MADRA News - Vale Associate Professor Kevin Tolhurst

Vale Associate Professor Kevin Tolhurst

Like many others in the community, MADRA committee members were shocked and saddened to learn of the untimely death of Associate Professor Kevin Tolhurst, only a short time after presenting at the community forum hosted by the Howitt Society on 5 October 2023.

During his lifetime, Kevin Tolhurst gave generously of his time and internationally renowned expertise in bushfire management and fire ecology to many communities, including ours.

Professor Tolhurst’s presentation provided examples of how fuel reduction could reduce the risk of fire igniting, spreading and causing damage. Some commentators have used his comments to criticise the amount of fuel reduction carried out before the fire that reached Mallacoota on 31 December 2019. But more importantly, Kevin Tolhurst shared positive examples of how bushfire risk could be reduced in the future by restoring the health of the forests that we have chosen to live amongst. He also talked about the importance of working together respectfully and constructively to achieve change.

The MADRA committee would like to express their appreciation for these positive messages, and to extend sympathy to Associate Professor Kevin Tolhurst’s family and wider group of friends and colleagues for their loss.

One of the other positive themes from the three presentations and discussion afterwards was that there appears to be considerable overlap between what different speakers want. All of the speakers spoke about the need for changes to the structure of the forest. It is hoped that recognition of that common ground will help us to move forward in working out responsible ways to protect our community from bushfire.

This is an approach that the Fuel Management Working Group has been working on, starting with mulching of the interface. The group is also currently looking into ways of improving fuel management further afield in the Asset Protection Zone around town.

For more information about the Fuel Management Working Group, go to:

https://madrecovery.com/fuel-management

Kind regards,

MADRA