The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) has completed a recovery program in Victoria’s south-west, two years after the 2018 St Patrick’s Day fires damaged the landscape.
Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) coordinated the works with $620,000 of DELWP funding and support from local Councils, committees of management and community groups.
In a statement, Otway District Manager at FFMVic, David Roberts said the works had been undertaken on public and private land following the fires which burnt more than 40,000 hectares.
“This has been a big program of works across many sites that were initially dangerous and inaccessible following the fires that swept through the region,” Mr Roberts said.
“The revegetation of public and private land is not only crucial for the health of the local environment, but the wellbeing of communities impacted by the fires,” he said.
“Although the formal fire recovery program has been completed, we’ll continue to look for ways to support fire-affected communities as they continue their own recovery journeys.”
Mr Roberts said one of the final projects to be completed was aerial seeding at Lake Cobrico, a swamp wildlife reserve near Camperdown.
“Due to concerns that the lake’s ecosystem might not be able to regenerate naturally after the high-intensity fires, drones were used to distribute 32 kilograms of native seeds over 40 hectares of the burnt lake bed,” he said.
Mr Roberts said other projects in the recovery program included the rehabilitation of nearly six kilometres of trenches that were dug at Lake Cobrico and Lake Elingamite to stop the run of peat fires, and the removal of burnt and hazardous trees along the Camperdown Timboon Rail Trail.
