Global fire focus on diversity, cultural burning and communities

The latest research and lessons learned around all things bushfire behaviour and fuels management was shared at the 6th International Fire Behaviour and Fuels Conference early this month. With sessions dedicated to Indigenous burning, community recovery, shared responsibility, women’s careers in fire and the new National Fire Danger Ratings System research prototype – the focus was clearly on the people. 

The International Association of Wildland Fire (IAWF) conference highlighted the interconnected nature of the global fire community with the conference taking place in three locations: Sydney, Australia; Marseille, France; and Alburquerque, United States. Sydney saw 337 delegates attend, not just from all Australian states and territories, but from 12 countries. 

Keynote Dr Neil Burrows, recently retired from the Western Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife, kicked off the program taking a deeper dive on the challenges of prescribed burning and addressing the questions raised after his address ‘Conflicting evidence’ at AFAC18 in Perth last year. This was followed by a panel that discussed the limits and the possibilities of science in this area. 

Anne Leadbeater, community recovery expert and Director of the Leadbeater Group, gave a keynote that drew attention to the importance of community continuity, and emphasised the role that fire practitioners and land managers can have in community recovery. Her talk was livestreamed to the concurrent conference in Marseille. 

CRC researcher Prof Jeremy Russell-Smith from Charles Darwin University provided a keynote in Sydney, which was livestreamed to the Albuquerque audience, speaking to his rich experience in fire ecology and land management in Australia’s northern savannas. Prof Russell-Smith shared the success of formally registered savanna burning projects, which have significant cultural and ecological benefits especially for Indigenous communities and are an approach that has potential for fire-prone savannas across the globe.  

In the cultural burning panel discussion to follow, Sydney heard how trust and two-way learning was essential to building effective partnerships between traditional land owners and agencies. Panellist Lesley Patterson, Banbai Aboriginal Elder and Ranger, Banbai Employment Development Aboriginal Corporation, shared how she learned to burn Country from her mother, who she described as being “a bit sneaky” in doing it despite not being allowed. The revival in cultural burning that the Banbai rangers of Wattleridge Indigenous Protected Area in northern New South Wales have undertaken is not only incredibly culturally important but has had significant benefits to flora and fauna populations in the area. 

A shared livestreamed panel discussion between Sydney and Albuquerque, titled ‘What happens when women thrive – a life and a career in fire’ saw two panels of prominent women from academic and operational backgrounds, at different stages of their lives, share their experiences of what helped or hindered their careers. While progress and mentors were acknowledged, the need for change persists: organisations were asked to better support breastfeeding mothers, and there were calls for us all to continue to work to bring unconscious bias into the light.  

The panel was a highlight of the conference for IAWF President Mr Alen Slijepcevic too, who said, “The words that come to mind are passion, caring, intelligence, clarity, thoughtfulness but also hurt, sacrifice, self-doubt. It taught us that we need to think more about our biases.” 

The three-day conference program in Sydney was complemented by two workshops and two fieldtrips.  

The workshop held at New South Wales Rural Fire Service doubled as a Research Advisory Forum for the CRC and AIDR’s Center of Excellence for Prescribed Burning, which brought together researchers, burning practitioners and planners to explore how the knowledge emerging from research across Australia is influencing our landscape management.  

The second workshop hosted by the Bureau of Meteorology, explored how the soon-to-be-launched ACCESS-CE, a high-resolution ensemble weather model, could help agencies plan for and manage fires. 

The conference wrapped up with two successful field trips – one focusing on the investigation of unseasonable fires, coordinated by the New South Wales Rural Fire Service, and the other explored iconic Blue Mountains fire management sites with the Office of Environment and Heritage New South Wales.  

The Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC was a lead partner with the IAWF in all three conferences, with the New South Wales Rural Fire Service and the Bureau of Meteorology major supporters in Sydney. 

Selected videos from the conference and presentations will be online soon.