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.
The program
We are delighted to be able to announce the line up of confirmed speakers. They include:
Welcome to Country: Jason Fieldhouse (Ngarigo)
THE SCIENCE
Dr Matthew Brookhouse, Fenner School of Environment and Society, ANU
Dr. Phillip Zylstra, Adjunct Associate Professor | Curtin University | School of Molecular and Life Sciences
Ruby Olsson, PhD Candidate Fenner School of Environment and Society ANU. The whitebark pine recovery plan - North West United States
Euan Diver, Thredbo resort environment manager and Brent Bourke, Environmental Coordinator. How are resorts responding to dieback.
Mel Schroder, Team Leader - Conservation, Southern Ranges Branch, NSW National Parks & Wildlife Service.
Conservation programs indirectly protecting Snow-gum woodlands
Panel - PhD students describe their projects
Panel moderator: Prof Adrienne Nicotra, ANU:
- Jazmyn Michie – Understanding the System for inclusive collaboration
- Oliver Webb - insights from within the trees: using isotope measures of tree rings to understand the history of dieback
- Aaron Midson - scaling up to the landscape via modelling
- Cal Bryant – field trials to inform management options
- Lara Troy-O'Leary – size-age model for Eucalyptus lacrimans (weeping snow gum)
BRAIDING HEART & SCIENCE
Jonica Newby - falling in love with the snow
Rosie Wositzky-Jones and Lee Blackman - the Dinner Plain primary school snow gum project
Anna Langford and Anthony Sharwood - will talk about their current book project on snow gums
Jane Ormonde: leading a ‘heart engagement’ exercise so everyone can tap into and share something about why they love snow gums
FIRST NATIONS ASPIRATIONS FOR COUNTRY
Jakelin Troy, Ngarigo professor, linguist and sociologist
Tyronne Bell, Thunderstone (Ngunnawal)
Michael Hansby, Cultural Forest Management Program Coordinator, Taungurung Land & Waters Council. A ‘two worlds’ approach to managing Country
RESPONDING TO CHANGING FIRE REGIMES
Dr Steve Leonard
Senior Ecologist, Fire Science Coordinator, Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania
- Protecting Tasmanian ecosystems from escalating bushfire threat
Bethany Dunne, Fire Ecologist, Office of Nature Conservation, ACT
The Snow Gum woodlands of Namadgi National Park: post-fire recovery and planning for future threats including bushfire and beetle-driven dieback
Dr Pele Cannon & Dr Sarah Clement, Fenner School of Environment & Society, ANU -
Fire and Transformation: Expert and public perceptions on the future of fire management in the Australian Alps
DIEBACK & RESILIENCE
Justin Borevitz, ANU (‘genetic basis of climate adaptation, meaning trying to find dieback resistant seed lots for new plantings, especially down on farms, or in rehab sites’)
Leah Moore, ANU: update about soils research and dieback
Matt Brookhouse - advances in dieback management
Margaret Mackinnon, Upper Snowy Landcare - discussing their work across the Monaro region in response to the ribbon gum dieback.
Indi Williams, Latrobe Uni
Zoe Birnie, Technical Specialist, Impact, Greening Australia. Building Resilience: A climate-adjusted provenance trial for Eucalyptus pauciflora
The walks program
There will be 2 half day trips on monday March 16 and a tree planting session.
Walk 1
Guided walk to the Main Range
This walk with guide and photographer Mike Edmondson will visit some of Mike’s favourite Snow Gums in The Ramsheads, using the Dead Horse Gap track access as a 6 + hours walk.
9.30am start. Meet at Cascades trail head.
Cost: $10.
Full details and tickets available here.
Visit the Australian Mountain Research Facility sites
This walk will visit the Australian Mountain Research Facility (AMRF) Aqueduct sites, where we’ll explore the monitoring and experimental infrastructure in place. We’ll see a climate-manipulation experiment designed to assess how future climate conditions may affect the growth and establishment of snow gums and other montane species.
This walk will be led by Prof Adrienne Nicotra, ANU.
8.30am start. Meet at Smiggin Holes carpark.
Cost $10.
Full details and tickets here.
Tree planting session at Perisher
National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) led Volunteer planting days are uniting the mountain community to tackle snowgum dieback. Over the past three years, NPWS volunteers have planted more than 3,000 snowgums across the Perisher Range, helping restore areas most affected by decline.
Join us in Perisher Valley to take action, plant a snowgum, and make a meaningful contribution to our alpine landscapes.
This is a free event.
1pm start. Meet at the Perisher Valley information centre.
Check here for full details and to rsvp.
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 final program will be announced in mid February 2026
- there is a chuffed campaign to help us pay for the event - you can support it here
- Tickets are now on sale and can be purchased here. There is a limit of 120 tickets so we recommend you get tickets soon
- you can find options for eating out and accommodation in Jindabyne in the images below.
- there will be 2 half day walks available on monday March 16 - details will be listed soon
If you're keen to be involved in some way please get in touch:
ABOVE: the first snow gum summit, Dinner Plain, February 2024.