Photo taken in August of forest off Boggy Spur Track, Kinglake, that was burnt by FFMV in May this year.
Join Kinglake Friends of the Forest to discuss current forest fire management research and the opportunities to minimise fire risk in the Kinglake area.
Current research shows that broadscale planned burning is not only damaging to the climate, human health, and the environment but is also ineffective in reducing fire risk to our community.
Worse, studies have shown that the flush of shrubs that follows a prescribed burn can increase long-term fire risk and fire severity.
Shaded areas show panned burns scheduled for our area from 2025-2027. Dark green lines show “Mechanical Fuel Treatments” and pink lines show new “Strategic Fuel Breaks”.
Despite the announcement that logging has ended in Victoria, new roadside ‘fuel breaks’ proposed by FFNMV will clear around the same area of forest as that cleared in logging operations. These cleared areas create wind tunnels and dry out the forest and are designed to open areas up for the risky practice of backburning during wildlife events
Fire behaviour scientist, Adjunct Associate Professor Philip Zylstra will present current forest fire research and discuss the opportunities to minimise fire risk and fire severity for Kinglake and the surrounding area.
The talk will cover results of on ground flammability measurements in the Kinglake forest.
About the speaker
Dr Philip Zylstra came to bushfire research from a background in fire management and remote area firefighting. Since that time he has developed the first and only peer-reviewed fire behaviour model for Australian forests outside of West Australian jarrah.
His work focuses on understanding the ways that our interaction with forests affect fire risk. Using fire history analysis and state-of-the-art modelling, Dr Zylstra’s work reconciles deep knowledge from First Peoples with forest ecology and a complex understanding of fire behaviour to provide critically-needed guidance in fire management. His recent paper, ‘Identifying and managing disturbance-stimulated flammability in woody ecosystems’ looks at the impact of disturbance in forests and how land managers might deal with the major challenges that these present.
Phil is an Adjunct Associate Professor with Curtin University’s School of Molecular and Life Sciences (Perth), and a Research Associate of the University of New South Wales (Sydney).