- Title:
-
Prescribed Burning: How can it work to conserve the things that we value?
- Date:
- September 2008
- Organisations
- BCRC
- Authors:
- T. Penman, F. Christie, A. Andersen, R. Bradstock, G. Cary, M. Henderson, O. Price, C. Tran, G. Wardle, D. Williams, A. York
- Location:
- Australia, Australia
Overview
The International Bushfire Research Conference 2008 - incorporating The 15th annual AFAC Conference, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
Prescribed burning is a commonly applied management tool worldwide, primarily for human asset protection or enhancement of ecological assets. There has been considerable debate over the relative values of prescribed burning in both the scientific literature and the public domain. However, there have been few rigorous scientific studies that examine the efficacy of prescribed burning in controlling wildfires or enhancing/protecting the value of ecological assets. In this paper, we review the existing data relating to the effectiveness of prescribed burning in Australian systems.
These data suggest that given the current level of resources available, prescribed burning has limited value in affecting the total area ses of forest regeneration and food for indigenous communities. In the cases of ecological burning, the data are less clear. As a result, a number of States are currently developing ecologically-based fire adaptive management strategies, which develop and incorporate research findings. Currently, there are a number of cultural, political, social, and environmental factors, which prevent the implementation of better burning practices.
Improving our understanding of the roles and effectiveness of prescribed burning in Australian ecosystems is going to be of increasing importance, particualrly under the predicted climate change scenarios.
