The Guardian ‘Right fire for right future: how cultural burning can protect Australia from catastrophic blazes’

Lorena Allam speaks with the Indigenous Firesticks Alliance, the Kimberley Land Council and the Darwin Centre for Bushfire research on how ‘right’ fire is fire tailored to local species and conditions, and the potential role of cultural burning in Southern Australia is light of its current wildfire catastrophe.

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‘ “This is a time bomb ticking now because all that canopy has been wiped out,” says Oliver Costello of the national Indigenous Firesticks Alliance.

“A lot of areas will end up regenerating really strongly, but they’ll return in the wrong way. We’ll end up with the wrong species compositions and balance.” ‘

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‘ “Small-scale burns at the right times of year and in the right places can minimise the risk of big wildfires in drier times, and are important for the health and regeneration of particular plants and animals.

Different species relate to fire in different ways, Costello explains. Wombats, for example, dig burrows to escape, while koalas climb into the canopy.

“When you understand the fire relationships they have, their own fire culture, then you are really applying the right fire for that culture so that you’re supporting the identity of that place.” ’