Indigenous Cultural Burning Could Mitigate Australian Bushfire Risk, Study Suggests

Restoring Indigenous cultural burning practices may be crucial in mitigating the risk of catastrophic bushfires in Australia's southeast forests, according to a new study from the University of Melbourne. The research, published Thursday, reconstructs the past thousand years of environmental changes in Victoria's Croajingolong National Park, a region highly susceptible to fires.

The study's findings challenge the notion that long-term environmental shifts are solely attributable to climate change. Instead, researchers propose that colonial land use practices have played a significant role in exacerbating fire risks. Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher, the lead author, stated that while periods of dangerous fire weather have historically occurred, the landscape, maintained by Indigenous cultural burning, was protected from widespread destruction.

"When colonisation ended that care, the forest expanded and thickened across the region, loading the landscape with fuel. It is that transformation that has handed control of fire to climate," Fletcher explained. He noted that before colonial disruption, Indigenous peoples managed the land with fire as an integral part of daily life, maintaining an open landscape and preventing the buildup of fuel.

The research was prompted by the devastating 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires, which impacted over 1.5 million hectares in Victoria and resulted in fatalities. The study involved collaboration with several Aboriginal communities and focused on ecological changes in wetlands, lakes, and forests.

A conceptual model developed by the researchers, termed a 'catastrophic fire loop,' appears to be affecting multiple areas in southeast Australia. This loop, according to the study, begins with land use changes following the disruption of Indigenous land management. The subsequent increase in shrubs, due to the absence of regular, low-intensity cultural fires, leads to hotter fires. These hotter fires then promote the growth and thickening of eucalyptus forests, further increasing fuel loads and perpetuating a cycle now largely driven by climate change.

The paper advocates for the restoration of cultural burning practices and greater support for Traditional Owners in their role of caring for country as vital steps in reducing fire hazards. Uncle Russell Mullett, a Gunaikurnai elder, emphasized the historical connection between his ancestors and fire management, stating, "Not treating country with towera, country becomes extremely dangerous for Gunaikurnai, animals and plants." He added that studies like this provide scientific validation for Indigenous land management initiatives.

Fletcher elaborated on the impact of colonial practices, stating, "You have a change in fire regime. You have hotter fires as shrubs increase in response to being let free from not having that continual low intensity fire."