Australia has a long history of bushfire. Before people learned to make fire, lightning and volcanic activity triggered fires in the landscape. These naturally occurring fires had both positive and negative effects on different species and ecosystems, and many native species and ecosystems have evolved with, and adapted to, fire in these landscapes. However, many others remain sensitive or vulnerable to the negative effects of fire events and fire regimes. An additional key health issue that has emerged after recent fires has been the effect of bushfire smoke on human populations and the environment (see the Air Quality chapter). Particulate matter from bushfire smoke has even been linked to phytoplankton blooms in the Southern Ocean (Tang et al. 2021).
As a result of a long history of natural and Indigenous fire across Australia, the relationships that species and ecosystems have with fire are often complex and interrelated. For example, many ecosystems have a mix of species that have different responses to fire – some requiring fire for seed dispersal, others living short lives in the briefly nutrient-enriched ash beds, and yet others that are intolerant of fire and are only able to recruit into long-unburnt habitat. Altered fire regimes can therefore lead to significant ecosystem changes in the balance of species diversity and abundance, which in turn can influence the production of potential fuel and habitat flammability.
Global carbon emissions are driving climate change, which is influencing the potential for fire in the landscape (Dowdy 2018, Harris & Lucas 2019). Changes in climate and weather mean that seasonal fire periods are becoming longer; in New South Wales, for example, the bushfire season now extends to almost 8 months, not including hazard reduction burning (OEM 2018). This is resulting in a greater frequency, severity and overall unpredictability of bushfires (see case study: Currowan fire, New South Wales).
Indigenous Australians have used fire as a tool to manage and clean Country for millennia (see Indigenous fire management). In contrast, European-inspired settlement patterns, agriculture and land management approaches are more challenged by fire. A limited understanding of the role of traditional fire has resulted in mismanagement of some natural systems to the detriment of natural processes, as well as a fear of fire and its impacts.
Increasing fire risk
Bushfire risk in Australia is determined by the presence of appropriate fuel, in terms of its mass, presentation and condition; an ignition source, such as lightning or arson; and conducive weather for a fire to develop (Sullivan 2020). The frequency of significant fire weather is a major element in determining bushfire risk. Multiple factors contribute to fire weather: a lack of rainfall in the lead-up period, low humidity, strong winds and high temperatures. All these contribute to fire risk on the day but can also increase moisture stress on vegetation in the lead-up period.
In Australia, the most commonly used measures to assess fire weather are the McArthur Forest Fire Danger Index (FFDI) and the associated Grassland Fire Danger Index (Sullivan 2020). The FFDI combines temperature, wind speed, humidity and an index of fuel dryness, based on rainfall in the preceding period. The FFDI aggregated over the fire season shows a significant increasing trend since the 1950s over most of Australia. In general, this increase comes from a lengthening of the fire season rather than from an intensification of the peak of the season (Sullivan 2020), although there is also a discernible increase in extreme and catastrophic fire days (Figure 9).
The number of days with a fire danger of very high or above has also generally increased (CSIRO & BOM 2020, Dowdy 2020). The exceptional 2019−20 fire season in temperate Australia occurred in a period when numerous indicators of fire weather aggregated over the season were at record highs (see Summer bushfires in 2019–20).
Future projections of bushfire risk factors show a clear trend towards more dangerous fire weather conditions (Dowdy et al. 2019b), and long-term increases in dry lightning events are also expected for south-eastern Australia (Dowdy 2020). Parts of northern and central Australia are likely to experience decreases in dry lightning events, particularly in warmer seasons, although bushfire initiation typically occurs during cooler seasons in northern and central regions.
Thunderstorms that are initiated by bushfire smoke plumes have also been observed more frequently in recent years. The thunderstorm clouds formed by the heat and particulate matter associated with bushfire smoke plumes are known as pyrocumulus or pyrocumulonimbus clouds. They can generate dangerous and unpredictable fire behaviour, including wind direction changes, cloudbursts and lightning, and the carriage of burning firebrands many kilometres ahead of the fire front (Dowdy et al. 2019b). Modelling suggests an increase in pyrocumulonimbus conditions in south-eastern Australia in the spring (Di Virgilio et al. 2019); research is currently aimed at improving prediction of dangerous pyrocumulonimbus conditions (e.g. Tory & Kepert 2021).
In some cases, the consequences of an event are shaped by the preceding conditions – for example, the 2019–20 bushfires were to some extent a consequence of a long preceding dry spell. Of note in the past 5 years have been incidents of fallen timber resulting from tropical cyclones in and adjacent to rainforests drying and providing a fuel source that has enabled later bushfires to penetrate rainforests. Changes in cyclone intensity and frequency, as well as in the incidence and severity of drought periods, may thus also influence future bushfire risk.
In addition to climatic influences, fire risk is also increasing in some areas because invasive plant species, particularly grasses, can carry more intense fires than native species (see the Land chapter). For example, the Northern Territory has reported an increase in the cost of fighting bushfires fuelled by gamba grass (Andropogon gayanus). In areas where the grass is dense, including around Batchelor and Darwin, fire managers have had to adapt and introduce new and expensive fire management measures, which are more typical of temperate forest fire management. These measures include assigning more staff, upgrading firefighting vehicles to provide more protection from fire and using water-bombing aircraft. This contrasts with the resources that were on standby in the area in 2007, when 2 staff members and a 4-wheel drive vehicle fitted with firefighting equipment were adequate for rapid response to bushfires fuelled by native grasses with less biomass. The cost per day to be on standby to fight the gamba grass–fuelled bushfires during periods of severe weather warning has increased by up to 9 times in the Batchelor region (Beaumont et al. 2018).
Summer bushfires in 2019–20
The summer of 2019–20 – ‘Black Summer’ – will be long remembered as exceptional for the scale, severity and synchrony of fires across southern and eastern Australia. Fires burned simultaneously across multiple Australian states and territories, burning an unprecedented proportion of many continental forest biomes−for example, 21% of the New South Wales and Victorian temperate broadleaf and mixed forests (Boer et al. 2020). Vast swathes of land were impacted, with more than 10.3 million hectares of native bushland being burned (ABARES 2021), as well as grasslands, agricultural lands, commercial forest plantations and peri-urban areas (Davey & Sarre 2020; Table 1). Much of the native bushland burned was in conservation reserves and public forests; 18 Key Biodiversity Areas had 15% or more of their habitat burned (Todd & Maurer 2020).
The proximity of fire to many significant settlements, towns and cities reminded many city-dwellers of the power of fire, as smoke affected many of our major cities; power, telecommunications, and ground and air transport logistics were also disrupted. However, it should be noted that, at a national scale, the burnt area across northern Australia was significantly greater than the area of south-eastern Australia that was burned (Figure 10).
The consequences of the 2019–20 bushfires are many and varied. Formal reflection has been conducted through the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements, several state inquiries, and a growing number of scientific papers and reports. In some instances, valuable lessons have been learned through review of previous bushfire events.
Thirty-four lives were lost in the fires themselves or in fighting them (Binskin et al. 2020); a further 417 deaths are estimated to be attributable to bushfire smoke (Borchers-Arriagada et al. 2020). Smoke generated from the fires travelled 11,000 kilometres offshore to South America and is estimated to have added up to 900 million tonnes of carbon to the air (Filkov et al. 2020). The Black Summer fires are responsible for loss of an estimated 8 million native animals in New South Wales alone, with 1 billion estimated lost nationwide (Dickman et al. 2020). In some places, the 2019–20 bushfires compounded or exacerbated the environmental consequence of earlier fires, or of other events such as the preceding drought (see case study: Bushfire impacts on freshwater habitats).
In January 2020, the Minister for the Environment, the Hon. Sussan Ley MP, convened a Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel under the lead of the Threatened Species Commissioner. The expert panel was convened to assist in prioritising recovery actions for native species, ecological communities, natural assets and their cultural values for Indigenous Australians, and to provide advice on the types of actions that would support recovery. In collaboration with national, state and territory government agencies; nongovernment organisations; the research sector; and community organisations, the expert panel identified 810 priorities, focusing on 92 vertebrate animals (Legge et al. 2020), 213 invertebrates (DAWE 2020b), 486 plants (Gallagher 2020) and 19 threatened ecological communities (DAWE 2020a).
In support of the expert panel, the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment also commissioned work from the National Environmental Science Program’s Threatened Species Recovery Hub to provide guidance for postfire on-ground assessment of species, communities, habitats and threats (Southwell 2020).
Other recent bushfires
Rainforest burns very infrequently – much of the rainforest along the eastern seaboard is bordered on its western edge by a thin band of wet sclerophyll forest, which marks the ecotone between mesic rainforest habitat and pyrophytic (‘fire loving’) savannas, woodlands and dry forests. Bushfires running in from the west typically stop where wet sclerophyll meets rainforest because of lack of dry fuel and green vegetation. However, the combination of cyclone-derived fuel and long dry periods can enable fires to penetrate rainforest, where few species have any adaptations to survive fire.
Recent examples include the bushfires that burned 11,217 hectares (ha) of rainforest in the Eungella–Crediton area in 2018, fuelled by debris from tropical cyclone Debbie (2017; see case study: Severe tropical cyclone Debbie), and an exceptional late fire season characterised by an extreme heatwave and a lack of cloud-derived precipitation in preceding weeks. Much of the rainforest that burned had been logged in previous decades, and the gaps created had been dominated by the weed lantana, which likely exacerbated the fire. Damage to fire-sensitive communities is likely to take decades to centuries to recover (Hines et al. 2020).
Similarly, tropical cyclone Trevor (category 3 cyclone, March 2019) crossed the coast just south of Lockhart River and caused significant damage to rainforest in Cape York’s Kutini–Payamu (Iron Range) National Park. Fires encroached on rainforest habitat between September and November 2019, burning dry cyclone debris. Bushfires also encroached into rainforest near Silkwood in the Wet Tropics of Queensland, and in the Border Ranges National Park in south-east Queensland in late 2019.
Dry lightning ignited several bushfires across Tasmania during December 2018 to January 2019, which ultimately burned through 210,000 ha or 3% of the state, having significant social, economic and infrastructure impacts and extensive environmental impacts (TasRECOVERY 2019). The environmental impacts included burning of 6% of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area and included damage to alpine systems, conservation stands, native forestry areas and some culturally significant areas. Among the areas affected were systems composed of fire-sensitive species that will be slow to recover, if they ever recover, as well as areas likely to suffer increased rates of erosion or browsing by feral animals. Long-term studies in the Australian Alps (Verrall & Pickering 2019) suggest that subalpine grasslands can recover from single fires, but, with warmer and drier conditions, and thus a risk of repeat fires, the distribution, structure and composition of such communities will likely change.
Fires have broad impacts on ecosystems but can also directly affect vulnerable species. Western ground parrots (kyloring; Pezoporus flaviventris) are listed as Critically Endangered under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and are now believed to be restricted to the south-eastern part of Cape Arid National Park in Western Australia and adjacent areas of Nuytsland Nature Reserve. They occur in long unburnt (more than 40 years since the last fire) coastal heathland; they can forage in, although not roost in, recently burnt habitat, but are not able to survive in areas that have been extensively or frequently burned (Burbidge et al. 2016). A single bushfire event in 2011 impacted about 30% of the known population (DPW 2014). In 2015, 90% of known occupied habitat was burned; contributing factors included long-term climatic changes, seasonal weather patterns and changes in farming practices. Huge increases in cropping area and a decrease in sheep numbers by up to 65% meant that fuel loads had increased, and the firebreaks created by grazed paddocks had often disappeared (Nous Group 2016). Further fires in 2016 burned adjacent to this habitat, and a bushfire in December 2020 burned through 49,000 ha of Cape Arid National Park/Nuytsland Nature Reserve, including 6,000 ha of known western ground parrot habitat (DBCA 2020). In addition to extensive and frequent bushfires, western ground parrots are at risk from habitat fragmentation, feral animals, habitat dieback from Phytophthora and climate change. Coastal south-west Western Australia is likely to experience significant changes to its climate in coming decades, and climate models are being deployed to provide information on the location of any potential translocation sites (Molloy et al. 2020).
The impacts of feral animals can inhibit community recovery after fire. Monitoring populations of 2 native rodents in the Kimberley, Leahy et al. (2016) showed that mortality after bushfires was primarily due to increased predation as a result of loss of groundcover. Birds of prey, snakes, cats and dingoes were implicated. The detailed fieldwork in this study supported a meta-analysis comparing declines of native rodents in northern and southern Australia, and predation pressure from feral cats and red foxes associated with loss of cover for shelter, nesting and foraging due to grazing and fire (Lawes et al. 2015).
Indigenous fire management
Indigenous peoples have practised caring for Country, which has included the use of fire, for more than 65,000 years (Clarkson et al. 2017). Caring for Country is much more than using fire – it is a vast array of interconnected practices and relationships that are reciprocal in both tangible and intangible ways (Pascoe 2014). These practices are learned and regenerated through observation, interaction, ritual and storytelling, which helps to ground people in a sense of connection and awareness that we all come from, and are always a part of, Country. By being present with purpose and learning with Country, people can better understand their roles, relationships and responsibilities to Country.
Fire management is a foundational caring for Country role that Indigenous people have developed to take responsibility for their Country. Fire has its own lifeforce, which has shaped landscapes and biota for millennia. Fire has significant cultural values for First Nations people all over the world. Fire practices go well beyond landscape stewardship; fire is a key element in many traditional and contemporary gatherings, food preparation, arts, crafts, customs, ceremonies and industries. Fire is one of the most critical elemental technologies humans have learned to harness. Fire combustion technology has shaped all traditional and modern societies, industries and economies in significant ways and continues to provide opportunities for growth.
Bushfires include all types of fires in the bush – prescribed burns for weed control, cultural burns, fuel reduction burns and wildfires. Wildfires are bushfires that are out of control, whether they are managed fires that have escaped control or fires that were not lit deliberately.
Bushfires in general are seen as ‘bad’ fire to many people across the world because of the very destructive impacts of extreme fires, but not all bushfires are bad. In fact, if bushfires occur at times and in ways that suit the values of that Country, they can have positive impacts on flora and fauna. In many instances, the existence of biota and cultural values is somewhat or fully dependent on favourable fire regimes to either create crucial phases of lifecycles, such as breaking seed dormancy, or reduce the impacts of bushfire or other threats such as weeds and erosion.
Even out-of-control wildfires may have benefits to some species where the fire burns in a way that suits them. This is how and why Indigenous people learned to use, and continue to use, fire to look after Country. The old people learned to become custodians of cultural fire to enable more healthy fire regimes. Instead of suffering the uncertainty of less productive and more destructive naturally occurring fire regimes, they deliberately burned to increase abundance, and protect key cultural and natural values in different Country and ecosystems. This also helped to reduce the occurrence and negative impacts of wildfires. Many Indigenous people know this, and that is why they seek to burn or avoid fire in different places on Country as best they can. Indigenous people have also learned that not all Country needs or likes fire; some Country requires less or no fire at all. The old people saw as we see today the positive and negative impacts of different fire regimes and practices on different places, species and Country. Burning is not all about reducing fuel loads, but it does reduce impacts of fires at times and in places where they will do the most damage.
Many Indigenous people do not believe in the concept of taming Country or wildness, or that Country is better wild. Many Indigenous people feel that their connection and responsibilities to care for Country have tangible and intangible relationships of practices; when these practices are not maintained, Country can become sick and angry. This is when we see extreme events and bad things happen to people and Country. Indigenous people can feel ignored by western concepts of Country being tamed or left to be wilderness and may feel that this is abusing Country, which they may feel deserves to be recognised, respected and cared for as kin.
As we saw in the 2019–20 extreme wildfires, and many times before, inappropriate fire regimes can destroy or impact many Indigenous ecocultural values, including culturally significant ecologies, species, places and heritage values. Indigenous fire practices are very diverse and reflect people’s connections to Country. People’s cultural connections to Country are vast and complex in the same way flora, fauna and ecosystems are diverse across their Country. Community cultural values and relationships between seasons, weather, flora, fauna, ecosystems, kinship lore, resources and biodiversity have guided people’s use of fire or active exclusion of fire (sometimes or always). People learned these relationship as they moved through and engaged in Country, based on indicators of health and change. These indicators can help inform knowledge holders on what Country needs to flourish or heal. Fire used in the right way can increase and protect the diversity and abundance of key ecologically and culturally significant species and places (see Figure 13), while also improving landscape resilience and safety (Maclean et al. 2018a, Weir et al. 2020). Not applying the right fire to Country can have negative impacts on the environment, as well as disturbing traditional burning regimes.
Caring for Country with fire
Indigenous people depend on Country for their identity, survival and wellbeing. People have a responsibility to care for Country as it has cared for us and provides all that we have. Indigenous people’s relationships with fire in the landscape have evolved over thousands of years of observation and practice, and are critical in caring for Country (Gammage 2011). People learned to walk with and hone the use of fire as a cultural responsibility. Fire became a principal way for people to manage vegetation for food, medicine and fibre in various types of Country (Cahir et al. 2016). Well-established lore and practice were in place to manage the landscape, including with fire, before the first settlers arrived:
Through traditional lore and the practical application of fire and various cultural practices land and waters were sustained, regenerated and protected for our natural and cultural values. The Country was cared for, with crystal clear waters weaving across the landscape, laced by wetlands, savannas, woodlands, forests, rainforests, grasslands and heathlands. Healthy ecosystems provided plenty of clean water and abundant foods, medicines and fibres for people. (Oliver Costello, Bundjalung man)
Colonisation by Europeans disrupted Indigenous caring for Country, and colonial land management practices were in contravention of traditional lore and customs. Aside from some limited records by early settlers and explorers, traditional practices, including practices of fire management, were largely misunderstood or went unnoticed by most of the colonial immigrants (Pascoe 2014). The disturbance of traditional landcare and fire practices led to more destructive bushfires (King 1963, Darug et al. 2019). This has been the dominant story of fire management in much of Australia for more than 200 years (Bourke et al. 2020).
Indigenous cultural fire management has been sustained or revived by Traditional Custodians of fire in many areas across the continent, and a strong push for revival of these practices has been seen in many areas of south-eastern Australia (McKemey 2020b). At the same time, the devastation of the 2019–20 bushfires has prompted reassessment of current strategies and a search for alternatives to prevent future bushfire disasters. As current management systems are challenged to respond to the changing nature of fire in Australia, including the exacerbating impacts of human-induced climate change, ancient practices of management are being recognised as viable alternatives to be reinstated (Williamson 2021). Indigenous cultural fire management is a dynamic practice that continues today, and could be applied continent-wide, given the opportunity to continue or re-establish Indigenous cultural landcare practices.
Statutory authorities in many parts of the country have given little support for the use of Indigenous burning methods and practices to manage fire risk – these are often viewed as having very little value. Other complex issues arise, such as managing risk and liability concerns. Despite this, many Indigenous groups are asserting their rights, and building their capacity and capabilities to burn their Country to protect their cultural and environmental knowledge and assets. For example, recommendations in the Victorian Government’s 2019–20 Fire Season Inquiry (IGEM-Vic 2020) highlighted the will and want of the Indigenous and broader community to use traditional fire management to reduce fuel loads and care for Country.
It is important to understand that fire management is not all about using fire. Many activities that people and other species can do to care for Country can also influence bushfires. Cultural practices and their outcomes, such as walking, can leave long, cleared pathways. Harvesting plants can reduce fuels, and promoting animals that eat grass or leaves can keep Country healthy and reduce bushfire risks. Plants and animals have evolved fire relationships that can promote or suppress bushfire. Many ground-dwelling animals leave pathways, or dig and spread soil and surface litter, which breaks up, composts or reduces flammable ground fuels. Herbivores – in particular, macropods such as kangaroos – can reduce fuel by eating plants, so burning and hunting regimes can be integrated to support healthy populations to produce food and reduce bushfire risk.
Benefits of cultural burning
Whereas most contemporary fire management practices are primarily focused on fuel management for hazard abatement, cultural burning extends far beyond this to incorporate a range of important ecological, cultural and community values and objectives. There are significant ecological and cultural benefits where Indigenous communities have been able to sustain or renew cultural responsibilities on Country (Ens et al. 2016, Pert et al. 2020) (see the Indigenous chapter).
Biodiversity and conservation benefits associated with cultural fire include exotic weed management; biodiversity promotion; native species regeneration; and decreased incidence of bushfire to protect threatened species and ecologies, and safeguard important habitat such as rainforests, deserts and Ramsar wetlands (Bird et al. 2008, Maclean et al. 2018a, Darug et al. 2019) (see the Biodiversity chapter). Indigenous fire management conducted early in the fire season in northern Australia can also help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing the likelihood, severity and extent of more destructive bushfires that result in more significant emissions in the late fire season (see the Climate chapter).
Cultural burning practices are about looking after Country to keep it and people healthy. Healthy Country supports healthy people through cultural reinvigoration, intergenerational knowledge transfer, connection to Country for Indigenous wellbeing (see the Indigenous chapter), and intercultural engagement and learning (Smith et al. 2018, Darug et al. 2019, McKemey et al. 2019). Youth and community on Country engagement is an important way of sharing knowledge and aspirations to achieve healthy people and Country (see case study: Cultural burning for resilience – an immersive Aboriginal youth workshop).
Cultural fire practices should be led by knowledge holders who know where, when and how to burn, and have appropriate cultural authority for that place, to maintain authenticity and cultural integrity of the practice (see case study: Bagia narway gabun buridja, ‘learn today from yesterday for a better tomorrow’ – Noel Butler). Cultural fire practices create a mosaic of carefully burnt patches across the landscape, responding to the particular cultural values and indicators of the different species and Country types (cultural ecosystems). A key cultural ecosystem is the grassy cultural pathways that symbolise the importance of maintaining access to traditional pathways and the role of fire in connecting people to Country (see Figure 14). Cultural values and indicators reflect the cultural and natural features, values and processes of a cultural group’s relationships to a particular Country. These indicators are specific to particular ecosystems, places, species, vegetation, soils, climate and weather conditions. They relate to a cultural group’s identity, knowledge, practices, heritage, resources, society, environment, economy and spiritual beliefs. Indigenous fire practices incorporate an interconnected web of these systems, and the use of fire and caring for Country practices is specific to the ecology and totemic and cultural values of each place and community (see case study: Fire management of spinifex grasslands).
Fire management and monitoring policies and practices therefore need to consider the impacts on Indigenous values and cultural heritage (see case study: Partnerships between researchers, Traditional Owners and practitioners to manage the Carlisle Heath). Sites, places and species will often have particular values for food, materials, medicines, totems or ceremony, or might be important indicators for Country and seasons (Standley 2019, Steffensen 2020).
There is significant opportunity to develop resource management and assessment frameworks to better enable Indigenous people to implement traditional and contemporary cultural land management practices to improve protection and restoration of culturally significant species, places, heritage and values on their Country (see case study: Impacts of the 2019–20 bushfires on the Gondwana Rainforests of Australia World Heritage Area and the benefits of restoring traditional fire regimes):
Country teaches as Lore and provides all that we have, but this relationship needs to be reciprocal – we need to give back to and care for Country. While Country has a long time to create and recreate within evolving natural and cultural systems and will endure, many species including humans must adapt and evolve within these systems or will perish during disturbance and change. Now is the time for people to wake up from their own dream and learn to share in the dreaming of Country. (Oliver Costello, Bundjalung man)
Lessons from the Black Summer bushfires for Indigenous engagement in land management
The historical and ongoing impacts of mismanagement of Country in many parts of Australia have led to vast areas of unhealthy Country and inappropriate fire regimes. Fire, Country and people have evolved complex and reciprocal relationships for thousands of years, but, during the past 200 years, these relationships have been disturbed across the majority of the continent. Displacement of Indigenous stewardship through colonisation of Country, along with land clearing, land-use change and altered fire regimes, have created sick Country with high fuel loads and extreme bushfire risk in many areas.
The 2019–20 bushfires were some of the most widespread and destructive fires seen in the nation’s history. The fires affected significant cultural and natural landscapes with critical habitats, conservation reserves and World Heritage Areas, including more than 80% of the Greater Blue Mountains and more than 50% of Australia’s Gondwana rainforests in New South Wales and Queensland. These fires damaged many sites of Indigenous and archaeological significance; impacts included loss of, or damage to, culturally modified trees, sandstone grinding grooves and engraved art (AAA 2020, Pickrell 2020). The estimated loss of 1 billion animals and damage to significant ecologies also has important ecocultural implications (Dickman et al. 2020).
The 2019–20 bushfires were a significant warning, but also present an opportunity for change in land, fire and climate policy and practice. The fires could be a lesson on the need to rethink and change the way we manage and care for Country. The timeframes associated with projected climate trajectories suggest that the exacerbating impacts of climate change for bushfires in Australia will likely be a factor in future fire seasons (CSIRO 2020) (see the Climate chapter). Significant action is required to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and recapture carbon, while also developing measures to mitigate the impacts of extreme events exacerbated by climate change.
Notwithstanding the extreme climatic conditions, these bushfires and others in recent decades were exacerbated by a lack of appropriate fire regimes, which can create higher elevated fuel loads due to impacts on vegetation composition and forest structure (Williams et al. 2020). They emphasise the important role that cultural burning could play in bushfire management and hazard reduction, and highlight the need to empower Indigenous communities to sustain and revitalise traditional fire practices (CSIRO 2020). Cultural burning knowledge and practices, and cultural values of Country could play a significant long-term role in supporting recovery, restoration and resilience (Morrison 2020, Ridges et al. 2020).
However, greater support and resourcing is needed. The independent inquiry into the New South Wales experience of the 2019–20 summer bushfires revealed that insufficient support has been given to help Aboriginal people pursue cultural land management practices, including the use of cultural fire (Williamson 2021).
Effective fire management is also required in the highly flammable, sparsely populated northern half of Australia. Arguably one of the world’s most extensive fire management programs, the tropical savannas on average account for 70% of the area affected by fire each year. Their management is based on, and often carried out by, Indigenous rangers working for community-based groups and drawing on generations of traditional knowledge (Fisher & Altman 2020). Together with the central Australian rangelands, the tropical savannas require detailed ecological understanding to ensure that deliberate or prescribed burning is applied at appropriate times to support and not disrupt biological and ecological cycles.
To achieve adequate prescribed burning, increased coordination is required between fire management networks incorporating Indigenous ranger groups, remote communities, and other landholders and management agencies (Russell-Smith et al. 2020). Incorporation of the savanna-burning methodology for emissions reduction into the Australian Government’s Emissions Reduction Fund market has provided a financial incentive to support on-ground actions. Part of the success of this approach has been a significant decrease in the number and extent of uncontrolled, late dry-season bushfires (see case study: Savanna burning).
The consequences of extreme events on the Australian environment are mixed, with climate change and many floods having a negative impact but other events positive effects or not changing. However, the impacts of most extreme events are increasing as they become more frequent and severe with climate change.
Related to United Nations Sustainable Development Goal target 15.3
We are already seeing the effects of climate change, and these generally lead to a reduction in environmental quality – that is, in the functioning of the natural environment or the resilience of the built environment.
Our infrastructure is built to accommodate statistically likely events. Our communities and industries are reasonably prepared for cyclones and storms. Increasing storm intensity or frequency, or extended distribution, may disrupt existing approaches.
Natural systems may not be resilient to increasing frequency of high-intensity storms.
Floods recharge some groundwater systems and stimulate environmental responses. Inhabiting floodplains puts communities and industries at risk of inundation.
Heatwaves currently cause short-term impacts in natural systems and can be ameliorated in many modified systems.
Some natural systems and wildlife are affected by heatwaves and have limited time or capacity to adapt.
Bushfires serve to clean and regenerate Country, within bounds of intensity, frequency and extent.
Permanent buildings, infrastructure and agriculture are poorly adapted to bushfire risk.