I had the pleasure of meeting the team from Napolean Reef Landcare for a information session and walk through of ecological burns they have been holding in the area since 2019. The Hillview Estate Ecological Burn Plan, has been adopted and supported by the Bathurst Council since early 2018.

I was talked through the background of the site, and how the ecological burns came to be - which were after a series of high intensity burns in the area that did more harm than good. The aim of the burns were to reduce fuel loads, enhance native groundcover and ecosystem integrity. There have been 3 burns out of 4 so far, with each burn informing how the next can be carried out. The most recent burn was in May 2024. Vegetation surveys have been undertaken before and after the burns.

The health of the post-burn landscapes were amazing, with low weed uptake and alot of native regeneration. The shrubs were not dense and easy to traverse, and there was proof of alot of native animal habitation, aswell as a great diversity of plant life. We even saw a beautiful little Green Hooded Orchid (Pterostylis pyramidalis) [Pictured Below].

The team at Napolean Reef Landcare have been amazing stewards of the land, and have undertaken research, testing and reporting to put together an ecological burn model which I am sure will be a precedent for many other ecological burns in the region, and will improve the overall environment in the Central Tablelands greatly. Other involved parties include Skillset, Ecological Australia, Glanmire Walang RFS, Chiffley-Lithgow RFS, Raglan RFS and O’Connell RFS