By RMIT Students David Allen, Drew Baker, Lily Kristanto and Oliver Winn
Bigger, hotter, and more intense bushfires could become a reality in Melbourne’s west if “smash and burn, crash and degrade” approaches to Wombat State Forest clearance continue at current rates, an ecology expert has warned.
Victoria’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA) says it is clearing out trees felled by 2021’s severe storms to reduce future bushfire fuel and clear routes for locals and firefighters.
But Australian National University (ANU) forest ecologist Professor David Lindenmayer says the department approach flies in the face of modern bushfire management science.
Professor Lindenmayer says the work also reduced the likelihood of the state meeting carbon emission reduction targets.
“There is an extensive body of literature now that shows … forests become less flammable as they get older, and actions like logging, thinning, and sometimes prescribed burning actually makes them more flammable, not less,” Professor Lindenmayer said.
“The key way that forests become less flammable over time is to leave them alone.”
He urged the government to focus more on modern early fire detection and firefighting technology, including drones.
“Under the conditions being created at Wombat Forest there’s a lot of risk these fires become crown fires, which are very high intensity, creating a lot of radiative heat, which are the kinds of fires that kill firefighters,” according to Professor Lindenmayer.
He says the current clearing risks a feedback loop of stronger wind speeds within the forest, bringing down more trees and creating an even higher fire risk.
A DEECA spokesperson said “We have an obligation to ensure the safety of communities and the protection of the environment, and we seize every available opportunity to reduce the risk of fire across Victoria.”
“Comprehensive biodiversity and heritage assessments have been conducted and all fire risk reduction works … following the 2021 storms comply with relevant legislation”.
While a DEECA website says clearing work is non-commercial, a department spokesperson confirmed timber is used for “small-scale commercial purposes such as for firewood processors.” (See story below)
Nationals MP and vocal fire management supporter Tim Bull says human safety needs to be the “non-negotiable priority” of government forest management work.
“[Victoria’s bushland] will burn again in the next few years on a massive scale as the government’s fuel reduction burning scheme is not appropriate,” says Mr Bull.
DEECA says ongoing work in Wombat Forest will hopefully wrap up by June 2026, but Professor Lindenmayer is concerned a future change of government could resurrect the logging industry.
“There’s a large, vested interest in keeping the native forest logging industry going,” he says.
