Mr Smith was keen to see the works being undertaken as a joint partnership between CFA and DSE, with guidance from Southern Grampians Shire Council, Moyne Shire Council, Threatened Species Network, World Wildlife Fund, VicRoads and the Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority.
CFA and DSE are working together to reduce hazards along roadsides through ecological and sustainable roadside fire management. This involves the management of native grasses and the control of introduced species on the natural environment.
CFA’s Vegetation Management Officer Anthony Watt said it’s important to protect our native grasses as these have a lower flame height than introduced species.
“Our volunteer brigades have been burning roadsides in Western Victoria for over 50 years and because of this, we have some of the best remnant areas of native grasses in Australia” Mr Watt said.
Each year hundreds of kilometres of roadsides are burnt to reduce fuel loads and provide an ecological boost to native grasses. Our volunteer brigades do this to protect the local communities in which they live.
The regular burning of roadsides also decreases the invasion of trees and weeds and provides a space for a diversity of plants to seed and grow.
In Western Victoria about 30 per cent of known native grasslands are on roadsides making the ongoing fire management of roadsides vitally important to the sustainability of these grasslands.
Mr Smith also unveiled a roadside information board as part of his visit displaying the different species found in the area.
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