Webinar: Fire in the Western Port Woodlands

In December last year a bushfire sparked at a closed sand mine site. It ripped through the Gurdies Nature Conservation Reserve and surrounds in the Western Port Woodlands.

Thanks to amazing work by fire fighters, the fire was extinguished in a matter of days.

The community and woodlands are starting to recover from the fire. But it had a big impact on wildlife, habitat and the local community.

Join Jordan Crook (Parks and Nature Campaigner, Victorian National Parks Association), Professor Michael Clarke (Emeritus Professor of Zoology, La Trobe University) and Michael Whelan (ex-mayor of Bass Coast Shire, former fire fighter) as they delve into the impacts of fire and how we can reduce that impact on communities and habitats in Western Port Woodlands and more broadly across Victoria.

Register to come along

Professor Michael Clarke is an Emeritus Professor of Zoology at La Trobe University. He has a long-standing interest in the impact of fire on wildlife. He leads research, along with his colleague Prof Andrew Bennett, into the impact of fire in the Mallee, Box-Ironbark forests, the Central Highlands, and Wilsons Promontory. In 2010 he appeared as an expert witness in fire ecology at the Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission. He recently completed a three-year term as a member of the Board of Directors for Parks Victoria. He is actively involved in making sure conservation policy is based on the best available evidence.

Michael Whelan is ex-mayor of Bass Coast Shire Council and a champion of climate action, locally and regionally. Michael has CFA experience both on the ground and as senior adviser to the former Victorian Emergency Services Minister.