Shadow Assistant Minister for Public Land Use and The Nationals Member for Eastern Victoria Region Melina Bath has tabled The Howitt Society’s e-petition calling for an increase in fuel reduction burning in State Parliament.
Consistent with the 2009 Bushfire Royal Commission recommendations, the e-petition calls on the State Government to increase the area of planned low intensity burns across Victoria’s forests.
Ms Bath said regional Victorians and many public land managers want to meet annual fuel reduction targets.
“Victorian forests need to be actively managed utilising regular low intensity mosaic burns, which incorporate, where possible methods, practiced by Traditional Owners in the past. Bushfire mitigation through low intensity fire should be performed throughout the cooler months to remove excess undergrowth on the forest floor,” she said.
“The Howitt Society is correct in its assertion that fire is a natural phenomenon in Victoria, but catastrophic widespread bushfire over enormous areas of forest is not natural.”
Ms Bath said the Howitt Society is Victorian-based with a membership consisting of experienced land and fire managers, scientists, foresters, anthropologists, historians – members have a wealth of knowledge about the bush and public land management.
“We need to avoid mega bushfires that burn so intensely that nothing survives, and devastating damage is inflicted upon our ecosystems and wildlife. As witnessed during the 2019-2020 summer bushfires which burnt out of control, aircraft and firefighting personnel become ineffective once the fires take hold, particularly in the terrain of East Gippsland and the Great Alpine National Park,” she said.
“The Howitt Society and The Nationals are calling on the government to adopt the Bushfire Royal Commission’s recommendation to perform fuel reduction burns of a minimum five percent in appropriate forest systems.”
