The Applied Bushfire Science Program addresses key recommendations from the 2020 NSW Bushfire Inquiry relating to ecosystems, recognition of Aboriginal cultural knowledge, and impacts of fire on Aboriginal cultural values. The program also advances New South Wales's capacity to lead critical bushfire research.
The NSW Bushfire Inquiry was established after the 2019–20 Black Summer when 11,774 bushfires were recorded over 9 months. The area burnt was 4 times larger than previously recorded, covering 5.52 million hectares or 7% of NSW land.
The Inquiry made 76 recommendations, of which recommendations 3, 5, 19, 26 and 36 are directly relevant to the Applied Bushfire Science Program.
A team of Applied Bushfire Science Program scientists is working with partners to respond to 5 key recommendations of the 2019–20 NSW Bushfire Inquiry.
The scientists work within the department, which is responsible for bushfire research and response to Bushfire Inquiry recommendation 36:
- Recommendation 36 – Long-term ecosystem and land management monitoring/modelling, improved understanding of ecosystem health and impact of bushfire disturbances.
The department also contributes to the following recommendations:
- Recommendation 3 – Developing national fire databases, evaluating fire suppression and hazard reduction, improved understanding of climate/weather trends and fire regimes.
- Recommendation 5 – Establishing a centre of excellence for bushfire research, technology development and commercialisation.
- Recommendation 19 –– Quantifying bushfire risk/residual risk and increased research to inform more effective bushfire risk management planning.
- Recommendation 26 – Adopting a coordinated approach to the integration of Aboriginal land management practices into bushfire programs.
The program is updating the ecological research and guidelines that directly influence fire planning and policy. An important focus includes establishing a central point of information for managing fire risk for native plants, animals and Aboriginal cultural values across the state.
It also includes collecting foundational data to better manage fire risk for environmental and cultural values, informed by science and knowledge.
The program is working with Aboriginal knowledge holders to understand fire impacts on cultural values and empower Aboriginal peoples' input to the fire planning process.
A team of department scientists has begun to seek input from colleagues across government, research and private sectors, environmental groups, citizen scientists, and Aboriginal communities. Together, they will build an understanding of existing data on species' responses and cultural values to fire and identify knowledge gaps.
They have begun gathering information and establishing case studies to support evidence-informed prescribed fire mitigation strategies, backed by adaptive monitoring. This includes reviewing and improving existing tolerable fire intervals – the burn frequency limits applied across New South Wales to conserve biodiversity and, in particular, to minimise risks to threatened species.
Research will help answer important questions for land managers and custodians. Examples include:
- What fire management regime is best for a particular species?
- How can we best manage fire risk in relation to cultural values?
Where questions cannot be answered with existing data, the program will conduct research to fill knowledge gaps and guide land managers on how to establish their fire management activities to feed new data into the framework
