Forest Fire Management Victoria Wimmera District will host the 48th annual Little Desert Fire Conference tomorrow, Thursday 12 September, at Dimboola.

Forest Fire Management Victoria’s Wimmera District Manager, Glenn Rudolph said the conference aims to strengthen partnerships.

“The Little Desert Fire Conference provides the opportunity to strengthen fire and emergency service agency partnerships and share knowledge and ideas before we head into our spring bushfire risk reduction program.

“With our key partners including Parks Victoria, Country Fire Authority (CFA), Catchment Management Authorities, local government, Traditional Owners and communities, these annual conferences ensure we have a common understanding of the risks and get to review our joint fuel management planning for the Little Desert National Park and nearby Mt Arapiles/Tooan State Park,” he said.

“Our multi-agency Safer Together program provides a unified whole-of-system management approach to the planning and delivery of effective bushfire risk reduction on public and private land in Victoria.

Their approach aims to protect communities from bushfire risks as well as maintain and improve ecosystem resilience under different fire regimes.

“With a potential increase in pasture and cropping in parts of the Wimmera during spring, we are anticipating an early and active fire season.

“The fire conference will conclude with a practical evaluation of landscape adaptation, recovery and other issues following recent fires of variable age within and surrounding the Little Desert.

“We thank the community for its help over the past several months in developing our overarching Grampians Regional Strategic Bushfire Management Strategy.”

Once finalised, the strategy will be published online at engage.vic.gov.au/bushfire-planning/grampians.