A Macedon Ranges horticulturist and fungi enthusiast has urged residents to avoid walking off-path at popular sites in the region in a bid to protect the local ecosystem.
Macedon Fungi Forays director Greg Boldiston leads tours through Macedon fungi hotspots, such as Lake Sanatorium. These walks educate participants about mushroom identification and the role mushrooms play in ecosystems.
Mr Boldiston said he is concerned by recent signs of trample damage from visitors veering off the main trail near the lake, with more visitors at this time of year searching for fungi.
“Once you start having that amount of people in one spot that are then going off track wandering through the forest, you can then do a lot of damage very quickly to the … ecosystem,” Mr Boldiston said.
Because of visitors veering off the trail, Mr Boldiston said a large tree located just off the main trail with a clearing around its base has also received damage to its roots and surrounding soil.
“People go to see this huge big tree, but [people] are starting to wear off all the bark around the buttresses, and there are places where all the bark has been scuffed off down to the deadwood,” he said.
“If it doesn’t get protected soon, it will probably shorten its lifespan by hundreds of years I’d imagine … and it’s a tree that is well over two hundred years old now so it is worth protecting.”
When contacted regarding damage to the tree, Parks Victoria area chief ranger Siobhan Rogan said that sticking to main walking trails protects ecosystems.
“Informal pathways encourage more people to go into the wrong areas, which can damage the environment and cause permanent changes to its ecology,” Ms Rogan said.
“Marked trails prevent you and thousands of other travellers from accidentally disturbing wildlife, damaging cultural heritage and trampling on native plants or important habitat.”
According to Parks Victoria, the agency has not advertised or conducted clearing at the impacted tree site.
