This article is a response to How to stifle active forest management – the Wungong catchment trial in Western Australia: Frank Batini
David Jefford Ward
Although my qualifications lie in other fields, I know Frank Batini as a modest, well mannered, well qualified, and experienced forester. His recent article about his past work on water supply from Wungong Dam, near Perth, has raised concerns with me about the management of water supplies in Western Australia.
As Frank said, decades ago he was paid as a consultant by the WA government to help produce a plan on how to increase water flow into Wungong Dam. After hard work, in both field and office, with some qualified hydrologists (Terry et al. 2025) he helped to produce a well founded plan, based on judicious thinning of the surrounding forest. It also included frequent, regular light burning, as practised by Noongar people for thousands of years (Ward 2011).
I can understand his frustration when the plan was scrapped after some years by the then state government. Instead of following scientific advice, they seem to have switched their beliefs to the thinking of other kinds of experts, without any qualifications in forestry, fire, or hydrology, but expertly politically aware and active. I have been told that the highest formal qualification of one of these experts was in medieval French poetry. I hope this is untrue. Poetry is, of course, an admirable subject for study, yet not clearly related to scientific understanding of forests, fire, and hydrology.
Unchecked, such a trend in political advice presents the daunting possibility of future politicians naively following advice on matters from those scientifically unqualified in them, but seeming to offer popular political advantages.
Those interested in the real world matters of water supply, forests, and fire may find further information in my freely available thesis on Wungong Dam. It was written as a humanity, but includes some science. Those allergic to unreadable academic theses may be cheered to know that mine was described, by a distinguished university examiner, as ‘almost breathtaking in its integrative approach’, and having an ‘excellent, firm structure’. I am, of course, like Frank, a very modest fellow.
References
– Terry, C. T., Reed, A.J, Batini, F. (2005), A case for adaptive management in the Wungong Catchment. Proceedings 6th National Conference of the Australian Forest History Society. Freely available online. Search on terry+reed+batini+wungong.
– Ward, D. J. (2011) PhD thesis, Just search the Worldwide Web on ward+wungong+water+fire.
Related story: How to stifle active forest management – the Wungong catchment trial in Western Australia: Frank Batini
