Acknowledgement of Country
Friends of the Box Ironbark Forests would like to acknowledge the elders of the Dja Dja Wurrung community and their forebears as the traditional owners of Country in the Mount Alexander Region. We recognise that the Dja Dja Wurrung people have been custodians of this land for many centuries and have performed age old ceremonies of celebration, initiation and renewal on their land. We acknowledge their living culture and their unique role in the life of this region.
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Recent posts
- Fire: paying attention to the detail 25 August, 2024
- Wild discoveries: an exhibition of nature photography 23 August, 2024
- A Winter Walk in Black Hill Reserve 19 August, 2024
- A huge thank you to retiring committee members 17 August, 2024
- FOBIF 2024 AGM 16 August, 2024
Twenty Bushwalks in the Mount Alexander Region
Mosses of Dry Forest book
Eucalypts of the region book
Wattles of the region book
Native Peas of the region book
Responding to Country
Responding to Country Greeting Cards
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Author Archives: fobif
How can farming and conservation work together?
This question is posed by the Connecting Country 2012 education program, which starts on February 29. The program explores the idea that efficient production and care for nature go hand in hand. It includes workshops, lectures, discussions and field trips, … Continue reading
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Right plant, wrong place
The flower below is St John’s Wort [Hypericum perforatum], a pretty plant which has been used for over a thousand years as a herbal remedy. Flowers are sparse, but seeds many at this time of the year on Mount Alexander. … Continue reading
Posted in Weeds
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Government under fire over fire
Following the release of ANU research showing that current fuel reduction practices are not improving public safety [see our post below], the press has reported that DSE has been burning widely in remote bushland, but has neglected to effectively reduce … Continue reading
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Does fire protect us from fire?
Calls for more ‘fuel reduction burns’ have been insistent for years, particularly since the Black Saturday fires which burned over 2,100 homes and killed 173 people. The pressure for more management burns culminated in the Royal Commission’s recommendation that at … Continue reading
Posted in Fire Management, News
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Snapshots in time
About 70 people crowded into the small Chewton Town Hall on January 16 for the launch of Ken McKimmie’s Chewton Then and Now, a collection of articles written over a number of years for the Chewton Chat. These articles are … Continue reading
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Parasites aren’t always bad
The red box tree pictured below, on the east side of the Great Dividing Trail as it passes through the Spring Gully Mine site, is interesting for a couple of reasons. One is that it’s sprung up out of the … Continue reading
Posted in Nature Observations
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Connecting Country news
Landcare Facilitator Position Connecting Country will be hosting the newly funded Landcare position for the Mount Alexander Region. The position will be based at Connecting Country’s Office in Castlemaine and is a 12 Month 0.6FTE position, with the possibility of … Continue reading
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The migratory birds of the Box-Ironbark Forests
In the Box-Ironbark forests quite a few bird species come and go with the seasons. Over many years a lot of people have contributed to surveys for the Birds Australia Atlas or Birdline and similar. These records have now been … Continue reading
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Scottish, but not Scotch
The plant below is Spear Thistle, Cirsium vulgare, the most widespread plant in Victoria and, according to naturalist Ern Perkins, by far the most common thistle in this region. It’s commonly but wrongly called Scotch thistle. That ‘honour’ belongs to … Continue reading
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The uses of fire
FOBIF has written to Parks Victoria to clarify some questions arising from the Quartz Hill, Chewton, Asset Protection management burn of a few weeks ago. What interested us was that the burn was pretty severe on native undergrowth [as was … Continue reading
Posted in Fire Management
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