Persuasion without policies: The work of reviving Indigenous peoples’ fire management in southern Australia

Smith, Will; Neale, Timothy; Weir, Jessica K

doi:10.1016/j.geoforum.2021.01.015

Cited by 36 publications

(25 citation statements)

References 33 publications

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“…Following recent catastrophic bushfires in southeast Australia, there has been renewed interest in reinstating traditional Aboriginal fire management practices to mitigate bushfire impacts on communities and the environment (e.g. Smith et al 2021). Where fire management on public land aims to create fine-scale fire mosaics, we see benefit in engaging traditional owners and incorporating their traditional fire management practices to achieve a range of conservation, community protection, social and cultural outcomes.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire mosaics in south-west Australian forest landscapes

Burrows¹,

Stephens

Wills³

et al. 2021

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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In fire-prone environments, prescribed burning is important for achieving many public land management objectives including protecting communities and the environment from damaging bushfires. There is evidence that in some biomes, reducing the size of burnt patches and creating a fine-scale mosaic of vegetation at different times since last fire (seral stages) may benefit biodiversity. However, planning and implementing an ongoing burning program to achieve this is problematic. To advance an understanding of the factors affecting burn patch size and seral diversity metrics, a novel experimental management trial that aimed to create and quantify a fine-scale fire mosaic was implemented in a south-west Australian forest landscape. The 10-year trial demonstrated that the fire mosaic characteristics, including diversity of seral stages, burnt patch size, patch distribution and patch connectedness, can be managed to a large extent by ignition frequency, which affects landscape fuel flammability, and the timing of the introduction of fire with respect to weather conditions. In this trial, the frequent introduction of fire under low to moderate Forest Fire Danger Indices resulted in a landscape comprising a quantifiably higher diversity of seral stages and smaller burnt patches than adjacent areas treated by fuel reduction prescribed burns and by a high intensity bushfire.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Fire mosaics in south-west Australian forest landscapes

Burrows¹,

Stephens

Wills³

et al. 2021

Int. J. Wildland Fire

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“…Contemporary Indigenous cultural fire management in southeast Australia is characterised by localised, Indigenous‐led grassroots movements (Maclean, et al . 2018; McKemey 2020; Smith & Neale 2021). There is substantial scope for expansion of Indigenous cultural fire management into larger, longer term programmes with ongoing resourcing, and to form partnerships with government agencies, non‐government organisations and universities (Weir & Neale 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘Right‐way’ science: reflections on co‐developing Indigenous and Western cross‐cultural knowledge to support Indigenous cultural fire management

McKemey¹,

Rangers²,

Rangers³

et al. 2022

Eco Management Restoration

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Contemporary Indigenous cultural fire management facilitates opportunities for Indigenous peoples to connect to and manage their Country, as well as providing scope for research. Right-way science is defined as collaborative process of bringing Indigenous and Western scientific knowledge and methods together to create ethical, productive and mutually beneficial research. Five key requirements of right-way science emerge from the literature, including: building relationships and trust; formal research approval processes; co-development of research; acknowledging challenges; and ethical, productive and mutually beneficial research. This article explores the question: how can right-way science enhance Indigenous cultural fire management? By reflecting on research collaborations between Western scientists and Indigenous ranger groups of New South Wales (Banbai) and the Northern Territory (Yugul Mangi), this paper, firstly, describes the methods we used to explore right-way science around cultural fire management. Secondly, it synthesises key findings of the research projects, including how we addressed the five key requirements of right-way science elicited from the literature. Thirdly, we provide insight on how right-way science can be applied more broadly to enhance Indigenous cultural fire management. We found that increasing opportunities for Indigenous peoples to care for their Country, supported by right-way science, places them in a unique position to contribute to solving some of the ongoing challenges and research questions associated with fire management. Western scientists have an important role to play, as supporters and followers of Indigenous research partners, and advocates of right-way science.

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“…This reciprocity is fundamental to the health, lives and livelihoods of Indigenous Australians, and reconnecting people to places through the lens of natural resource management has had significant and widespread social and cultural benefits [57] and significant environmental benefits [9,21,58,59]. With respect to fire, this philosophical underpinning is markedly different to the ethos of prescribed burning, which is narrowly focused around assets (such as property and population centres) and which still carries many of the ideas that underpin the outdated fire-suppression framework, as reflected in the paramilitary approach to fire "fighting" and fire use that has the central aim of reducing fire [60][61][62].…”

Section: Indigenous Fire Managementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Catastrophic Bushfires, Indigenous Fire Knowledge and Reframing Science in Southeast Australia

Fletcher

Romano

Connor

et al. 2021

Fire

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The catastrophic 2019/2020 Black Summer bushfires were the worst fire season in the recorded history of Southeast Australia. These bushfires were one of several recent global conflagrations across landscapes that are homelands of Indigenous peoples, homelands that were invaded and colonised by European nations over recent centuries. The subsequent suppression and cessation of Indigenous landscape management has had profound social and environmental impacts. The Black Summer bushfires have brought Indigenous cultural burning practices to the forefront as a potential management tool for mitigating climate-driven catastrophic bushfires in Australia. Here, we highlight new research that clearly demonstrates that Indigenous fire management in Southeast Australia produced radically different landscapes and fire regimes than what is presently considered “natural”. We highlight some barriers to the return of Indigenous fire management to Southeast Australian landscapes. We argue that to adequately address the potential for Indigenous fire management to inform policy and practice in managing Southeast Australian forest landscapes, scientific approaches must be decolonized and shift from post-hoc engagement with Indigenous people and perspectives to one of collaboration between Indigenous communities and scientists.

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Persuasion without policies: The work of reviving Indigenous peoples’ fire management in southern Australia

Cited by 36 publications

References 33 publications

Fire mosaics in south-west Australian forest landscapes

Fire mosaics in south-west Australian forest landscapes

‘Right‐way’ science: reflections on co‐developing Indigenous and Western cross‐cultural knowledge to support Indigenous cultural fire management

Catastrophic Bushfires, Indigenous Fire Knowledge and Reframing Science in Southeast Australia

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