Fires, Forests and Futures

26 August 2009

Emeritus Professor Ian Ferguson

The sustainability of the Ash forests of Victoria is contentious for a number of reasons, not least because of the pressures of population and economic growth, and climate change on their diverse uses. Attempts to take account of the principle of sustainability in weighing alternative uses have not been widely accepted and the methods used are themselves the subject of debate. But those attempts have been largely grounded in deterministic models. Recent experience in the Ash forests of Victoria indicates that planning and management needs to be much more attuned to the role of fire and to examine future paths stochastically. Such an examination suggests that the zero-sum game being played by the conservation and development camps is more likely to risk than help future sustainability of these forests and that new strategies are needed.

This lecture was the Seventh Jack Westoby Lecture, presented by ANU College of Medicine, Biology and Environment.

Broad Topics:

Sub-topics: Botany & Zoology, Environment

Areas: ANU College of Science

Ian Ferguson is Professor Emeritus of Forest & Ecosystem Science at the University of Melbourne. He taught at the Australian National University from 1971 to 1981, prior to taking up the Foundation Chair of Forest Science at Melbourne, where he continued teaching and research in forest management and economics until he retired from the University in 2003. He was Head of department, Dean of faculty and President of Academic Board and Pro-Vice Chancellor at various times. He has served on one Royal Commission in Tasmania, a Board of Inquiry in Victoria, and numerous other formal reviews. He continues to work as a consultant to private, state, national and international bodies and is on the Boards of two plantation companies. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering.