Friends of the Box-Ironbark Forests

As we reported two weeks ago, Parks Victoria is currently planning a review of the Castlemaine Diggings NHP Heritage Action Plan. The Plan is now 14 years old, and could maybe do with an update.

Part of this review is a public survey, details of which can be found in our Post.

FOBIF will have a say in this process, but already we’re finding it a little peculiar.

Norwood Hill, Castlemaine Diggings NHP. This is heritage too: it shows in a dramatic way ‘the transience of mining…the severe environmental impact that can result from inadequate environmental constraint, and illustrates some of the resilience of Australia’s native vegetation.’

For a start, there’s nothing in the survey which refers in any way to the Heritage Action Plan: it’s a set of questions asking people what they think of the park.

Maybe this isn’t so surprising, because this admirable plan is probably one of the most unread documents in Australia. It’s not available online, and it’s practically impossible to find a hard copy.

To find out how it should be revised, it might have been a good idea to make it better known, so that interested members of the public could see  if it’s still relevant (as we think it is).

The current Heritage Action Plan is quite a dynamic document. On the forest setting of the park, for example, it reads

‘The current forest setting…highlights the transience of mining, demonstrates the severe environmental impact that can result from inadequate environmental constraint, and illustrates some of the resilience of Australia’s native vegetation.’ This kind of observation is consistent with this, from the National Trust: ‘A sanitised heritage presenting a safe interpretation of history and culture holds little appeal and will not generate interest amongst tourists.’

These observations are important because if you take them seriously then your approach to the presentation of the Park will be markedly different from what it now is. Currently, the park, and the region, tend to be symbols of the glory of gold. The picture is more complicated and interesting than that, and FOBIF hopes to make this clear in its submission.

If you have the time, there’s an opportunity to let Parks know your view on the Park’s heritage values. Parks is running a program of walks through three sections of the Diggings Park as part of its consultation process on the Heritage Action Plan. See our following Post.

As part of the review of Heritage Action Plan, Jade Harris from Parks Victoria has invited interested people to three walks in the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park on Wednesday 16th & Thursday 17th November 2016:

Parks Victoria are currently reviewing the Heritage Action Plan for the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park and as a part of this review we are undertaking a number walk overs to find out about issues that may concern and to explore ideas for themes, stories or aspects of the Park which could be shared with others.

As part of this consultation process we are organising three half-day walks at specific locations within the park, with the aim of engaging invited stakeholders in sharing their concerns and values of these areas to help inform their future management (see below itinerary for outline of the half day walks). These might touch upon indigenous, natural, social or community values, as well as the significant gold-mining heritage, which together will help us present a holistic approach to the management and presentation of the Park’s landscape.

The walks will be led by Chris Johnston and John Dyke of Context Pty Ltd., who are helping Parks Victoria review and update the Heritage Action Plan.

Itinerary Continue reading →

It’s been five years since our rivers, swamps and dams have reached their present water levels. Although rainfall hasn’t led to floods like 2011, records have been broken. Rainfall for 14 September this year was a record high of 53.0 mm and the total for the month was also a record high of 161.9 mm (average 60.9 mm). As well, the average minimum September temperature was a record high of 8.4°C (average 5.0°C).

Submerged Red Gums, Moolort Plains, 24 October 2016

It wasn’t just wet in September; so far this year we have had a total of 692.3 mm of rain (average for the same period, 512.1 mm). This represents 35 per cent more than average rainfall. These average statistics are taken over a 48 year period recorded at the Castlemaine prison.

Loddon River flowing fast in Newstead, 24 October 2016

All this rain has meant we have been able to enjoy spectacular wildflower displays. Last week Janet Barker took these two photos of masses of Wax-lip Orchids in Kalimna Park and masses of Shiny Everlastings in Chewton.

Malmsbury Landcare has organised a field day on Sunday 6 November led by Paul Foreman to look at the now severely depleted native grasslands in their district. These grasslands are currently listed as nationally endangered and even the best local sites are threatened by invasive weeds. Paul is an ecologist with a particular interest in native grasslands and works out of Castlemaine under the name Blue Devil Consulting. See this PDF file  for more detail on the day. You can also ring John Walter on 5423 9383.

The event is, in part, related to Malmsbury Landcare’s project restoring native grassland species to a rehabilitated site just next to the bridge over the Coliban in the centre of town. The group will meet at 10 am at this site and then convoy to grassland sites just to the north of Malmsbury. Everyone is welcome.

Judith Tregear has sent us the follow report and photos of the recent 50 years celebration of the Kaweka Wildflower Sanctuary.

There was a lovely celebration on Sunday October 2 at Kaweka Wildflower Sanctuary.

We were delighted to mark 50 years of the committee, which was elected at a public meeting in 1966, after Kaweka was given to the people of Castlemaine. This wonderful gift was from Don McRae, in honour of his mother, who loved and saw the importance of preserving Australian native plants. There had been three or four owners of the land, post-white settlement, starting with Ernest Leviny, who took up a large parcel of land on a miner’s right, but ended up building his house at Buda.

About 50 people of all ages came along and enjoyed three lovely songs from the Chat-Warblers about local wildflowers, and the Eltham Copper Butterfly, beautiful music from Jack Norton on the bouzouki and a short speech from Judith Tregear, president of the committee. Thanks to the brilliance of Jenny McIntyre, we had a beautiful cake, decorated with local wildflowers. We sang Happy Birthday to Rosemary Rasmussen, who told us about playing in Kaweka as a child, before it was a wildflower reserve, when it was simply a beautiful piece of bush. There was a display of local weeds, and an opportunity for a walk, after the afternoon tea. Some local children helped plant some trees and are looking forward to watching them grow. Kaweka is a special place, with its tranquil atmosphere, for people who love wildflowers and birds, and it is particularly lovely at the moment, after all this rain.

Kaweka cake

George Broadway and Rita Mills

Choir, Jack Norton on the left

Choir with the group

Click on photo to enlarge.

Map from the survey. Click to enlarge.

Parks Victoria is currently reviewing the Heritage Action Plan for the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park:

We want to know about the places you value within the Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park, find out about issues of concern and get your ideas about other themes, stories or aspects of the park that could be shared with visitors.

As part of the review Parks are asking people to fill out an online survey which will remain open until Wednesday 30 November.

The survey gives people the opportunity to specify why they value the park, their favourite areas and suggested funding priorities. The FOBIF Committee will be sending its own response and we encourage everyone interested in the future of the Diggings Park to fill out the survey as well. Click here for more information and the link to the survey.