Friends of the Earth Melbourne is excited to share that we are organising a second Snow Gum Summit, which will take place in March 2026 on Ngarigo Country in Jindabyne. The Summit will bring people together from across the Australian Alps bioregion spanning Victoria, NSW and the ACT, to address the threats facing these iconic landscapes we all know and love.
It will happen over the weekend of March 14 and 15.
Snow gum forests and woodlands are under accelerating stress from climate change, fire, and beetle-driven dieback. The widespread dieback is equivalent to that of a mass bleaching event of the Great Barrier Reef. Without bold interventions, these ecosystems face ecological collapse within our lifetimes.
The Snow Gum Summit - Next Ascent will convene us to catalyse urgent action, and form alliances across science, Country, community, and policy. Your support will help us to make this happen, and ensure that voices from remote and impacted communities are included in this gathering to get behind real solutions and inspire hope for change.
Why Snow Gums Matter
Snow gum woodlands are iconic to Australia’s alpine landscapes. They occur nowhere else on the planet and form a vital link in the ecological chain from lowland forests to alpine peaks. They are not only ecological treasures, but also cultural landscapes for First Peoples, and underpin water security (the alpine and high elevation zones supply 20–29% of Murray–Darling Basin flows).
Yet these ecosystems face intensifying threats:
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Increased bushfire frequency and severity due to the impacts of climate change
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Widespread dieback linked to longicorn beetle infestations
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Failure to regenerate after disturbances
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Policy gaps, lack of coordinated research, and underfunded land management
At the 2025 Snow Gum Summit, we gathered over 90 people across disciplines to share knowledge, connect, and discuss the issues facing Alpine ecosystems. The summit generated the Snow Gum Declaration, which called for urgent funding, policies, and adaptive interventions. Since then, we have finally caught the attention of the Victorian Minister for Environment and secured a range of commitments intended to ensure the long term protection of snow gum forests.
But we know the threats and the environmental challenges facing the Alps don’t stop at the border. So we are heading north and will host our second summit in Jindabyne in March 2026!
We believe a second Summit can build momentum, foster collaboration, progress solutions, and shift the political narrative by generating power cross-state.
What we aim to do
In the next summit, we will:
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Deepen collaboration
Bring together ecologists, First Peoples, fire and beetle experts, hydrologists, land managers, ENGOs, policy makers, and community groups with informative presentations and dialogue.
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Focus on solutions & implementation
Presenters will focus on adaptive fire regimes, beetle control strategies (e.g. pheromone use), restoration of snow gum woodlands, managing visitor impacts, regeneration trials, and monitoring.
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Elevate Indigenous knowledge & agency
First Peoples will share their knowledge, memory and caring for Country practices leaving us with insight on how we can integrate these with Western science.
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Produce a second “Snow Gum Summit Declaration”
A refined set of asks to governments and funders, with priority projects, budgeted interventions, timelines and accountability mechanisms.
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Walks & site visits
To snow gum stands in impacted landscapes to observe firsthand the challenges and possibilities.
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Capacity building & networking
Provide a space where networking can take place across sectors, where we can connect and build strong alliances interstate.
What next?
Help us make the Snow Gum Summit 2026 a powerful gathering for action, collaboration, and hope. Together, we can bring communities, scientists, Traditional Owners, and forest defenders together to stand up for the high country and protect the last strongholds of our beloved snow gums.
Stay tuned for further details:
- the initial line up of speakers will be announced before the end of the year
- there will be a chuffed campaign coming soon to help us pay for the event
- an event page will be launched so you can sign up to get details when tickets go on sale
If you're keen to be involved in some way please get in touch:
ABOVE: the first snow gum summit, Dinner Plain, February 2024.