Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

As we noted a couple of weeks ago, the 1975 Wildlife Act is under review, and public responses are invited. FOBIF will be making a submission this week, but if you need to be motivated to have a go, check out this list of failings in the current act, from the VNPA:

• It protects exotic invasive species like deer as protected game animals despite the significant damage they do to wildlife habitats around the state.
• It allows wildlife to be declared as unprotected which, at one stage, had the perverse outcome of wombat shooting being promoted as a tourist attraction.
• It allows the for the destruction of a plethora of native wildlife through a highly non-transparent Authority to Control Wildlife permit system…
• It provides no direct protections for wildlife habitat under the legislation.
• It has weak penalties for those who commit an offence under the Act.
• It treats some native wildlife, such as ducks and native quails, as sport for recreational shooters.
• The Act is toothless when it comes to actually prosecuting illegal acts of harm to wildlife. We’ve seen appalling incidents of the illegal poisoning of Wedge-tailed Eagles and the bulldozing of koalas met with little to no penalties.

The VNPA also has some suggestions about what you might put into a submission: you can find them here.

Due to the relaxation in government regulations there is no need to register for the Fobif walks on Sunday. Everyone is welcome. We will be meeting at the Community House at 9.30 on Sunday.

The state government has set up an enquiry into the state’s Wildlife Act. This Act was passed in 1975. Obviously plenty of things have changed since then, so the Act is probably overdue for a review. You can find its terms of reference and details about the enquiry panel here. Responses are invited to the enquiry, and an Issues Paper, with pertinent questions attached, can be found here. There’s an easy to access comment form here

Or you can email a submission directly to wildlifeact.review@delwp.vic.gov.au Submissions close on June 30.

The 40 page Issues Paper is not an easy read, but it raises some challenging questions. One of them is, What is ‘wildlife’? Under the act, for example, deer, one of our emerging monster pests, is considered as protected wildlife. The paper appears to address this problem: ‘deer proclaimed to be wildlife under the Act can destroy the habitat of indigenous wildlife and therefore undermine the Act’s goals to preserve and conserve indigenous species.’

For this reason alone it would be worth putting a submission into the enquiry: to ask that the protected status of deer be removed. 

Faraday scene: the issues paper cautiously raises the question of ‘overabundant’ indigenous species.

The paper raises other challenging questions. What should be done about ‘overabundant’ indigenous species? Community division on this seems intractable:

‘A recent study by Boulet et al.1, for example, found strongly polarised attitudes among Victorians about using lethal methods to control overabundant wildlife: there was roughly equal support for and against lethal control, and few respondents were neutral. Such strongly held views reflect stakeholders’ ‘self-identifying’ interests (both positive and negative) in, and connections to, particular wildlife species, particular geographical areas or both. This diversity means it can be difficult to reconcile competing interests or desires within the community, for example between conserving and using or managing wildlife.’

Further, the paper raises the crucial question of habitat. How can you protect wildlife while allowing the destruction of habitat?

‘Habitat health and integrity are necessary components of protecting and conserving Victoria’s wildlife. Habitat is an organism-specific term referring to the resources and conditions that allow a species to survive and reproduce, including vegetation, water bodies and the climate. It recognises the link between a species and its environment. The latest Victorian State of Environment Report identifies the clearing, fragmentation and declining quality of habitat as one of six major threats to biodiversity, with native vegetation being lost in Victoria at a rate of 4,000 habitat hectares per year. The destruction and degradation of habitat has flow-on effects on Victoria’s native wildlife, increasing the vulnerability of our ecosystems. The Act addresses conservation by regulating direct threats to wildlife, such as taking wildlife without an authorisation or licence. However, it does not account for indirect threats such as the destruction of wildlife habitat.’ There are ‘integral links’, the paper says, ‘between animal and land management.’

Unfortunately the role of DELWP is outside the terms of reference of this enquiry. All the same, it looks like it will raise all sorts of thorny cultural, social and environmental questions. Can legislation help in solving these? Well, good legislation might help.

We recommend that you put in your oar.

The draft Dja Dja Wurrung Kalimna Park Management Plan 2021-2026 has been produced and is available online here.

This important and detailed plan has been was developed by Dja Dja Wurrung Traditional Owners through Djandak and Conservation Management, a consultancy firm based in Tasmania. As our readers will know, the project development has been going on for some time through the Balak kalik manya (Walking Together) process.

Djandak (Country) is the commercial arm of the Dja Dja Wurrung Aboriginal Clans corporation.

Constructive comments on the draft plan have been invited.

Production of the plan is an important stage in the development of Aboriginal co management practices in the region. The vision behind it is clear and convincing:

‘That Kalimna park is a place that is looked after collaboratively by both Djaara and non-Djaara: is celebrated as a shared place; and positively connects the community with nature and culture.’

And ‘that Kalimna Park is a place where: Djaara cultural heritage is protected, created and exhibited; Djaara maintain and teach our culture to future generations; and Djaara plants, animals and waterways are safe and healthy.’

Also part of the Walking Together project, there is a proposal to create visitor facilities at the Fletcher Street entry to the park.

Djandak are organising a listening post for the Castlemaine community to drop in and voice any considerations you may have around the proposed creation of these facilities:

‘After consulting with Djaara and local community members for the Kalimna Park Management Plan, we identified the need for a main visitor entrance and interpretation area for Kalimna Park that can connect people from the Castlemaine town centre to Kalimna Park and surrounding bushland.’

‘Djandak engaged Pollen Studio to develop draft concept designs for construction of a shelter, toilets, carparking, all-ability access into the site, landscaping, gardening, along with signage which will create a new visitation area and trailhead to disembark from.’

The Listening Post will run at 11am on the 20^th of May at the Fletcher Street entrance to Kalimna Park, opposite the Campbell street corner.