BAL Assessment The Patch Dandenong Ranges July 2025

Conducting an onground BAL assessment really delivers a good result, especially in areas such as the Dandenong Ranges where cultivated gardens are often found beneath the canopy of trees.

Victorian Ecosystem Services undertook BAL assessments recently adjoining the magnificent Tall Wet forests of Sherbrooke. So much of the area in The patch, Monbulk and Kallista has been developed into gardens that show case European trees and shrubs. These plants reduce the bushfire risk as plants such as Rhododendrons and Camellias have a low flammability index due to the high fuel moisture content and the fact they are usually located in manicured gardens with mown lawns, garden paths and gravelled driveways. Often beneath the canopy of very tall Eucalypts, the native understorey has been removed, which alters the fuel layers and often reduces the ability for a fire to spread along the ground and into the trees. This sometimes cannot be seen from an aerial photo especially in the Dandeongs as there is an ESO -Environmental Significant Overlay - that protects the retention of the trees. Meaning the peri-urban landscape gives the appearance of treed hills, and houses have to fit within that for the enjoyment of the viewers.