2020 North Australia Savanna Fire Forum Releases Final Report

The 2020 Northern Australian Savanna Fire Forum took place at Charles Darwin University, Darwin, Australia, 13 and 14 February 2020, attended by nearly 400 people. The Forum has now released the 2020 Forum Final Report, available here.

Several members of the ISFMI team attended the forum, alongside members of the ISFMI Advisory Committee. The ISFMI facilitated and made key note presentations to the Plenary season on the second day, ‘Fire Management on the World Stage’. Within the session, Ranger Robin Dann, Wunggurr Head Ranger shared his experience of traveling to Botswana for the May 2019 Cultural Fire Exchange through screening his video journal. For the first time the forum had a women’s only session ‘Fire Stories Talking Circle’, including to discuss a potential role for women rangers in supporting dialogues that share the Australian experience overseas.

The Report describes the sessions, feedback received and identifies the 11 key lessons of the Forum, as follows:

1. Indigenous fire managers are collaborating with scientists, conservation groups and government agencies to lead world’s best practice savanna fire management across north Australia. The strong collaboration across the savanna fire management industry remains a cornerstone of its success.

2. We all seek to continuously improve fire management across Australia and the world by working together to learn from each other.

3. Listening to Traditional Owners and supporting the capacity of Indigenous groups to manage fire is critical to ensuring fire management programs are successful.

4. Women have an important role to play as fire managers and should be included in fire management planning, research and practice. Indigenous women ranger networks are forming across north Australia to support this.

5. Climate change presents a risk to fire managers and fire programs as more extreme heat events and higher average temperatures drive worsening fire weather.

6. Collecting evidence to show the impact of fire management upon biodiversity that is scientifically rigorous is complex, expensive and intensive, but scientists can support this by working together with Traditional Owners to ensure traditional knowledge and cultural protocols are properly recognized.

7. Resourcing Indigenous-led scientific research and tools such as the NAFI Fire North website is critical to measuring the success of fire management and monitoring outcomes. Peer-to-peer training between different Indigenous ranger groups provides an opportunity to share understanding and build the capacity of rangers.

8. There are diverse and significant challenges in managing fire on such vast areas of land in very remote areas, however the carbon industry offers opportunities to offset the cost of fire management and potentially generate other benefits for communities through savanna carbon farming.

9. There are some common misconceptions about savanna carbon farming – it is important that we all strive to increase awareness so that our conversations are properly informed. The carbon market is complex which can make it difficult to understand or access, however there are a range of communication tools and best practice standards which can assist. It is important to understand what the costs, benefits, risks and opportunities are, as well as your rights and responsibilities.

10. Savanna fire management is currently under valued in dollar terms, but by demonstrating the benefits of your work and linking these to an established framework, you can attract investment to support your fire program.

11. The savanna fire management industry is strong and growing, as demonstrated by the huge level of interest in this forum.