Fire as an environmental remedy for bushland? At first look, it seems a counter-intuitive notion, especially in a land so determined, for good reasons, to prevent fire in its cities and countryside. But the idea that the right kind of fire at the right time might help rehabilitate “sick” country, get rid of weed pests and promote healthy growth of vegetation – well, it’s catching on. Traditional indigenous use of fire as a land management tool – looking after country – is increasingly informing land management practices by governments, farmers and environmentalists.
But it hasn’t been an easy journey. A decade or so ago, suggestions that indigenous Australians might be on to something were met with indifference, even open hostility. But indigenous fire practitioners were making a persuasive, some say, a compelling case. Fire, they say, is an essential ingredient in the health of the Australian bush – but that’s not a one size fits all prescription. If you’re going to burn a bit of country, you have to use the right kind of fire at the right time, and have a very clear goal in mind.
Today, the sixthIndigenous Fire Workshop gets underway on Cape York Peninsula. People have come from all over Australia to walk the country- it’s Taepithiggi country – and learn from traditional owners and fire practitioners. How to read the land, the animals, trees, the seasons, and talk about the cultural responsibility of looking after country for future generations.
Victor Steffensen is an indigenous fire practitioner based in Cairns, and a director of Mulong, the company supporting the fire workshop. Victor talks about the many ways indigenous people use fire, and how their traditional knowledge increasingly informs non-indigenous land management.
LISTEN
Comments Off on THE 6th INDIGENOUS FIRE WORKSHOP GETS UNDERWAY ON CAPE YORK PENINSULA
FNQ bushfire – our fire season comes toward the end of the dry season
Our friends down south are often surprised to learn we have a bushfire season here in far north Queensland. It happens earlier than the southern Australian fire season, which is usually at the height of summer. That’s when our wet season is in full swing, so fire isn’t much of a problem then. But the wet helps a huge amount of vegetation to flourish, and when the wet ends, we get six months of mostly dry weather. By September or October, it’s tinder dry and is easily ignited – sometimes by lightning strike, or human activity. Major wild fires ensue – in more remote areas they can burn for weeks.
Burnt out country Etheridge Shire FNQ – fires late in 2012 caused major damage – pic by Charlie McKillop
The 2012 fire season was a shocker in the Gulf country, the area stretching inland from south-east and southern shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria. About 20 pastoral stations and millions of hectares were burnt in out of control fires. Cattle properties lost stock and pasture, and regrowth without good rain will be less than required. This has re-ignited discussion about how we manage fire, reduce fire risk, and how & when we conduct hazard reduction burns.
Indigenous people in FNQ have long used fire as an environmental management tool, and there’s growing support for fire management strategies which draw on that traditional knowledge of country. A central part of that knowledge and practice is the ability to “read country” – to see the signs that indicate the right time to conduct hazard reduction burns. Cape York indigenous people generally advocate burning earlier, when the burn can be cooler – addressing the problem without causing undue damage.
A group of people from Cape York Peninsula is heading south tomorrow to share their knowledge with emergency responders and indigenous people in Victoria. This is part of a broader project to record and preserve indigenous knowledge that began in Cape York in 2004. It’s led to a national exchange of indigenous fire management knowledge – you can watch a video about the project here http://vimeo.com/60707802
LISTEN Click on the red arrow to hear program manager Peta-Marie Standley & Joel Ngallametta, Sharon Ngallametta and Dawn Koondumbin talk about their trip to Victoria, and the importance of fire management as a land conservation and environmental protection measure. Joel begins by talking about how the country round Aurukun is now – at the end of the wet season
LEFT TO RIGHT DAWN, SHARON, PETA AND JOEL ON AIR AT ABC FAR NORTH
Comments Off on VICTORIA TO LEARN FROM CAPE YORK TRADITIONAL FIRE KNOWLEDGE
FNQ bushfire – our fire season comes toward the end of the dry season
It surprises a lot of people from southern Australia that far north Queensland has a bushfire season. But the popular image of a lush wet tropical zone is only true for some of our region some of the time. When it rains up here, it seems like it may never stop, but when it’s dry, all the vegetation that flourished during the wet makes a dangerous fuel load waiting for a lightning strike or human intervention to trigger a major wild fire.
Our fire season comes earlier than down south — where bushfires occur during the summer months. In FNQ, fires begin towards the end of the dry season, from late September through to the beginning of the next wet season at the end of the year. The 2012 fire season was a shocker in the Gulf country, the area stretching inland from south-east and southern shores of the Gulf of Carpentaria. About 20 pastoral stations and millions of hectares were burnt in out of control fires, and the current wet season has been a non-event in the Gulf country. Cattle properties lost stock and pasture, and regrowth without good rain will be less than required.
Wild fires have been part of the seasonal cycle in far north Queensland for thousands of years, but with population growth in the past 100 years, new pressures and risk factors have developed. And there’s been growing debate about how to manage fire, how and when to conduct hazard reduction burns, and how to use fire to manage weeds and other invasive plant species. Indigenous people in FNQ have long used fire as an environmental management tool, and many argue our fire management strategies should draw on that traditional knowledge of country.
Today, new fire management guidelines were launched at Burketown that draw on indigenous local knowledge and best-practice modern science. The Gulf Savannah Fire Management Guidelines are a first, developed by the Carpentaria Land Council Aboriginal Corporation, Reef Catchments and the Rural Fire Service.
“We want to extend a hand to all other landholders in the region and say ‘Let’s work together to manage fire’ says Gangalidda Garawa senior ranger Terrence Taylor. The Gangalidda coast line is in the Southern Gulf of Carpentaria, with the main community at Doomadgee – home to about 2000 traditional people. The new guidelines provide an easy to use technical guide for all of the prescribed burning that rangers undertake in the Gulf country.
AUDIO Click on the red arrow to hear Terrence Taylor explain the new guide-lines, and how control burns should be earlier in the year. Terrence also talks about how you can tell what sort of a wet season it will be by watching where female crocodiles build their nests.
These pictures of fire damage were taken on the road to Abingdon Downs Station – 100 kms north of Georgetown – where more than 400,000 hectares of grazing land was burnt out in December (about 90 per cent of the property). Northern Gulf NRM Group has released a report on the Etheridge Shire wildfires indicating more than five million hectares were burned out, at a cost of $10 million. Many of the 20 graziers whose properties were completely or partially burnt out will be debriefing with the QFRS about the response to the fires, which challenged conventional thinking on fire as a land management tool, fire prevention, suppression and infrastructure at the 3rd Northern Gulf Graziers Forum in Mount Surprise next Tuesday. Tune in to ABC Far North then to hear Charlie McKillop reporting. 6.15 Tuesday morning.
Comments Off on TRADITIONAL KNOWLEDGE AND SCIENCE COMBINE TO MANAGE FIRE IN QUEENSLAND GULF COUNTRY
Today, the sixth Indigenous Fire Workshop gets underway on Cape York Peninsula. People have come from all over Australia to walk the country- it’s Taepithiggi country – and learn from traditional owners and fire practitioners. How to read the land, the animals, trees, the seasons, and talk about the cultural responsibility of looking after country for future generations.
The Mojowire 