Nhill. (You have to make your own booking for roofed accommodation, but campsites are free. Phone 5391 5232.)

To register, go to the Hindmarsh Shire website at www.hindmarsh.vic.gov.au and click on the links Environment > Hindmarsh Landcare Network > Project Hindmarsh. Please register as soon as possible. If you have any problems or queries, phone Hindmarsh facilitator Katy Marriott on 0419 001 916 or the VNPA office on 9347 5188.

Along with first-timers and those who have attended just once or twice before, a group of veteran ‘legends’ will again be donning the gloves and will be heads down and bottoms up, planting their collective hearts out!

Who are we talking about, you ask?

Well, it’s the now famous (or infamous) ‘Crack Team’.

Brett Hedger, lifelong member of this group, which formed unofficially at the first Project Hindmarsh planting weekend, gives us a personal account of his and his team’s 15-year journey.

See you at the Project Hindmarsh planting weekend!

Photos: Project Hindmarsh

Hindmarsh planting in ‘Mum’s Paddock’ at the Drendels’ property ‘Pirra’, August 2006 – in the middle of the drought. Hard to believe that any plants would survive.

by Brett Hedger

Some of the lads in the Team and I had talked in the past about putting our stories to paper, but we never did get around to that.

You know those stories: remember when such and such happened; you won’t believe this; and on and on it goes. In fact, much of the time we spend at Project Hindmarsh is involved with reliving old stories and creating new ones.

Almost 15 years ago, three of us headed up from Melbourne to see if we could have a bit of fun and plant a few trees.

At the time I was 31 years old. My friends and I planted hundreds of trees and we had more than our fair share of fun.

Somehow or other we kept coming back, year after year, and the Crack Team has become a part of the project’s folklore.

This year when I drive down the Western Highway there will four or five cars full of guys who get together once a year as the Crack Team.

Project Hindmarsh is a great opportunity for us to get involved in something bigger than any individual, or team for that matter. The restoration of trees and biodiversity is important, critical in fact, but there’s something deeper and more spiritual about this project, something not obvious to the casual observer.

As time has passed, I can now more readily see the light in people’s eyes and feel the love in their hearts for this project.

Personally, I have found Project Hindmarsh to be a wonderful opportunity to reconnect with people and nature.

The visit to Snape Reserve was defining for a couple of reasons: firstly, walking through that site was getting pretty close to a walk through ‘the bush’ instead of feeling like a walk in a plantation, and secondly, it allowed the new guys to put their arms around some really big trees that we had planted.

I have watched the original organisers also grow older and I can better understand the vision they had as younger men and women. I see the joy in their eyes when they talk about an ‘80% survival rate’ or the report of an endangered reptile or marsupial in our replanted sites.

We’ve also learnt a lot from the local farmers, and have had many opportunities to chat about what it’s like to earn a living off the land and live in remote locations.

I’ve grown to admire, and be very grateful for, these men and women of inspiration, insight, courage and vision.

Another fond memory I have is the beautiful sunsets across the wide sweeping plains – probably why it’s called the Sunset Country!

It all comes together with our relaxed and jovial conversations around the fire at the Little Desert Lodge. I love hearing the laughter, seeing the smiles, the young, the old, the city and the country all coming together with purpose.

Every time we journey up the Western Highway, we always mean to stay a little longer instead of trying to cram it into a single weekend. Some of the Crack Team now head up on Thursday and really get into the groove for the weekend ahead.

Last year, we revisited some of our older planting sites, as well as heading up to Lake Hindmarsh. It was a wonderful moment to stand on the edge of the massive lake and see it brimming with water and life for the first time in over a decade.

So if you find yourself at Project Hindmarsh this year and want someone to chat to around the fire, just look for a bloke with a black and green stubby holder with the words ‘Crack Team’ printed on it. We’d love to meet you, share a laugh or two and talk about what type of structure we can build with 85 hay bales once Darryl Argall goes to bed.

We also went back to Snape Reserve, an early planting site near Dimboola which was partly under water. We saw ducks, emu tracks and hundreds of newly sprouted River Red Gum trees.

During this visit we had a couple of first-time Crack Team members who hadn’t understood until then what it was all about. What really was the point of putting little trees in small plots of land in the backblocks of Victoria?

Some of the Crack Team members are a little camera-shy.

On behalf of the Crack Team, we can’t wait to see you all in August. And we send our love, gratitude and best wishes to the organising crew. • PW

I want trees here!

Brett at the Grow West planting last year.

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Photos: Brett Hedger

The Crack Team

Australia can save its woodland birds!

Like the Diamond Firetail, the Hooded Robin is a threatened woodland species that benefits from tree planting and regrowth on farms, especially with a flourishing understorey of young trees and shrubs.

“In heavily-grazed old-growth areas, on the other hand, the ground between the trees is more open and less attractive to these types of woodland birds.”

The scientific evidence suggests both regrowth and new planting areas provide a real lifeline for imperilled native birds.

The survey found an average of 29 bird species in new planting areas, 25 in seedling regrowth areas and 20 in areas re-sprouting after fires or land clearing, compared with only 15 bird types in oldgrowth areas where trees were all mature or ageing.

Photo courtesy Chris Tzaros

“This means we now know how to do revegetation of the Australian landscape so that it is both more effective at bringing back native species – and costs less to do,” Prof. Lindemayer says.

We have a very good chance of being able to save most of our endangered native woodland birds, one of the biggest field studies ever conducted in this country suggests.

Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Environmental Decisions (CEED), the Commonwealth Government’s National Environmental Research Program (NERP) and Australian National University have found that many native birds that were feared to be headed for extinction have shown remarkable rates of recovery on farms where regrowth and plantings of native trees are flourishing.

In a huge field science effort, the team monitored no fewer than 193 sites on 46 farms across southern NSW over ten years, to study the effect on native birds of different ways of managing native vegetation.

“It’s an extremely encouraging result,” said team leader Professor David Lindenmayer.

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“We’ve seen a big increase in the numbers of rare and endangered birds on farms in southern Australia, despite the drought. It’s really good news, and a true credit to all the farmers who have worked so hard to protect and restore native vegetation.”

The team’s research, published in the online journal PloS One, indicates that plantings and regrowth areas, where grazing pressure has been reduced, have seen the biggest return of native birds – compared with ‘old growth’ areas still being heavily grazed.

“We think this is because, in both new planting and regrowth areas, there is an under-storey of young, vigorous trees and shrubs which is attractive to many woodland birds, including rare and endangered species such as the Diamond Firetail, Hooded Robin, Flame Robin and Black-chinned Honeyeater.

“There is now good science to say what should and should not be done.

“This calls for farm planning at a whole new level, but the hundreds of farmers who we are working with us are already into this. They are very excited by the results we’ve been seeing.

“For the first time there is a clear measure of the quality of their stewardship of the native landscape. They can see the benefits for themselves – and success is motivating them to try even harder.”

Prof. Lindenmayer says that every landholder who takes part in the research receives a book of practical advice based on the scientific observation of what works … and what doesn’t.

“From the government’s and taxpayer’s perspective, this finding means our environmental restoration programs can be a lot more cost-effective,” he adds.

The team’s findings suggest that a range of vegetation growth types are likely to be required in a given farmland area to support the diverse array of bird species that inhabit Australian temperate woodland ecosystems.

“Our results also highlight the inherent conservation value of regrowth woodland, and suggest that current policies which allow it to be cleared or thinned need to be carefully reexamined,” they say. • PW

Right: Adequate open space in and around Melbourne is vital for both people and wildlife.

Photo: Ann McGregor

Does the State Government support the recommendations of its independent expert group the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) or not?

Government’s lukewarm response to VEAC investigation In March, the Victorian Government released its response to VEAC’s recommendations for the Metropolitan Melbourne investigation.

adding this area to Kinglake National Park will deliver improved public land outcomes.” Surely VEAC has just done this!

The VEAC recommendations were somewhat disappointing in not reflecting many of the suggestions in the joint submission by the VNPA, Environment Victoria and The Wilderness Society (see Park Watch Sept. 2011).

Recommendations for a 961 ha Point Cook Coastal Park (including the existing Coastal Park plus Cheetham Wetlands and Truganina Wetland Coastal Park) to be established under Schedule 3 of the National Parks Act, and for a 62 ha addition to Bunyip State Park, are also only ‘partially supported’.

Yet even VEAC’s rather conservative set of recommendations has received only limited support from the Government.

Of the 45 recommendations, 28 were only ‘partially supported’.

In many cases, comments made in the response indicate that little will be done to actively implement the recommendations.

The recommendation for a metropolitan-wide open space policy and strategy is supported “subject to wider considerations in the development of the metropolitan planning strategy”.

But the response then seems to be to handball the task to local councils, stating that the “preferred approach by which local councils can achieve greater certainty regarding open space is to undertake and complete a comprehensive municipal open space strategy …”

The recommendation for 2,590 ha at Yan Yean Reservoir and surrounds to be added to Kinglake National Park is ‘partially supported’, stating: “The Government will investigate whether

The VEAC Report notes that a number of Crown land areas are subject to government-accepted Land Conservation Council recommendations (dating back to 1994 and 1987), but have not been formally reserved for their approved purposes.

This includes 27 areas accepted to become conservation reserves. VEAC recommended that resources be allocated to implement the previouslyaccepted recommendations.

The Government’s response is to review (within five years) all outstanding accepted LCC recommendations.

Those determined to be no longer relevant or a priority will be amended or revoked.

VEAC mapped and made general recommendations for the use of ten public land use categories (including nature conservation reserves, regional parks, services and utilities areas, etc).

While these proposals are all ‘partially supported’, it is unclear which part is supported.

Secondly, the Government is proposing, seemingly out of the blue, to review the Crown Land (Reserves) Act and possibly other legislation. For each of the ten land use categories “The Government will review the current land category as part of a review of the current system of categorising public land…to implement a simpler, more transparent and robust system.”

The Government response adds that “allowable and excluded activities within the area will be determined based on management objectives”. But management objectives are set by the land tenure or Act which governs the land category, which the government is proposing to review!

The Coalition announced no policy regarding such a review prior to the 2010 election. The Brumby Government’s 2009 Securing Our Natural Future: a White Paper for land and biodiversity did flag a review of this legislation (within five years) but the Baillieu Government has failed, and refused, to clarify its position on this review.

So what’s going on? Is this a further example of conservation policy by stealth?

Or has someone forgotten to tell DSE that the Biodiversity White Paper is no longer government policy? • PW The writer, VNPA member Ann McGregor, is an environmental planner with a long-term interest in Melbourne’s open spaces and natural areas. She represented the VNPA on the Community Reference Group for VEAC’s Metropolitan Melbourne investigation.

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Philip Ingamells, the VNPA’s Park Protection Project officer, highlights concerns about the amount of control burning in Victoria. It’s damaging biodiversity, and often not helping to protect life and property.

Statewide fuel reduction target threatens biodiversity But DSE’s fire crews were asked to bring forward 2013 and 2014 burns in western Victoria, because wet weather had compromised the burning program in the east.

Deliberately lit in unseasonably warm and dry weather, it crowned in many places and razed the undergrowth extensively. It will inevitably lead to siltation of the reservoir, which provides drinking water for the Wimmera and Mallee regions.

Unfortunately, one of the Bushfire Royal Commission’s most important recommendations, to burn five per cent of Victoria’s public land annually for fuel reduction, isn’t doing what it should be doing – acting in the best interests of public safety and the protection of our natural areas.

It was meant to be a Department of Sustainability and Environment ‘ecological burn’, a low-intensity fire that would lick through patches of the undergrowth, leaving large areas untouched, and it was not planned to be burnt till autumn 2013.

Commission was warned

And it encourages more and more risky burns in unseasonable weather.

The Commission was presented with plenty of advice that a large statewide burn target would fail. Indeed, despite the Commission’s own claims, the target to burn five per cent annually,

A former director of fire management in the United States Forest Service, Jerry Williams, was a member of the Commission’s expert panel. He made it clear to the Commissioners that

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equating to 390,000 hectares per year, wasn’t even supported by its own expert panel on fuel reduction.

Setting up a simplistic state-wide target for fuel reduction burns can’t solve what is fundamentally a very complex problem. It encourages the easier large burns in remote areas, rather than the more difficult smaller burns close to settled areas which are important for public safety but contribute little to the target.

The mound-building Malleefowl, one of Victoria’s most remarkable birds, breeds only in long-unburnt areas in the Wimmera and Mallee. It is now very scarce in the Little Desert, but DSE still plans to burn valuable habitat there.

Photo: Chris Tzaros

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A few days before Easter this year, a fire raged through more than 1,000 ha of remote bushland on the shores of Rocklands Reservoir, west of the Grampians National Park.

setting a single statewide target would encourage fire managers to concentrate on the ‘low-hanging fruit’, those larger remote areas.

But that was not the only objection to a statewide target raised by the expert panel over the two days in which they were grilled by the Commission’s lawyers.

During the hearings, as the lawyers sought clarification of the panel’s advice, the panel members generally agreed that they could only safely recommend a five per cent burn target for the ‘foothill forests’ – the drier, mainly stringybark forests at lower altitudes.

And even that should be as an experiment to be monitored – the experts couldn’t guarantee that such frequent burning would not adversely affect the survival of many native birds and animals.

They said there was not enough certainty, or indeed a need, to apply that target to many other habitat types across the state.

Malleefowl in needless peril We may now be in the process of inflicting great harm on some of Victoria’s natural areas and species. The remarkable Malleefowl, which incubates its eggs in carefully tended mounds, is now in serious decline in the Little Desert because it won’t breed in recently burnt bush.

It’s just one among many species that rely on long-unburnt vegetation.

Generally speaking, to satisfy the habitat needs of the great range of birds and mammals that live in our natural areas we need a broad range of intervals between fires for each habitat type.

Long-unburnt areas, a crucial part of that mix, are now increasingly hard to find in many parts of the state.

As our fire managers ramp up towards the 390,000 ha per year, there is already evidence that the predictions of the Commission’s expert panel are being realised. Department figures show there is a clear tendency to burn remote areas, and less inclination to burn the small but difficult areas near towns, though they are the most important for safety.

And importantly, trying to achieve such a large target is expensive, and takes valuable resources away from other things the Commission rightly identified as effective in saving lives in severe fire weather, such as better communication systems, and dealing with ignition sources like power lines.

Environment groups are not opposed to planned burning. What we want to see are local targets, based on sophisticated and strategic burns that help to protect both people and nature.

We can do much better Victoria is capable of much better fire management. There has been a great deal of very solid research done on the relationship between fuel reduction burns and public safety in Victoria, and on the relationship between fire and the state’s biodiversity in areas as diverse as the Mallee, the Otways, the High Country and coastal heathlands.

We are in a position to set seriously clever local burn targets based on local needs today, and on an understanding of what we want the bush to look like in, say, 30 years’ time.

But the overarching statewide target, while creating the impression that the ‘job’ is being done, acts against good planning. It’s leading many of our already stressed natural areas towards steady decline, and creating a false sense of safety for many rural communities. • PW

What you can do Tell Victoria’s Environment Minister that it is time for a re-assessment of the statewide target for fuel reduction burns. Tell him it should replaced by evidence-based local management burn programs, which support both public safety and our natural heritage.

Hon. Ryan Smith Minister for Environment and Climate Change Level 17, 8 Nicholson Street East Melbourne, VIC 3001 ryan.smith@parliament.vic.gov.au Or contact your local DSE office.

Ask them to detail the ecological objectives for any burns they have planned in your area.

Photo: Russell Bowey

Park management plan update: the alps and the SW It is now four years since Parks Victoria started on a revision of the management plan for the Alpine National Park, and chose to include it in a single plan for all parks in the alpine region. So where is it?

Apparently it rests with DSE, or the Minister, and according to DSE it is due to be released as a ‘pre-draft’ for public consultation.

But the Alpine Advisory Committee, the body required by law to give advice on the plan, was dissolved last June and not re-appointed.

The alpine parks plan is meant to be subject to a DSE ‘landscape-scale’ regional cross-tenure management plan, but that process is yet to begin.

In the meantime, Parks Victoria has started its second regional park management plan, the Ngootyoong Gunditj Ngootyoong Mara - South West Management Plan. Discussion papers are available for comment on Parks Victoria’s website.

The VNPA does not agree that regional park plans fulfil the requirement, under the National Parks Act, for individual park plans that actually specify necessary management actions. • PW Phil Ingamells

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This article is dedicated to her friend, VNPA member Mirna Ilic, who died recently. Mirna attended every VNPA ‘Help the Alps’ weekend and some hawkweed hunts.

Weeds are eco-terrorists – terrorists of ecosystems. As invaders of our national parks, they should provoke fear and funding – fear of their ecological consequences, and funding for research and projects aimed at their eradication.

Hawkweeds have done just that. Their invasion of Victoria’s Alpine National Park has provoked serious concern among botanists, ecologists and land managers, and they have attracted funding for research and for their survey and eradication.

and Falls Creek Alpine Resorts and the surrounding Alpine National Park. Some projects involve volunteers.

After hearing NZ hawkweed expert Dr Peter Espie speaking on Radio National about the dire consequences of letting hawkweeds get out of hand, I joined volunteer Weed Spotters at Falls Creek in January 2009 to search for the orange daisies of Orange Hawkweed and the yellow daisies of King Devil Hawkweed.

As explained in my Orange Hawkweed letter in Park Watch Dec. 2009, hawkweeds are treated very seriously in Victoria. As State Prohibited Weeds, they must be kept out of, or eradicated within, the State.

Their scientific names are very old.

Linnaeus derived their generic name Hieracium from their ancient Greek name ‘hieracion’, from ‘hierax’ meaning ‘hawk’, because of the ancient belief in the beneficial effects of the plant’s juice on hawk eyesight.

Government funding targeting SPWs has allowed the Department of Primary Industries (DPI) and Parks Victoria (PV) to organise hawkweed detection and eradication projects in Mt Buller

Linnaeus named the orange-flowered hawkweed Hieracium aurantiacum, or ‘orange-coloured’. King Devil Hawkweed was later named Hieracium praealtum, or ‘very tall’.

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Photo: Neville Walsh

Linden Gillbank of the School of Historical and Philosophical Studies at the University of Melbourne is a VNPA member and botanical historian who hates weeds. Each summer she joins volunteer hawkweed hunters on the Bogong High Plains.

Photo: Euan Moore

Another hawkweed found in the Alpine National Park

King Devil Hawkweed flowering near Rocky Valley dam, 14 January 2004.

Note the hairy stems and buds.

The flowerheads are 10–20 mm in diameter.

Orange Hawkweed was the first hawkweed to be detected growing wild (i.e. naturalised) in Victoria. In 1999, small orange daisies in weedy Falls Creek ski village were identified as a subspecies of Hieracium aurantiacum.

Unsurprisingly, Orange Hawkweed has since been found on the Bogong High Plains in the Alpine National Park above Falls Creek. Sadly, it has also been found naturalised in Mt Buller Alpine Resort and Kosciuszko National Park.

In summer grasslands ablaze with indigenous and naturalised yellow daisies, yellow-flowering hawkweeds are more difficult to detect.

King Devil Hawkweed was first noticed in December 2003 by hawk-eyed DSE officer Rudi Pleschutschnig in a sea of yellow daisies near Rocky Valley Storage Dam. Neville Walsh collected specimens for the National Herbarium of Victoria and identified the plant as a subspecies of Hieracium praealtum.

Left: Volunteer hawkweed hunters in grassland between the aqueduct and Bogong High Plains Road near Langford Gap, December 2011. The rope keeps the search front straight and maintains the spacing between ‘vollies’. GPS tracking at each end gives a record of the area searched. The red-jacketed leader is Keith Primrose.

During an off-duty stroll way beyond the hawkweeds’ known range, Fran Callinan noticed a dense mat of whiskery leaves beside Pretty Valley Track.

Later, at the hawkweed ‘crime scene’, Rudi and Keith carefully dug up a plant to send to Neville, while we searched the adjacent tussock grassland. Closely roped together, we ‘vollies’ did the slow, head-down, straight-ahead walk of the dedicated hawkweed hunter, but found no outlying hawkweed colonies.

Then came disturbing news. At the Herbarium, Neville Walsh recognised the hairy leaves and yellow flower of a hawkweed never before found growing wild in Victoria: Mouse-ear Hawkweed, Hieracium pilosella, meaning ‘somewhat hairy’, referring to the whiskery leaves. Because it aggressively colonises low-fertility tussock grasslands, Mouse-ear Hawkweed is particularly ecologically dangerous.

In the second week of January 2012, teams of Weed Spotters braved cold, blustery weather on the Bogong High Plains to search for hawkweeds

Meanwhile, Neville Walsh became convinced by a recent study that reclassified a group of Hieracium species into another old genus, Pilosella. The group includes Victoria’s naturalised hawkweeds, so our Orange Hawkweed becomes a subspecies of Pilosella aurantiaca, King Devil Hawkweed a subspecies of Pilosella piloselloides, and Mouse-ear Hawkweed a subspecies of Pilosella officinarum.

Photo: Euan Moore

There are many hairy-leaved rosettes on the Bogong High Plains. But hawkweed leaves are distinctly whiskery. Seeing them helped me to recognise another patch of King Devil Hawkweed near the aqueduct … and led a fellow volunteer to make a shocking discovery.

And some of us participated in an elaborate hawkweed detection experiment designed by Dr Cindy Hauser from the University of Melbourne.

Whiskery leaves (c. 150 mm long) of King Devil Hawkweed near the aqueduct, 28 December 2011.

As you can see, volunteers as well as overworked PV, DPI and Herbarium staff contribute to our knowledge of hawkweeds and to their eradication.

And because, even after many years of searching, hawkweeds are still being discovered in the Alpine National Park, hawkweed surveys must continue on the Bogong High Plains.

When you marvel at the summer floral brilliance of High Plains grasslands and heathlands, continue to look out for the orange and yellow daisies and whiskery leaves of hawkweeds.

But do not touch them! Never!

Hawkweeds are invasive species. An extremely careful protocol must be followed for their removal and databasing – flagging, tagging and bagging individual plants and spraying colonies, to be undertaken only by trained hawkweed workers.

Photo: Jenny Rolland

Our leader, Hawkweed Project Officer Kylie Chew, detected them in grassland near the aqueduct north of Langford Gap after some of us had walked right over them. The patch of King Devil Hawkweed was quite large, but the hairy leaves are not easy to see in the grass – unless you are on your knees.

again. We found another King Devil Hawkweed incursion near the aqueduct and a flowering Orange Hawkweed plant in Falls Creek village.

Mouse-ear Hawkweed (flowerhead c. 25 mm diameter) by Pretty Valley Track, 31 December 2011.

And there’s always the possibility of misidentification. We well-intentioned non-experts may mistake various yellow daisies and hairy-leaved rosettes for hawkweeds. If you see plants that you think are hawkweeds, send photos and their exact positions to PV or DPI staff.

Here’s your chance to use your mobile phone to dob in an eco-terrorist. • PW

Photo: Jenny Rolland

Another yellow-daisied hawkweed was discovered during a volunteer hawkweed survey last December.

On our first day, we were shown hawkweed’s distinctive hairy leaves, aptly described as ‘whiskery’ by Keith Primrose, PV’s Hawkweed Eradication Program coordinator.

Mouse-ear Hawkweed rosettes by Pretty Valley Track, 30 December 2011. The whiskery leaves are much shorter than King Devil Hawkweed leaves.

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Reef Watch Sea Science seminars Due to popular demand, Reef Watch has embarked once again on a monthly series of Sea Science seminars, including a guided tour, at Melbourne Aquarium.

The good news is Reef Watch and VNPA’s broader marine campaign will continue to push for better protection of these fantastic species.

But stop the press! Before we go any further, let’s first bang the drum about Reef Watch being awarded a prestigious gong in April.

Then in May, we flew Dr Simon Bryars from South Australia to launch our new ‘Buddy-up with a Blue Devil’ project.

Topping a strong field of nominees, Reef Watch received the annual Victorian Coastal Council Award for excellence in education and was congratulated by the State Environment Minister himself for excellent projects like the Great Victorian Fish Count and ‘Feral or in Peril’.

Simon had the audience in stitches, with funny stories about his Blue Devil Fish research exploits, including new breakthrough information about their breeding behaviour.

Of course, this award would not have been possible without the incredible support and dedication of our Reef Watch volunteers.

For coming Sea Science seminars, see www.reefwatchvic.asn.au or phone Wendy Roberts on 8341 7446. Numbers are limited, so avoid disappointment by registering early!

Back to the seminars. In April, Reef Watchers and the general public were treated to an expert talk about rays. Victoria is lucky to be home of extensive ray populations, but unfortunately not everyone appreciates these majestic creatures, with dead rays around piers and jetties sadly not an uncommon sight.

All at sea wi marine man

VNPA marine campaigner Simon Branig urgent need for a comprehensive plan protect Victoria’s marine environment

To get on board and become a buddy with a Blue Devil or find out more, see our website.

The recent (24 March) grounding of the 27m Lady Cheryl, a local deep-sea fishing trawler, at Corsair Rock, very close to the Point Nepean section of Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park, demonstrates not only an ad hoc response to such a major incident, but also the overall lack of oversight and management of Victoria’s marine environment.

Finally, talking of blue creatures, temporary protection for the Blue Groper in Victorian waters has been extended until 2013 – thanks to the help of Reef Watch divers and many other VNPA members. • PW

From what we understand, in the days following the incident no local tourism operators were contacted by any government agencies or the Port of Melbourne about it, or alerted to the fact that diesel had leaked from the vessel.

Operators reported dolphins swimming through a 500 metre long diesel slick, and divers emerging from areas such as Pope’s Eye covered in diesel oil.

Victorian Coastal Council award presentation. From left: Council Chair Jon Hickman, Wendy Roberts (Reef Watch), Environment Minister Ryan Smith, Simon Branigan (VNPA).

Photo: Jim Lee

Point Nepean is one of the jewels in the crown of Victoria’s network of marine national parks, home to a dolphin sanctuary for the bay’s 89 unique and vulnerable dolphins and a key area for Parks Victoria’s subtidal monitoring program.

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While agencies and Government postured over who would pay for salvaging the vessel, a critical time of calm wave and wind conditions was missed. Big swells soon kicked in again, further embedding the trawler in the seabed.

Heading underwater at Nepean Bay, Port Phillip Heads Marine National Park.

ith nagement

Community groups on the Mornington Peninsula are seeking support to oppose their Council’s proposal to locate a large Aquatic/Leisure Centre on the Port Phillip Bay Crown Land Foreshore Reserve in Rosebud.

gan reports on the n to manage and t.

They believe that such a facility – the size of a large multi-storey supermarket, with parking for 150 vehicles – should be located on one of the ten alternative inland sites identified by the Council.

The latest report, according to the Department of Transport website, is that the Lady Cheryl is unrecoverable.

The plan is to partially dismantle the wreck, removing any environmental and recreational hazards.

Some key questions remain. The Port Phillip Bay entrance is renowned as very dangerous, so why are vessels permitted to exit the Heads in 5-6m swells?

In fact the day before this incident, it was reported that a larger vessel had had a close call.

What would happen if a container ship ran aground and spewed bunker oil into the Bay, and how would the authorities respond? Plus, why weren’t local tourism operators contacted and kept informed?

The mis-handling of this incident highlights the crucial need for a comprehensive marine plan for Victoria’s bays and inlets and coastal waters, setting out proper procedures for managing the catastrophic threats posed by oil spills and the growing pressures of climate change, overfishing, coastal development and invasive species.

Delve under the water in Port Phillip Bay and you’ll find colourful sponge gardens and extensive seagrass beds, home to an

array of fish and invertebrate species and far too precious to damage or lose.

DSE has stated that the proposal ‘is inconsistent with the Victorian Coastal Strategy 2008’.

Although the scope of the current Victorian Environmental Assessment Council investigation into marine protected areas is far too narrow, the inquiry does offer an ideal opportunity for the Government to receive independent expert advice about what would form the nuts and bolts of a comprehensive marine plan.

If the Council is successful in pressuring the State Government to approve this development, it could set a precedent for all sorts of non-coastal development on Victoria’s foreshore and coastal reserves. This could include basketball stadiums, gymnasiums, police, fire or ambulance stations, entertainment centres, even schools and hospitals.

In a positive contrast to the trawler incident, Parks Victoria recently responded quickly and decisively to a park ranger’s report of a new infestation of the aggressive Northern Pacific Seastar at Tidal River, near Wilsons Promontory Marine National Park.

An interagency Incident Management Team was established within 12 hours of the report, with divers mobilised to remove the pest and Friends of the Prom surveying the intertidal area of the marine national park. We aren’t out of the woods yet, but this a good example of getting marine management right.

Please send a letter or email with your views to Dr Michael Kennedy, Mornington Peninsula Shire CEO, Private Bag 1000, Rosebud VIC 3939, email: Michael.Kennedy@mornpen.vic.gov.au.

The draft discussion paper phase of the public consultation process ends on 25 June. Visit our website to see how you can get involved and help secure a healthy future for our incredible marine environment. • PW

Contact also to the Hon. Ryan Smith MP, Minister for Environment and Climate Change, 44 New Street, Ringwood VIC 3134, email: minister.smith@minister.vic.gov.au and MLA for Nepean, Martin Dixon, PO Box 250, McCrae, Vic. 3938, email martin.dixon@parliament.vic.gov.au, phone 5986 6661.

Copy letters or emails to Dr Alan Nelsen, Mornington Peninsula Ratepayers, PO Box 4087, Rosebud VIC 3939, or email bazndaz7@bigpond.com.

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Photo: Bill Boyle

Our foreshore and coastal reserves are seriously threatened

Photo by Murray Fagg, courtesy Australian National Botanic Gardens

Crosbie Morrison and the formation of the VNPA

By ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR Don Garden Many people were involved in the formation of the VNPA in 1952, but the most important public figure was Philip Crosbie Morrison (1900–1958).

For older members of the VNPA, Morrison’s name will be familiar from his multitude of writings and films about wildlife, his school broadcasts, his extraordinarily popular and long-running nature radio programs on 3DB and 3UZ, and a short-lived television series.

What may not be as well known is the major role he played in the formation of the VNPA and in working towards a better national parks system in Victoria.

To read Crosbie Morrison’s biography

by Graham Pizzey is to be almost overwhelmed by Morrison’s activities and achievements. He was a keen amateur naturalist who in 1925 graduated as a zoologist and then worked mainly as a journalist until he was poached in 1938 by the Herald & Weekly Times to found, edit and write much of a natural history and conservation magazine, Wild Life – a task he did until 1954. For much of that time he also presented radio broadcasts and was a popular public speaker.

Morrison was also an activist and an

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Photo: courtesy Historic Places, DSE

Philip Crosbie Morrison (left) with Committee of Management members at Mt Buffalo National Park, 1957.

Crosbie Morrison receives the Australian Natural History Medallion from Sir Russell Grimwade, November 1947.

The Crosbie Morrison Building at the Australian National Botanic Gardens, Canberra.

active member of many organisations, including the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV – President 1941-43), the Royal Society (President 1949-51) and the Royal Australian Ornithologists Union.

He was a Trustee of the National Museum of Victoria and Chairman from 1955 to 1958.

Wilsons Promontory NP (established in 1908) was seriously degraded by military use during WWII and by fire and rabbits, while across Victoria park management committees (where they existed) resorted to leasing parks for grazing, timber cutting and quarrying in order to raise revenue.

Concern

Morrison took up the threats to Victoria’s flora and fauna and its degraded national parks in an editorial in Wild Life in May 1946 in which he called for a ‘New Deal’ for the parks and reserves. Perhaps on his initiative, the FNCV called together a Conference of about twenty conservation and nature organisations which met on four occasions between 1946 and 1952, and which Morrison chaired.

In the middle of the 20th century the steady loss of flora and fauna in Victoria, under pressure from agriculture, development and introduced species, was a profound source of concern for Morrison and other conservationists.

Even the so-called ‘national parks’ were in severe decline from inadequate legislative protection, poor administration and no government funding.

As it drew towards the end of approving these recommendations, the Conference decided in 1952 that there should be a new and permanent organisation to continue its work. It would comprise organisations and individuals interested in the preservation of areas of scenic, historical or scientific interest.

VNPA established A provisional Council established under Morrison developed a constitution which was approved at a meeting on 26 November 1952, at which the Victorian National Parks Association was formally established and its Council appointed, with Morrison as President.

On 1 July 1953 the first Newsletter was published. It quoted the objects of the Association as: • To strive for the welfare of National Parks and for their preservation in perpetuity.

• To foster interest in and appreciation of National Parks.

• To form a link between the public and the Administration in matters concerning National Parks, and to advise, when required, the appropriate authority.

• To make investigations and representations for further reservations of National Parks.

• To co-operate with persons or organizations having similar objects or interests.

The Council consisted of P. Crosbie Morrison (President), J. Ros. Garnet (Hon. Secretary), Hugh Wilson (Hon. Treasurer), A.W. Burston, E.T. Charlton, Prof. J.N. Greenwood, J.M. Harkins, F.P. Hill, Jack Jones, T.E. Kilburn, Fred Lewis, R.T.M. Pescott, N. Richards, E.G. Stewart and (the only woman) Miss M. Wigan.

The Corporate Members were the Bendigo Field Naturalists’ Club, Bird Observers’ Club, Gould League of Bird Lovers, Field Naturalists’ Club of Victoria, Maryborough Field Naturalists’ Club, Melbourne Bushwalkers, Melbourne Walking Club, Native Plants Preservation Society of Victoria, National Museum of Victoria Trustees, Portland Field Naturalists’ Club, Royal Australasian Ornithologists’ Union, Sunraysia Filed Naturalists’ Club, Victorian Compost Society, Victorian Mountain Tramping Club and the Youth Hostel Association.

There were also about eighty individual members.

Morrison’s chief ally in the FNCV, the Conference and in the establishment and operation of the VNPA was J. Ros Garnet. While Morrison was the figurehead and public voice, Garnet appears to have been the main driving force and organiser behind the scenes.

Photos courtesy Historic Places, DSE

The Conference delegated to a subcommittee the task of inquiring into the state of Victoria’s reserves and preparing recommendations for legislation to establish a proper system. The central planks of its recommendations included legislation that would consolidate the protection of national parks, and establish a National Parks Authority headed by a Director who would supervise wellfunded and properly instituted local management committees.

The official public launch of the VNPA was at a meeting held in the Lower Melbourne Town Hall on 23 July 1953 – so many people came that ‘hundreds’ were turned away.

Frustration The next three years were intensely frustrating for Morrison and the VNPA as they sought, through submissions and delegations to the government, to have legislation passed to put national parks on a proper footing. Morrison and Garnet continued tirelessly to push the cause.

Finally, in October 1956 the government of Liberal Premier Henry Bolte passed the National Parks Act, and in May 1957 the National Parks Authority was created, with Morrison as its first Director. Morrison resigned as President of VNPA to take up the position.

For a brief period it looked like a great victory, but the cracks soon appeared.

The NPA proved, despite Morrison’s best efforts, to be weak and flawed in its powers and authority and its finances.

All this took a toll on Morrison, who tragically died suddenly, aged only 58, of a cerebral haemorrhage on 1 March 1958.

Morrison’s work was still far from complete, but he will be long remembered and appreciated for

Above: The Morrison family, ca 1952. Wife Lucy and sons James (left) and Tom (died 1978).

Top: Crosbie Morrison’s photograph of his two sons and a friend at the Organ Pipes, 1943.

what he achieved in a life devoted to the preservation and protection of the environment, and especially our national parks. It is fitting that he has a building named after him at the National Botanic Gardens in Canberra.

VNPA’s work continues After Morrison’s departure and death the work of the VNPA continued. The weaknesses of the NPA meant that the battle was renewed, both to protect existing parks and to have new ones created, as well as the broader battle to protect Victoria’s natural heritage.

Those who wish to learn more about Morrison and the formation of the VNPA can do so in Graham Pizzey’s biography Crosbie Morrison: voice of nature (Victoria Press 1992), and online at www.adb.anu.edu.au/biography/ morrison-philip-crosbie-11177 • PW

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J. Ros Garnet and scenery preservation

By Don Garden Ros Garnet was a clever man and a most interesting character who, together with Crosbie Morrison, was one of the most important individuals in the foundation and early years of the VNPA. But because Morrison died prematurely in 1958, Garnet’s role was longer and more influential.

John Roslyn Garnet (1906-1998) was born at Narracan and spent his early childhood on a small dairy farm in South Gippsland before moving to Melbourne, where he completed his secondary education.

In December 1958 the VNPA Council discussed what it saw as necessary amendments to the Victorian National Parks Act. One suggestion was to rename the legislation as the National Parks and Scenery Preservation Act. One of the proponents of this idea was J. Ros Garnet, Honorary Secretary and a chief architect of the VNPA and its national park policies.

‘Scenery preservation’ struck me as a rather strange notion to be advanced in 1958 as a crucial element or justification of national parks, as it was already a fairly dated concept.

In the 19th early 20th centuries the reasons behind nature reservations were essentially anthropocentric – to preserve places for human enjoyment (such as the preservation of grand scenes) and for future human scientific research or other benefits.

But by the 1950s, educated and aware environmentalists looked beyond human benefits and were at least equally concerned about the ‘rights of nature’, biodiversity and ecosystem preservation.

So why did Garnet, who seems to have been so acutely aware of such issues, support scenery preservation? Was he really a closet anthropocentrist?

Then I realised that ‘scenery preservation’ was both a reflection of his love of nature and part of his strategic thinking to protect Victoria’s natural heritage. In

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Top: Ros after bicycle trip to Mt Gambier, 1927.

Right: Ros, 1927.

various writings Garnet referred to the beauty and joy of scenery as part of what he wanted to preserve.

At the same time, he was aware that there were benefits to be gained by extending the concept of nature protection beyond national park boundaries. To advance ‘scenery preservation’ might enable the consideration of adjacent wider areas.

There is an article entitled ‘Scenery and Sense’ in the VNPA Newsletter no.

22, November 1958, which I strongly suspect to have been written by Garnet, who was acting as editor at the time. The writer stated: Our task here is to ensure that the particular attraction—scenery—is preserved, and that any plan for roads, buildings and works (such as clearing or quarrying) is considered by the [National Parks] Authority in the light of the possible spoiling of scenic appeal.

In 1922 he began working as a laboratory assistant in Melbourne and subsequently studied at the University of Melbourne, where he qualified as an industrial chemist.

After a stint with the Commonwealth Department of Health in Port Pirie, South Australia, he returned to Melbourne and worked at the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories as a biochemist until retirement in 1971.

From his early years Garnet loved the Victorian bush, and as a young man he explored much of Victoria, often by bicycle – despite having contracted polio in 1918, which left him with a permanent limp.

His energy, commitment and determination were amazing, and while he was amiable and charming, he could react strongly and be very forceful when necessary. As fellow VNPA Councillor Tom Kilburn reflected: “Ros would get ideas and concepts and couldn’t see why others did not agree on his priorities. He was a bit adamant.”

Others might have used less gentle terms, and during the height of the Little Desert dispute in early 1970, Premier Henry Bolte struck Garnet’s name off a list of the members of a deputation who wished to see him.

The following is a brief summary of the impressive range of activities he undertook.

Ros Garnet was a long-term member of the Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) and its Honorary Secretary 1946-47, Vice President 1947-48 and President 1948-49 and 1957-59.

Ros at Suggan Buggan, 1970.

Ros (centre) with wife Elsie (third from left), daughter Joan (left), son John (right) and friends at Brittania Creek, 1953.

Ros and Elsie Garnet at their Golden Wedding celebration, September 1985.

Ros Garnet at the Organ Pipes, 1992.

All photos courtesy John Garnet

Ros at work, 1965.

Through the FNCV he became the Secretary of, and a major figure in, the Conference which was established in 1946 and gave birth to the VNPA in 1952. Garnet was Secretary of the FNCV Standing Committee on National Parks and National Monuments which did most of the assessment in the late 1940s of existing national park reservations and drafted the guidelines for possible legislation that were submitted to the Conference.

It was as these matters were developing that in 1948-49 he first became President of the FNCV. Garnet became a foundation councillor of the VNPA in 1952 and was its honorary secretary until 1973. He also took on a multitude of other responsibilities over the years, including copious letter writing and

lobbying, and assisting in the organisation of meetings and excursions, as well as editing and writing for the Newsletter.

He was on the on Council until 1977 and was Vice President 1974-77.

As a keen naturalist, with a special interest in indigenous botany (notably orchids), he travelled widely to study flora both within and outside national parks and wrote a small number of books and numerous articles for the Victorian Naturalist, VNPA Newsletter and other journals.

His was particularly interested in Wilsons Promontory and Wyperfeld National Parks, and wrote booklets about their natural and human history – his detailed History of Wilsons Promontory was published by the VNPA in 2009 as a free online

download. Among other works were a book on the wildflowers of south-eastern Australia and one on the wildflowers of Wilsons Promontory.

Over the years, among many other organisational roles he was Vice President of the Conservation Council of Victoria and a member of the Native Plants Preservation Society of Victoria, the Royal Society of Victoria, the Society for Growing Australian Plants and the Australian Conservation Foundation.

In 1966 he was awarded the Australian Natural History Medallion and in 1982 was given an Order of Australia (AM) for services to conservation.

Few have done as much for the VNPA, Victorian conservation and ‘scenery preservation’ as that most committed activist, Ros Garnet. • PW

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The boneseeders take a break.

Like the You Yangs, Arthurs Seat is noted for is extensive infestations of the South African plant boneseed. But now, building on years of volunteer effort, serious attempts are being made to control the weed and allow native flora and fauna to flourish.

Invasive weeds are a major threat to natural assets, and affect biodiversity values and ecosystem function.

A new project, the Urban Fringe Weed Management Initiative, is a $4 million State Government program to protect environmentally significant public land in Melbourne’s outer urban areas from the threat of weeds.

Objectives include improving biodiversity values, building and strengthening local and state government relationships, and increasing and supporting community capacity.

The Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) has allocated $550,000 of the $4 million to public land at Arthurs Seat. Mornington Peninsula Shire is contributing $120,000 to the four-year project, and is committed to future follow-up works.

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This project covers the western escarpment of Arthurs Seat and takes in Arthurs Seat State Park and shiremanaged reserves. The 550ha site was chosen for both its conservation values and its habitat condition.

A working group has been formed to manage the project, with representatives from Mornington Peninsula Shire, Parks Victoria and DSE who have come together to plan, implement and manage the project.

The group has developed a management plan for the four-year period July 2010 to June 2014. This plan sets out objectives, actions and methodology to ensure that both the working group and on-ground crews and volunteers have a clear understanding of environmental outcomes.

A key feature of the project is monitoring and evaluation. The area has been monitored from the start to measure the effectiveness of weed control and the recovery of native plants.

As part of the project, a fauna survey was conducted across the 275 hectare project site between August 2010 and October 2011. Altogether 127 species were detected, including species of State significance like the Powerful Owl and the Sacred Kingfisher, locally significant species becoming increasingly rare on the Mornington Peninsula due to weed invasion impacting on old-growth trees.

In addition to the fauna survey, an Indigenous cultural heritage survey has been undertaken in Waterfall Gully, and a monitoring program assesses weed density and response to treatment.

Photo: Georgia Kerr, Parks Victoria

VNPA takes part in Arthurs Seat weed project

The project began in July 2010 with weed control initially focused on the Waterfall Gully, Cook Street Spur and Kings Falls areas. Works have now extended to other prioritised areas identified in the management plan.

To date, the Mornington Peninsula Shire, Parks Victoria and the Department of Sustainability and Environment have collectively spent $200,000 on weed control work.

Matt Stammer, Conservation Officer for the Mornington Shire, says that the biosecurity approach focuses on preventing new weeds from invading high-quality areas, and eradicating or containing key weeds by working initially from high-quality work areas towards low- quality areas.

the vegetation and the steep walk up to the weeding site, but that the environmental outcome was fantastic.

“The volunteers even protested about stopping for lunch, and demanded to keep working!” she said.

The day finished with a lunch at Seawinds Gardens, giving volunteers

the chance to mingle, reflect on the benefits of working in such a large group, and network with other volunteers.

Given the overwhelming support and enthusiasm from the volunteers on the day, plans are already in place to hold a similar day next year. • PW

Tackling the boneseed (bright green leaves) and giving the indigenous vegetation breathing space. Non-indigenous Sallow Wattles were also removed.

Photo: Marg Hattersley

“We are also directly contacting affected neighbouring properties to address weed invasion pathways, and identifying rare species locations which need particular protection from weed encroachment,” he says.

Another important component of the project is community engagement.

On Saturday 14 April there was a community group working bee at a highly degraded site near McLarens Dam at Arthurs Seat which had a major boneseed infestation, but which contains several significant flora species.

Community groups were invited to come and help remove the boneseed and celebrate with a lunch.

The day was attended by 75 volunteers from the VNPA, Bayside and Waverley Walking Clubs, the Melbourne Women’s Walking Club, SPIFFA (Southern Peninsula Indigenous Flora and Fauna Association), Friends of Tootgarook and Devilbend, the Southern Peninsula Landcare Group and the Seawinds Nursery group.

The volunteers were supported by staff from Parks Victoria, Mornington Shire and contractors from Seeds Bushland Restoration.

Parks Victoria Ranger in Charge Georgia Kerr said that the work was hard going, due to the thickness of

The big boneseeding day VNPA volunteers, coordinated by long-standing member Margaret Hattersley, have been helping remove boneseed at Arthurs Seat for a number of years. Marg reports on the day.

We went boneseeding on 14 April on a block at McLarens Dam, up a rather steep hill, where boneseed growth after a control burn some four years ago was enormous.

It’s interesting how motivated people are when they get stuck into something like this. By the end of the morning, the area looked as if a tornado had blown through.

Parks Victoria was there in force with plenty of tools, gloves, etc. Around 70 volunteers came and they all worked furiously, cutting, pulling, poisoning and socialising.

We proceeded to Seawinds for lunch, also courtesy of PV, with a very nice abundance of sandwiches and cakes, tea, coffee, etc.

Morning tea was provided by PV, with cakes, biscuits and lots of water and soft drinks.

A big thank-you from Parks Victoria and me to all who came. It was a very rewarding day for all, and we hope to see you all again next year!

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Blue Whales

on the edge Photo: Peter Gill

in SW Victoria

A Blue Whale blows.

Dr Peter Gill and Margie Morrice (at right) have been involved in marine mammal research since the 1980s. They have both moved to south-west Victoria to work full-time on Blue Whale research.

For more information, see www.bluewhalestudy.org or email petegill@bigpond.com

The Blue Whale, Balaenoptera musculus, which can reach 30 metres in length and weigh 180 tonnes, is the largest known animal to have ever existed.

Sadly, it is also one of the world’s most threatened marine mammal species.

More than 360,000 Blue Whales were taken by 20th century whalers in the Southern Hemisphere, and there is no firm evidence of recovery from whaling despite nearly 50 years of protection.

No one knows how many survive.

The future of this magnificent animal now depends largely on the ‘aggregation areas’ where they feed and breed.

Krill and upwellings Such enormous predators need large quantities of food to sustain them throughout the year. They have evolved as specialist feeders on euphausiid crustaceans, otherwise known as krill.

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Krill are abundant in highly productive oceanic areas, such as upwelling or convergence zones, or the Antarctic sea-ice zone. There are surprisingly few such areas worldwide.

Every November, high-pressure systems drift south into the Great Australian Bight. They bring strong south-easterly winds to the coastal waters of western Victoria and eastern South Australia, and drive an alongshore current to the north-west.

This pattern lasts roughly until April.

The rotational (Coriolis) effect of the Earth’s spin causes the warm, nutrient-poor surface current to drift to seaward, and it is replaced by cold, lowsalinity bottom water upwelling onto the continental shelf. In some areas it reaches the surface; in others it remains at various depths.

One of the most interesting oceanographic phenomena around

Australia, this regional upwelling extends along the continental shelf from north-west Tasmania to the eastern Bight. Where the shelf is narrowest, between Portland (Vic.) and Robe (SA), upwelling water surfaces in a distinct plume known as the Bonney Upwelling.

Upwelled water is rich in dissolved and particulate organic and mineral matter.

When this mix reaches the sunlit surface layers, phytoplankton ‘bloom’, forming the basis of the food web.

This ecosystem supports valuable fisheries and marine wildlife including seabirds, seals, dolphins and whales, particularly Blue Whales. The krill Nyctiphanes australis is a hugely important cog in this ecosystem.

Blue Whale study The Study began in February 1998, following a report of Blue Whales feeding in Discovery Bay, west of Portland, in late 1995. These were presumed to be Pygmy

On cue we found feeding blues, and then learnt about the Bonney Upwelling, which was then little studied and even less well known. This was a golden opportunity to start work in an unknown Blue Whale feeding area.

We used a range of methods to investigate aspects of Blue Whale ecology and biology. Aerial surveys, coupled with weather data and satellite remote sensing of the ocean surface, established basic links between weather patterns, upwelling cycles and Blue Whales over multiple seasons, and we investigated the extent of the feeding area from western Bass Strait to the eastern Bight.

Linking sighting positions to habitat variables enabled us to model feeding habitat, with surface temperature, surface chlorophyll and depth appearing the most significant factors.

The earliest sightings of Blue Whales in early November have coincided with the onset of upwelling, suggesting that the whales somehow cue in to climate signals to time their arrival. The latest have been in mid-May, when upwelling has ceased but krill may still be abundant before the onset of winter storms.

In general, Blue Whales are present during the upwelling season (November-May), and absent outside it.

Patterns of upwelling intensity and timing vary between seasons: some seasons are quiet with few whales, while others are much busier. There is evidence from elsewhere that the strongest upwelling years may not be the most productive, and further evidence that upwelling may have intensified off southern Australia over recent decades due to global warming.

The future implications are unknown.

Much of our research has been conducted from yachts and small power boats. Margie has been investigating the ecology of the mysterious krill, using scientific depth sounders to record distribution relative to depth, temperature and other variables.

Tracking Blue Whales Coupled with this work we have attached dive loggers to Blue Whales, giving fascinating insights into the whales’ three-dimensional foraging movements. Nyctiphanes australis is one of the few krill species that may occur anywhere between the surface and the bottom, and Blue Whales hunt it wherever it is, engulfing it with their enormous distendable mouths.

Satellite tags have shown foraging movements along the continental shelf within the upwelling, as well as rapid movement south to the Sub-tropical Convergence, an oceanographic boundary where Blue Whales were killed

by Soviet whalers in the mid-1960s.

Our photo-identification work has shown resightings of Blue Whales between the Bonney Upwelling and another feeding area in the Perth Canyon, WA. We contribute to a Southern Hemisphere photo-ID collaboration and look forward to more exciting resights, some of them perhaps between continents.

We also contribute biopsy samples to a study of Blue Whale population genetics, which has shown no genetic differences between Bonney Upwelling and Perth Canyon whales (hardly surprising given their movements).

We and other researchers are slowly putting together the pieces of a jigsaw showing that these sleek giant travellers move frequently between feeding ‘hot spots’, seeking their enormous food

requirements. Feeding areas may be close to or far from each other, depending on seasonal conditions; if one area fails, whales probably travel to other known areas until abundant prey is found.

The jigsaw is incomplete: winter breeding grounds are still undefined, spread out in tropical waters between Indonesia and the Solomon Islands, and perhaps beyond. The extent of the whales’ summer feeding grounds area is also undefined, except in coastal areas where most of our work takes place.

Threats The future of Blue Whales is uncertain.

They face an array of human disturbances including shipping, military activities, oil and gas exploration, fisheries, recreational boating, and other sources of noise and pollution. Climate change could also have disruptive effects on their habitat and prey.

In recent years we have noted Blue Whales that are skinny, have large parasite loads, or show signs of skin disease.

We can only study and learn about these magnificent animals, try to protect them, and hope they have the resilience to cope with our changing world.

Reference Gill, P.C., M.G. Morrice, B. Page, R. Pirzl, A.H. Levings and M. Coyne, 2011. Blue whale habitat selection and within-season distribution in a regional upwelling system off southern Australia. Marine Ecology Progress Series 421: 243-263. • PW

Photo: Peter Gill

Blue Whales, a temperate subspecies reaching about 24 metres.

Blue Whale after feeding.

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Courtesy National Gallery of Victoria

Shaping the landscape: natural or human factors?

View of the Grampians and Victoria Ranges from Mount Rouse, West Victoria 1861,

by Eugene von Guérard. Oil on canvas, 71x137cm. Private collection, Victoria.

Early paintings give vital clues about the nature of Victoria’s pre-European landscapes.

Bill Gammage’s book The Biggest Estate on Earth has sparked renewed interest in how Australia’s landscape was formed before the arrival of European settlers, and in particular the role of fire. In this article, Geoff Lacey looks at several Victorian ecosystems and at the factors that shaped them.

In our efforts to preserve Victoria’s and Australia’s biodiversity, we need to understand the patterns of vegetation that predated European settlement.

These patterns were influenced by physical factors, including topography, soil and rainfall, and also

by Aboriginal burning.

What were the respective roles of the physical and cultural factors?

Grasslands and grassy woodlands Look first at our grasslands and grassy woodlands. Nowadays there is wide agreement that the Aborigines engaged in frequent burning in these ecosystems. This was necessary to maintain the diversity of native herbs, including plants important in their diet.

In his recent book, Bill Gammage gives further evidence for this by analysing early paintings by Europeans and a range of written accounts. Many of these describe clear grassy landscapes,

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often ‘resembling a gentleman’s park [in Britain]’.

Gammage demonstrates that the Aborigines used fire in a fine-grained, careful manner. They fashioned the landscape using intricate templates ‘to associate water, grass and forest, providing habitats’ and making ‘clean, beautiful landscapes’.

To achieve desired habitats, they sometimes substituted one ecosystem for another. A striking example appears in a von Guérard picture of the Wannon River in the Grampians. The mountain slopes are covered with trees, but “The central plain is not natural: the Wannon escapes from thick forest to thread it, and trees grow on it now. It was burnt for grass.”

Forests: Central Victoria as example What of the various forest ecosystems?

How did physical and cultural factors shape these?

As an example, consider the Central Victoria region. My resources include early European documents and the land system studies that began in the 1940s.

I do not have any direct Aboriginal accounts. The following patterns emerge.

At the time of European settlement the basalt plains in the area were mainly open grassland. In sharp contrast, the adjacent sedimentary hills south of Castlemaine were covered with forest, for example Heathy Dry Forest dominated by Longleaved Box or Red Stringybark.

On similar geology but at higher altitude and with higher rainfall, we have the Wombat Forest, dominated by several tall straight tree species. The granitic hills, including Mt Alexander, supported open grassy woodland.

When Major Mitchell came to Mt Alexander in 1836, he noted that Kangaroo Grass was abundant and the slope was only thinly wooded.

This openness could reflect Aboriginal burning, for the trees are closer today.

Ron Hateley, in The Victorian Bush (2010), set out to discover the ‘original and natural condition’ of Victoria’s landscape at the time of European settlement. Like Gammage, he makes skilful use of paintings and early descriptions.

He describes the Black Forest just west of Mt Macedon, where the trees were closely spaced, forming a serious impediment to those heading for the goldfields.

He also quotes early accounts of the box-ironbark forests, which occur on shallow soils on sedimentary rock. One account describes a mighty forest of tall ironbarks. Others mention dense timber, dense underwood, an understorey of heathy vegetation with its beautiful wildflowers, and little grass.

What then have we learnt about the different forest systems in this region? The evidence indicates a close correspondence between the land system and the vegetation. I have found no definite case of one ecosystem being converted to another by Aboriginal burning. However, it may well have happened in some places that are now farmland.

Other forests in Victoria Similar patterns occur in other districts. For example, Hume and Hovell described the country north of Melbourne in 1824-25. On Mt Disappointment, they encountered tall, wet forest with dense undergrowth

Box-ironbark forest (here at Mt Black) did not experience frequent fire.

and fallen trees. This forest is sustained by high rainfall on deeply weathered granite.

the 1788 landscape was ‘made’ and that we can view the entire continent as a single ‘estate’.

They travelled west through more open forests on sedimentary rock, and then south to the basalt plains with their open grasslands.

Aboriginal management was active, he says: “To the furthest places, sooner or later, the firestick came.” However, he later qualifies this, saying that while the people cared for every inch of their country, care “did not always mean action: people might leave land alone for long periods”.

A different picture emerges in Gippsland.

In an 1890 study, Alfred Howitt examined the place of fire in a number of grassy woodland and forest systems.

He said that the Aborigines used to keep the forests open through annual fires.

Early settlers reduced the fire frequency, with the result that seedlings survived and a new young forest grew up.

However, in a 1970 paper, naturalist Norman Wakefield presents the recollections of an old grazier, Rodgers, who said that the settlers burned the country as often as possible, in summer.

It was this practice, he said, that led to the development of dense scrub.

So did fire keep the forests grassy or promote scrub? Possibly the Aborigines managed to keep these forests grassy using cool burns, in contrast to the settlers’ intense fires. However, one forest type, with White Box, was not burnt but still had a permanent grassy understorey.

There are also other forests in Victoria where the groundstorey has become more open and grassy in the long absence of fire. There are examples in the Kiewa catchment, in Kinglake National Park and on French Island. Grass does not always indicate regular burning.

The roles of physical and human factors To what extent did Aboriginal fire shape the landscape? Bill Gammage argues that

This Messmate forest on French Island developed a grassy understorey in the long absence of fire.

Confining our attention to Victoria, what can we conclude? In the remnant native ecosystems, we find that the original vegetation nearly always conformed with the land system. However, human activity was important: the Aborigines burned the grasslands and woodlands and preserved their open character.

To what extent did they burn in forest as well as woodland? They did so in some of the Gippsland forests.

But I have not found any information as to what burning they carried out, if any, in forests with a non-grassy understorey.

Evidence suggests that they did not burn in the taller, denser forest types.

Knowledge about former fire frequencies is essential for developing management policies for the different ecosystems.

Some lobby groups may try to use Gammage’s book to support intensive burning. But he writes mainly of grassy ecosystems. And the Aboriginal burns were small-scale and carefully controlled. They rarely killed mature trees. • PW Geoff Lacey is an environmental engineer, naturalist and long-standing member of the VNPA and the Friends of French Island.

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PHOTO: Geoff Lacey

When he came to Mt Macedon, the scene was different: it included tree ferns, large shrubs and lofty timber. This forest is supported by deeply weathered soils on rhyodacite, an old volcanic rock, and by high rainfall.

Bernie Mace of Toolangi wrote to us in May about logging on this iconic mountain. Please take action as outlined below to protest about this attack on our biodiversity and landscape.

Dear friends,

Lobby

I am sad to report that we face another VicForests attack on the beauty of our iconic mountain. Mt St Leonard is the visual backdrop feature of Toolangi, Healesville, Yarra Glen and most of the Yarra Valley.

Please lobby Australian Paper, as they are important customers of VicForests.

Logging has commenced in a new coupe across the north-west flank of the mountain. This coupe is larger than the previous one, and will greatly disfigure our beautiful mountain. More coupes are planned to follow, right through to Sylvia Creek Road.

Access to the forests for bushwalking, mountain biking, snow play and scenic drives will be stopped while the area is a Public Safety Zone, and afterwards the area will have lost its appeal for these activities.

Logging the NW flank of Mt St Leonard, when completed, will carve across some of the last green forests of Toolangi.

I have personally expressed my concerns, and conviction that the vast majority of the community objects to any logging that damages the visual amenity (and hence the tourism potential) of the region.

I was told that community concerns were not rated as high as VicForests’ rights to log State Forest that has been classified as GMZ (General Management Zone).

Fauna protection is one of our other prime concerns, and the logging coupe is situated in Leadbeater’s Possum habitat. Sooty and Powerful Owls, and Greater Gliders, were also known to inhabit this forest, and we are investigating reports of Spot-tailed Quolls in the nearby area.

They were reported around 1985 near the Yea River in Toolangi, with further reports since Black Saturday.

We are working toward the creation of a vastly extended sanctuary in the Central Highlands (Yarra Ranges) that would conserve biodiversity. It does not have to be a national park, but it would have to exclude clearfell logging. This is a proposal that a wise Government would take seriously.

It seems far preferable to advance united with a positive objective, rather than go through the annual trauma of fighting ‘from the back foot’ to stop logging in particular coupes.

Beyond saving Mt St Leonard, we will ultimately save the montane forests of the whole region from clearfelling, as the real implications and discernable effects of climate change become more apparent, necessitating protection of the ecosystem services that forests naturally provide.

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Email their CEO jim.henneberry@australianpaper.com.au and ask him to say ‘No Thanks’ to VicForests wood.

Also, register your concern directly by phoning VicForests Public Relations on 5969 9006.

Please also send letters or emails to: State Environment Minister ryan.smith@parliament.vic.gov.au cc to Premier ted.baillieu@parliament.vic.gov.au and peter.walsh@parliament.vic.gov.au Federal Minister for forests joe.ludwig@maff.gov.au cc to federal Environment Minister tony.burke.mp@environment.gov.au Greens Party greg.barber@parliament.vic.gov.au Federal Labor member for McEwen rob.mitchell.mp@aph.gov.au State Liberal member for Seymour cindy.mcleish@parliament.vic.gov.au

News media The Age letters@theage.com.au Herald Sun www.heraldsun.com.au/opinion/letter Mountain Views edit.mvmail@yvnews.com.au Mountain Monthly mmkinglake@bigpond.com Talking Toolangi Joanne Priestley ozjoanne@hotmail.com

photo: Bernie Mace

Logging will deface Mt St Leonard

Well developed understorey and mid-storey vegetation ensures high biodiversity.

17 May – work commenced ahead of public meeting scheduled for 18 May.

Looking up Monda Tk before logging.

A view of the forest under threat – from Dunstan’s track.

Start of walking track – Sylvia Creek Rd entrance.

Looking down Monda Tk after logging.

A Yarra Glen view of the completed South End coupe on Mt St Leonard.

A graphic depiction of the awful effects of current and future logging proposals on the fringe of Toolangi.

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photos: Bernie Mace

Mt St Leonard from Healesville, prior to 2010 logging.

Dandenong Ranges National Park: values and challenges

Geoff Durham takes us to one of Melbourne’s best-loved areas, but one with many challenges for conservation and management.

‘The Dandenongs’ mean a lot to Melburnians – the backdrop to the city, quaint villages, a plethora of B&Bs, cottages, restaurants/cafes and craft shops, exotic gardens, Puffing Billy, and (perhaps to some people) a national park.

In vegetation, the hills feature a mix of native and exotic – and many of the latter, like Ivy, Sycamore and Holly, escape into the national park Parks Victoria is the manager of Dandenong Ranges NP and also of many adjacent reserves that are not part of the park. These include: • The R .J. Hamer Arboretum – its picnic area has fine views to the east.

• Mt Dandenong Observatory and the Sky-high Restaurant with views to the west • The National Rhododendron, Alfred Nicholas, George Tindale and Pirianda gardens.

• William Ricketts Sanctuary • Silvan Reservoir Park.

There are also reserves managed by the Yarra Ranges Council.

History The area is Wurundjeri country.

The creation of the park is a complicated story. As early as 1867, 26,500 acres

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(10,724 ha) of the Dandenong Ranges were declared a timber reserve, but alienation reduced this to 4,097 acres by 1959.

In 1882, 168 hectares were reserved at Upper Ferntree Gully ‘as a site for public recreation’, becoming Fern Tree Gully National Park of 395 ha in 1928.

Various buy-backs and Land Conservation Council recommendations resulted in the proclamation of Dandenong Ranges NP in 1987, and subsequent additions have increased the area to the present 3540 ha.

Particularly important in establishing the parks was the Save the Dandenongs League, formed in 1950 on the instigation of May Moon. There are over 25 Friends groups.

Natural values The park has 16 Ecological Vegetation Communities, with 20 plant and 14 fauna species listed as threatened in Victoria. The signature tree is Mountain Ash (Eucalyptus regnans) and the signature bird is the Superb Lyrebird.

Fire Fire is fundamental to understanding the Dandenongs. Settlement along the main ridge is above flammable dry

In Parks sclerophyll forest on the west and north faces.

In her Story of the Dandenongs (1959), Helen Coulson concluded: “Residents today need not fear a serious outbreak of fire, as [21] active brigades exist in the Shire …”

But the 2006 NP Management Plan says: “Devastating wildfires occurred in 1939, in 1962 wildfire burnt 70% of the area of the park, and 264 hectares were burnt in 1968.” There were seven other significant fires between 1954 and 1997.

It would be foolish not to fear fire. On Black Saturday 2009, a fire at Ferntree Gully was quickly extinguished, but on that day the Dandenongs could have burnt like Kinglake and Marysville.

There has been increased fire protection activity since then, with clearing along some roadsides and boundaries as well as slashing and fuel reduction burns in accordance with a planned program.

Management The park has a long and complex boundary and 1000 direct neighbours, resulting in fencing, encroachment and waste water management issues. Weeds are a major challenge. Some good work has been done on ivy removal, resulting in restoration of lyrebird habitat and more

Photo: Geoff Durham

The former kiosk at Ferntree Gully, built in 1907, is now an education centre.

lyrebirds. Cat trapping and fox baiting help lyrebirds too.

Photo: Geoff Durham

There are control programs for pigs, goats and rabbits, but not for Sambar and Fallow Deer. Risk management at picnic areas includes removal of trees and branches and the control of European Wasps.

There are four management units – Ferntree Gully, Sherbrooke, Doongalla/ Mount Evelyn and Olinda, with tenuous connections.

Above: William Ricketts Sanctuary features sculptures of Aboriginal people.

Ferntree Gully

Left: Commercialised bird feeding upsets the natural balance of flora and fauna.

A new toilet block has recently been constructed, and although the Management Plan does not propose a kiosk or café there is one in the old park office.

Sherbrooke This block has the greatest occurrence of Mountain Ash and lyrebirds. Grants Picnic Ground features the Margaret Lester Walk for visitors with limited mobility. From Sherbrooke and O’Donaghue picnic there are walks to the modest Sherbrooke Falls.

Bird feeding at Grants is a big tourist attraction. This is contrary to the objects of national parks and illegal under park regulations, but such is the power of the tourist dollar and commercial pressure that it is provided for in the lease of the ‘kiosk’.

Tourism Victoria recently paid for construction of new toilets and a birdfeeding facility. You purchase a $4.00 token at the ‘kiosk’ and present this to receive 50g of seed to feed the birds in a fenced, concreted area.

There used to be Rosellas, King Parrots, Galahs and Cockatoos, but the aggressive Sulphur-crested Cockatoos now dominate and their artificial

Photo: Geoff Durham

Ferntree Gully Picnic Ground and the Thousand Steps Kokoda walk, well used by fitness fanatics, had 52,000 visitors in 2001 but now have 500,000 annually. The Ferntree Gully kiosk, built in 1907, is now an education centre with a Parks Victoria employed teacher offering programs for schools.

population is having an adverse impact on other fauna species and the vegetation. The lease runs until 2019.

Mountain Ash Paddock on Sherbrooke Road is regenerating. Horse grazing has been phased out and the Tan Track has been reopened for walkers and horse riding.

Doongalla/Mount Evelyn Mt Corhanwarrabul, near the three TV towers, is the 1938 crash site of the aeroplane Kyeema. Nearby are Burkes Lookout and an infrequently used hang-gliding launching ramp.

Doongalla Estate was burnt in 1932, and 689 acres were acquired by the Forests Commission in 1950. There are picnic areas at the homestead and stables sites.

Kalorama Picnic Ground has a grassed slope with views to the east, and both exotic and indigenous plants

Visitors The park has over two million visitors a year. Many are international tourists and

picnic grounds are popular with day visitors from a range of ethnic backgrounds.

Walking has been a major attraction since the early days. Camping is not permitted. There is horse riding on trails and mountain bikes are growing in popularity. Dogs are permitted on leash on the Tan Track and at the Mt Dandenong Arboretum.

There is something for everyone in the Dandenongs. The best maps are in the Melways directory, but you have to navigate your way through seven pages. The park needs improved directional signage.

Entry to all the Parks Victoria picnic areas and gardens is now free, except for $5.00 a car to enter the privately run Mt Dandenong Observatory. The car parks at Grants and Ferntree Gully Picnic Grounds are often overflowing – other picnic areas are much more relaxed. Check opening hours at www.parkweb.vic.gov.au or phone 13 1963. • PW Geoff Durham writes about a different park in each Park Watch. You can find some of his previous articles on our website under ‘Explore our Parks’.

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Tr i bute

David Scott 23 January 1925 – 22 April 2012

A compassionate leader who loved nature

David Scott, a VNPA member and supporter since 1996, was prominent in the VNPA’s Park Monitoring Committee and the working group on removing cattle grazing from the Alpine NP. His remarkable career of public and social service was documented in an obituary in The Age on 28 April.

The contrast between David and his predecessor was stark. Whereas Sam Dimmick never willingly attended a public meeting, David welcomed the opportunity to discuss how the LCC worked and the significance of the proposals to be put to the government.

He was non-confrontational and always wanted to know the basis for objections to recommendations – whether jobs would be lost and the economic implications of changing public land use.

David expanded the consultative process that simply called for written submissions, instigating face-to-face meetings with local communities in their towns.

In this tribute, Mick Lumb, a former VNPA councillor and a close friend of David’s, focuses on his work for conservation in Victoria. Mick and David travelled together in remote parts of inland Australia and worked together for several years at the LCC, where Mick was Director.

He was always the adventurer and never one to shy away from a new experience.

This saw him accompanying the deer stalkers camping at the top of the Avon River, galloping through Barmah Forest mustering cattle, and floundering ashore at Mud Island in Port Phillip Bay when the boatload of Council members was stranded at low tide.

David Horace Forde Scott, who died in April aged 87, was an unexpected appointment as Chairman of the Land Conservation Council following the death of the inaugural Chairman, Sam Dimmick, in 1983.

It was David’s view that a sound consultative process had a number of benefits, as although it rarely reaches an outcome that pleases all, it leads to better outcomes, the exposure of all aspects of issues and better acceptance of ultimate decisions.

The announcement of his appointment as Chairman surprised us all and dismayed some.

David was a national leader in social policy and an innovator in developing practical programs for the needy.

As the highly respected Director of the Brotherhood of St. Laurence and the first Director of Community Aid Abroad (now Oxfam), he had not ventured formally into the often controversial area of nature conservation and natural resources planning.

Initially he thought the position sounded somewhat dull, as it seemed to have little to do with people. Little did he then realise that the job was all

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He was a staunch and articulate supporter of the consultative process followed by the Land Conservation Council. He regarded it as the doyen of public consultation, frequently wrote extolling its virtues and talked about it at public meetings. He was exactly the right person to make the process work.

David Scott in 2009 with son Matthew and grand-daughter Liliana.

During David’s time with the LCC, Victoria’s system of conservation reserves grew by 1.3 million hectares (an increase of 64%).

It was, however, the Mallee that captured his imagination, perhaps because he was David with his daughter Caroline and Liliana in East Gippsland. Pioneer squatter and explorer William Brodribb was David’s great-greatgrandfather.

Photos courtesy Matthew Scott

In Montreal, as Treasurer General of the International Council of Social Service, he was contacted by the office of Evan Walker, then Victorian Environment Minister, and asked to apply.

about people - the positions they held and the complexities of changing the status of lands for which they were responsible, or in which they held a vested interest.

more comfortable with its open plains, big skies and sandy, mallee-covered dunes, and also because he had a special empathy with the pioneering settlers he met during his travels across the far north-west, heightened no doubt by his early childhood experience of living on a small soldier settlement block near Holbrook (NSW).

His ten years as Chairman saw many other highly significant additions to the State’s system of conservation reserves.

In East Gippsland, a new national park on the Errinundra plateau was created, and important additions were made to the Coopracambra and Snowy River national parks, with the giant ash forest of the Rodger River Catchment included in the latter.

During his term, too, the first marine and coastal study of the entire Victorian coastline was commenced.

David Scott was the first Commissioner for the Environment appointed in Australia. This wasn’t an easy task, as no government department welcomes an independent assessment of how well it has performed.

On more than one occasion he successfully took issue with Ministers who failed to have proper regard for the LCC process or the independent authority of the Chair.

Widely respected, even by those who disagreed with LCC proposals (as they publicly acknowledged that they had every opportunity to meet with him and make their case), he related to his staff with an almost reverential appreciation of their knowledge and capacity to convince high-ranking bureaucrats of the need to restore the balance and set land aside for parks and conservation reserves.

While never pretending that he had mastered the natural sciences, his strong, quietly determined leadership during the conservation phase of a life dedicated to people has left an enduring legacy for which we, and those who follow, will gratefully thank him. • PW

New VEAC appointments announced Minister for Environment Ryan Smith recently announced new appointments to the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council, the LCC’s successor. The Council members, whose terms of appointment are from 5 May 2012 to 4 May 2015, are: Hon. Phil Honeywood (Chairperson) Mr Ian Harris Dr Charles Meredith Mr Ian Munro Ms Angela Reidy.

Mr Smith thanked Duncan Malcolm, chair of VEAC since 2004, for his ‘astute advice and energetic service’ in this role. He also thanked Dr Airlie Worrall and Barry Clugston for their service on the Council in recent years. • PW

This new ‘field guide for walkers’ is available from CSIRO, RRP $29.95. We will review it in a future Park Watch.

But despite this, and with the expertise of Peter Christoff, State of the Environment reports on Water and Agriculture were published that remain today the most comprehensive assemblage of data yet attempted on these topics.

David Scott served as a Commissioner with the then State Electricity Commission and influenced the SEC in producing the first policy response by an energy company to climate change.

He also chaired the Power Line Review Panel that saw the powerline from Richmond to Brunswick undergrounded rather than marring the beauty of Yarra Bend Park.

David Scott was a man of principle, reflected in his chairmanship and resolute defence of the LCC’s right to work quite independently of the government of the day. He would not condone collusion and predetermined voting outcomes, and made sure his Council members were well aware of this.

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BWAG news Check out your July-December 2012 Bushwalking and Activities Group program sent out with this Park Watch, and look for our monthly email updates, for the many activities on offer!

Coach excursions

Pushy people wanted!

Saturday 16 June: Warrandyte. Enjoy interesting walks in and around this historic goldrush township. Leaders: Ruth Stirling and Sue Parkhill. Cost: $40.00.

We’ve planned several snow activities, like a Lake Mountain day ski on Sunday 1 July and a snowshoe walk there on Saturday 7 July, with further snow camps and ski tours in August (snow conditions permitting, of course).

Saturday 21 July: Trentham. Coach trip to Trentham, with a stop at Blackwood, a walk along the rail trail and a visit to the Farmers’ Market. Leaders: Ruth Stirling and Sue Parkhill. Cost: $40.00.

Following the article about all-terrain wheelchairs in December 2011 Park Watch, we’ve learnt that Parks Victoria now has a few all-terrain and beachfriendly wheelchairs available free for people to use, and they would like to expand their fleet.

There’s also the usual fantastic range of walks.

Saturday 18 August: Eildon. Coach trip to Eildon with a stop at Yarra Glen and a visit to Mt Pinniger. Leaders: Ulla Jones and Helen Dooley. Cost: $40.00.

So rug up, get out there and enjoy a winter of walks and wild activities!

Bookings and enquiries: Larysa Kucan 9347 3733, or Jan Lacey 9329 8187.

PV is now compiling a list of volunteer wheelchair pushers and helpers. Would you, or anyone you know, like to help people with limited mobility to enjoy our parks, and keep fit at the same time?

For obligation-free details, contact Russell Bowey on Russell.Bowey@gmail.com or 0417 328 651.

Cabins for everyone Parks Victoria’s partnership work on accessibility has continued at Tidal River (Wilsons Promontory NP) with the fitting out of two cabins, Wirilda and Sheoak, for visitors with significant physical disabilities.

Before last year’s flood, these cabins were ‘semi-accessible’, but now, thanks to flood recovery works, they are much more wheelchair-friendly. Electric beds with adjustable height and posture settings have been installed, and a personal hoist and shower commode chair are available, as are heightadjustable chairs.

The cabin upgrades enable people with significant physical disabilities to stay overnight in the park, and make carers’ work much easier. Along with the allterrain wheelchairs, Tidal River can now offer exceptional experiences for visitors with special needs. • PW John Kenwright, Parks Victoria

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Photo courtesy Tom Parkes, 37° South Design

Dr David Stratton (who has MS) and helpers exploring Grampians NP.

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