OK, its cold. And a bit damp. On the other hand, any negative thoughts about this should be softened by the horrific reports were getting about heat waves in the northern hemisphere

And the good side is that mosses are abundantand beautiful, if youre prepared to get down and have a look. It seems the fungi season is on the wane, but theres still a bit about. Time to get out and have a crawl?

The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action wants your feedback on the draft of Victorias Bushfire Management Strategy, which will set the vision for bushfire management in Victoria for the next 10 years.

You can find the strategy here.

And you can make a submission here.

The strategy comes in three parts: people safety, conservation, and Aboriginal management.

Theres plenty of reasonable stuff in this document. Nothing wrong with this aim, for example:

To achieve genuine ecosystem resilience and positive nature conservation outcomes, the sector will integrate this improved understanding into decision making. This includes identifying and protecting environmental values and assets during on-ground operations and implementing on[1]ground programs to manage increased threats to environmental values (such as weeds and pests) resulting from the applied fire regime.

The problem with the document might be that there are too many future tense sentences in it. The sector will improve its knowledge of fire regimes The sector will continue to monitor The sector will ensure the scale of each target is appropriate The sector will supportadaptive management The sector willcontinue to improvewill optimisewill ensure And so on.

A reader already sceptical about the sectors monitoring and adaptive management record will not be impressed by the promise that things will continue to improve. Promises like this have been made for years, and its hard to be impressed by the results.

Lets recall the Auditor Generals 2021 report:

DELWP advised us that it cannot guarantee the protection of all threatened species given:

• current funding levels
• scientific constraints around how species respond to threats and actions to control these in the wild, particularly in a time of climate change
• the long-term lag effects on Victorias biodiversity of over 200 years of colonisation.

Lack of funding, lack of knowledgeConservationists have been banging on about these things for years.

Still, if you have the time, it might be worth having a go. We recommend you ask, what is there in the strategy to guarantee that the funding levels identified by the Auditor General as inadequate will be brought up to scratch?

The consultation closes on August 20