THE group representing the forestry industry has warned Victoria’s ash forests are at risk of collapsing due to a seed shortage and frequent fires.<\/p>\n
Forestry Australia says the of end native timber logging in Victoria may exacerbate the situation.<\/p>\n
The Otways are noted for their mountain ash trees, particularly around the Forrest area.<\/p>\n
Ecologist Owen Bassett, who has monitored flowering and seed crops in Victoria\u2019s ash forests for decades, said flowering did not occur as predicted for the first time in 28 years, which had greatly affected the trees’ natural regeneration ability and hampered seed collection efforts.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat this means for Victoria\u2019s ash forests is that they are at serious risk of ecosystem collapse, because they will not have the capacity to naturally regenerate themselves come the next fire season,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Seeds gathered are used to assist forest regeneration after fire and storm events.<\/p>\n
Forests harvested for timber are also resown using seed from the harvest sites, with leftover seed contributing to a bank used to resow areas including national parks.<\/p>\n
A succession of bushfires in 1998, 2003, 2006-07, 2009, 2013, 2018, 2019 and 2019-20 has nearly exhausted this seed bank.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning and VicForests undertook the largest sowing event in Victoria\u2019s history following the 2019-20 bushfires, resowing 11,500 hectares of ash forest,\u201d Mr Bassett said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHowever, despite that world-leading effort, more than 10,000 hectares of ash forest was not able to be resown and is not likely to recover following those fires.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnother serious concern is that there is at least 143,000 hectares of fire-killed forest which is now regenerating, but extremely vulnerable to another fire event.<\/p>\n
“If it burns, it will be lost forever because it doesn\u2019t have the ability to reseed itself and we just don\u2019t have the seed to resow it.\u201d<\/p>\n
State forest agency VicForests carries out seed collection, but Forestry Australia President Dr Michelle Freeman said this service may be lost following the Victorian government’s decision in May of this year to shut down Victoria’s native timber sector from the start of 2024, six years earlier than originally intended.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith the closure of native forest harvesting and recent announcement that seed collection contractors are now considered part of that transition package, who will save our forests when the next bushfire comes?\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
THE group representing the forestry industry has warned Victoria’s ash forests are at risk of collapsing due to a seed shortage and frequent fires. Forestry Australia says the of end native timber logging in Victoria may exacerbate the situation. The Otways are noted for their mountain ash trees, particularly around the Forrest area. Ecologist Owen […]<\/p>\n