Tinderbox careers9/12/2023 ![]() ![]() Until the 1970s, many settler farmers observed and mimicked the practice of cultural burning. These neglected areas have become much more woody and, as a result, much more fire prone. Much of it was further cleared for agriculture, while “less desirable” land was essentially neglected or viewed as a sources of timber. This open Country was deemed desirable land. Indeed, most agricultural areas in the southeast today occur on Country that was already open and grassy because of the application of fire over millennia. Settler farmers in southeast Australia capitalised on the systematic, fine-grained and diverse set of ways Aboriginal people applied fire to Country. This includes increased biodiversity, fewer catastrophic bushfires, productive lands and waters, and a safe home for people and other occupants of Country. It has both immediate and cumulative impacts on Country. It is regulated by strict spiritual, cultural and pragmatic protocols. It is a sophisticated and diverse system dictated by an intimate and reciprocal relationship with Country.Īboriginal care for Country promotes a safe, productive and predicable world. ![]() In contrast to hazard reduction burning, cultural burning is not a homogeneous application of fire designed simply to keep fuel loads low. Prior to British invasion, caring for Country led to diverse territories comprised of all the things people needed for themselves or for trade. There are different kinds of cultural fire practices guided by Lore applicable across Victoria’s Countries. The Victorian Traditional Owner Cultural Fire Strategy eloquently captures what cultural burning is:Ĭultural Burning is Right Fire, Right Time, Right Way and for the right (cultural) reasons according to Lore. The principal (but not only) tool for caring for Country is fire - a process now referred to as cultural burning. ![]() Each mob care for Country according to their own laws and philosophies. Cultural burning as caring for CountryĪboriginal people make use of all kinds of vegetation, from closed forest to treeless grasslands, from freshwater to sea Country. This creates the conditions in which climate-driven bushfires become megafires, devastating Country and people’s lives. The prolonged neglect of southeast Australian forests under the guise of conservation means our forests now carry dangerous levels of fuels. It was only after this prohibition on burning that catastrophic bushfires became an issue in the Buchan area. As a result, the amount of flammable trees and shrubs exploded in the region. This legislation banned farmers from mimicking Aboriginal burning practices by using frequent fires to promote grass for livestock. We found no bushfires burned there for almost a century until the mid 1970s, following the establishment of the Land Conservation Act of 1970 – legislation that sought to protect the Australian bush from humans. We investigated the bushfire history of one of the worst hit areas: Buchan on Gunaikurnai Country in Victoria. ![]() Our new research demonstrates how the scale of this disaster blew out due to legislation introduced in the 1970s, which was based on idea that nature should be left to grow freely without human intervention. Southeast Australia’s bushfire crisis culminated in the devastating bushfire season of 20 that burnt nearly 25 million hectares of bush. ![]()
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