Snow Gums (Eucalyptus pauciflora) are the classic tree of the Australian High Country. They are profoundly different to the trees found in mountain areas in other parts of the world, and give a uniquely Australian sense to our high country. However, they are facing a double threat: they are at risk from dieback and climate change driven bushfires.

Like most eucalypt species, the snow gum can survive fire. However, climate change is leading to more frequent and intense fire, which is causing more death of trees and changes to forest structure. And while dieback, caused by a native beetle, is a natural occurrence, the dieback is getting worse and more widespread because climate change is making winters warmer and summers drier and hotter.

While most snow gums in Victoria are included in national parks, we are on the verge of losing the landscapes that we spent decades protecting.

We acknowledge that these forests exist in the Cultural Landscapes of the unceded sovereign lands of Victorian Traditional Owners.

An iconic species under threat

In recent decades, climate-fuelled bushfires have devastated huge areas of the snow gum forests. There were significant fires in the Victorian High Country in 1998, 2002/3, 2006/7, 2013 and 2019/20. More than 90% of Snow Gum habitat has been burnt at least once in the last 20 years. New research from Latrobe University shows that long-unburnt snow gum forests are now exceedingly rare (comprising less than 1% of snow gum forests in the Victorian Alps)

In recent years, Friends of the Earth (FoE) has been mapping the health of snow gum woodlands across north eastern Victoria and found a growing number of areas facing ecological collapse – that is, the loss of snow gum, with only grass and scrub remaining in once forested areas.

As climate scientist Michael Mann describes it, we are now seeing climate change play out in real time.

But we still have time to ensure the survival of this important tree.

Good coverage of the threats

You can read this story (2023) by Miki Perkins in The Age here.

As we say in that story, “What we know is these forests will come back, but only if you keep the fire out. It’s a very low intervention approach.”

In February 2025, we hosted the first ever Snow Gum summit (you can read a report here) which brought together experts in both the realm of fire and dieback which threatens this vegetation community. Participants at the summit created the Snow Gum Declaration, which highlights how we need to act to ensure this precious ecosystem survives.

This crisis can be resolved

We need the state government to intervene to protect these threatened forests. The first step in a meaningful government response should be to authorise an investigation into the ecological health of the forests, which would make recommendations to the state government about what to do next.

This investigation can be done quickly and at little cost, and will provide a direction for longer term government action to protect snow gums. We already know that if we can exclude fire from snow gums as they recover, there is a good chance we will see the development of old forests again. Groups like FoE have ideas on how to respond to the threats (you can read our rescue plan for the snow gums here) but state government needs to take action to assess the threat to these forests, and then allocate resources to protect them.

Forward movement is happening

Our campaign is straight forward. We urge the state government to do the following:

1/ authorise an investigation into the ecological health of the forests, which would make recommendations to the state government about what to do next.

PROGRESS: in July 2025, we were told by the environment ministers’ advisers that he supports our call for an investigation into the health of snow gum forests.

You can read more about the progress we have made here.

2/ increase our capacity to stop small fires before they become uncontrollable blazes. One of our key ideas is to introduce a volunteer remote area firefighting team (a RAFT) who will be tasked with working alongside government firefighters to stop small fires in remote areas.

PROGRESS: the CFA and FFMV both support this idea. The training guidelines for remote and arduous firefghting have now been published and in late November 2025, the first group of volunteers were trained in arduous firefighting techniques.

3/ increase the fire fighting fleet and allocate additional planes (most likely Type 2 helicopters) primarily to protecting fire sensitive communities. Locate these aircraft primarily at bases near large national parks and state forests as needed according to weather and fire conditions.

Type 2 helicopters, such as the Bell 205A-1++, are well-balanced in terms of size and maneuverability. They can carry a substantial amount of water and maneuver well, making them valuable assets in firefighting operations. These aircraft are often used for initial surveillance and to support ground crews. 

Type 3 helicopters, like the Bell 407, are smaller and more agile than their larger counterparts. They are often used for reconnaissance, transporting crew members, and performing precision water drops on smaller fires. While their carrying capacity may be less, their maneuverability makes them extremely valuable in navigating challenging terrain and accessing hard-to-reach areas. 

4/ ensure that incident controllers, who manage how resources are applied to fires, are required to consider 'ecological assets' like fire sensitive vegetation in managing fires.

While we are seeing specific fires being managed well so as to protect fire sensitive communities like snow gums (as happened with this fire in early 2025 near the Wellington Plains) this is still up to the discretion of individual incident controllers. We need to set mandatory guidelines to ensure this becomes standard practise that that protection of ecological assets is considered in fire management plans in the same way human safety and asset protection is.

Take action

1/ Please send an email to the state environment minister the Hon Steve Dimopoulos and the State government urging them to take steps to protect the iconic Snow Gum forests.

2/ Please share your support for snow gums. Help spread the word about this important tree, the threats it faces, and the hope for restoration with your friends and colleagues on social media. Tag in the environment minister: Facebook - @DimoforOakleigh X - @Steve_Dimo

3/ sign up to get involved in this campaign. If you sign our letter (linked above) you will automatically get campaign updates. But if you would just like to get involved, please feel free to get in touch. [email protected]

Learn more

The FoE report, An Icon at Risk, Current and Emerging threats to the Victorian High Country, released in 2021 (and available here) highlights the many risks faced by the Alps, including the potential loss of the Snow Gum forests.

You can read about our work in the high country here.

You can find out more about dieback and Snow Gums here.

Support our work

If you like what we do, please consider supporting our work with a tax deductible donation.

What's at risk

Mt Wills is indicative of the threats faced by the remaining older snow gum forests

Mt Wills is an example of what a mature snow gum forest should look like. But these forests are increasingly rare and precious. We need government intervention to secure the long term survival of places like this.

Mt Wills is an 'island in the sky' - a small plateau which supports wonderful, widely spaced old growth snow gum trees, surrounded by deep valleys on three sides. It is connected to Victoria's highest mountain - Bogong (Warkwoolowler) - by Long Spur and is on the route of the Australian Alps Walking Track (the AAWT), our longest walking track in the high country.

There are impressive, older alpine ash forests on Long Spur, below the Mt Wills summit, which were scheduled for logging. This would have led to either failed regeneration in the coupes, or the creation of dense, flammable regrowth from logging operations which would have posed a direct risk of intense fire to the uphill old forests of Mt Wills.

This area must be protected from fire because of the value of its old snow gum forests.