Meet at 1pm on Feb 8 at the carpark on the right just after Extons Rd turns to gravel. We will then travel in convoy further up the road. To access the “Magic Forest” we will need to walk off-track for 10 minutes including some steep and muddy sections.
“The Magic Forest”
Like many in the community, we at Kinglake Friends of the Forest are deeply concerned about the outdated, destructive and ineffective practice of planned burning that is threatening to cook 25,000 Ha of forest in the Tallarook, Kinglake and Marysville area within the next 3 years.
Every year more science emerges showing that planned burns in southern forests cause more harm than good. Yet huge amounts of taxpayer money are being poured into incinerating forests. Why isn’t the government funding more remote firefighters, more waterbombers, and the newest technology in rapid detection and suppression of bushfires instead?
We’ve visited areas scheduled for planned burning to survey for threatened flora and fauna and gather data about forest structure to learn more about bushfire behaviour. We’ve ended up in a lot of incredible spots with enchanting creatures.
One of these places we’ve taken to calling ‘the magic fores’”. In the middle of an area scheduled for planned burning in Mount Robertson State Forest, nestled between regenerating forest logged in the 1980s and forest that failed to regenerate a canopy after logging in 2018, is a patch of ancient mountain ash forest.
In an area dominated by messmate, peppermints and mountain grey gum, it felt completely unreal when we recently stumbled upon mountain ash trees over 6 metres in circumference, sporting huge hollows from the base all the way up to massive-limbed canopies 50 meters above us. We’re still finding out more about the age and history of this patch, but the size of the trees and the understorey of moss- coated tree ferns, blanket leaf and olearia, all tall enough to allow easy passage for delighted humans, tell a story of tranquil resilience in the face of bushfire and industrial disturbance.
This is borne out by the fire severity mapping for 2009 that shows the lowest possible severity: 5b – No crown scorch. No understorey burnt. That this forest eluded the loggers is thanks to the topography – a steep embankment on one side and a stream on the other. The resilience and beauty of the magic forest is extraordinary, but a forest can only endure so much until its structure and species composition changes, perhaps forever. With every disturbance more is chipped away. This remnant is only 225 meters wide in most sections, so the imminent planned burn could spell its demise.