Ballooning fuel loads are a threat to all
Did you know the seventh International Fire Behavior and Fuels Conference was held in Canberra this year?
I didn’t until recently, but it turns out this event not only had a large number of people attend but the wealth of knowledge on display was monumental.
More than 330 delegates, from all over Australia and overseas, attended the event that was live streamed nationally and internationally.
My colleague summarised this significant event best.
“The immense knowledge of all the delegates, from indigenous cultural land practices, generational (producer) knowledge, citizen science and academia, were in one room all at once with the common goal of managing our landscapes better,” my colleague said.
He had many key takeaways but one that staggered me was the mention of the 84 million hectares of northern Australia that burned in 2023; eight times bigger than the fires that scorched the country’s southeast during 2019-20.
One of the core triggers for this wildfire was large fuel loads and the conference highlighted new emerging AI technology attempting to tackle this main driver, and a variety of others, by measuring and calculating real time data.
Advancing technology will no doubt be a great addition to the toolbox, but what of our on-the-ground methods for land management?
Are we truly doing all we can to enhance how we utilise fire to prevent rather than control?
It is traumatic to hear of the aftermath of extreme wildfires across our country. The estimated wildlife toll from the 2019-20 fires in Australia’s southeast was in excess of 3 billion animals along with the major costs on environment, habitats, mental trauma, human life and assets. What a complete annihilation of ecosystems and species.
Bushfires in Victoria between 2003 and 2020 saw an estimated 3 million ha of mountainous bushland burned – not only a massive amount of environmental damage but a huge threat to agriculture and human life.
The cause of the fires cannot be solely blamed on a changing climate. About a third of the state is bush and managed by the Victorian government, the same government that is currently looking to cut more than 200 staff from its bushfire and forest services.
This comes on the back of a seemingly core focus of asset protection in fire management ethics in recent years, and an outline to reduce or alienate user groups that were enhancing fire prevention and control methods. Is this the best land management decision for the future?
The state’s largest landholder must be a responsible land steward.
Of the 8 million ha of public land, around 4 million is already locked up under the banners of national and state parks with restricted access.
Now there is a sudden rush to convert a further 440,000 ha of state forest into these special reserves while being debt ridden and slashing vital resources.
Victoria’s agricultural production is worth over $20b, crops in NSW are worth approximately $11.9b, and the cattle industry alone in northern Australia is worth between $4b and $5b.
We cannot afford to brush over land management strategies. Post-fire recovery takes decades, not years.
- Libbe Paton is a director at Future Farmers Network and a beef producer in the Mitta Valley, Vic