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The extremely destructive flooding that occurred in eastern Australia in the summer of 2021-22 is what will be remembered. However, western Tasmania was also experiencing extreme drought. Some areas received their Record low rainfall.
This drought fits an observed Drying trendThe state’s climate change situation will only worsen. This is very bad news for the ancient wilderness in the state’s World Heritage Area, where the lineage of some tree species stretch back 150 million years to the supercontinent Gondwana.
The trend of drying has been observed. Steady rise in bushfires ignited by lightning, imperilling the survival of Tasmania’s Gondwanan legacy, and raising Great fire management challenges. Indeed, climate change means we’re on a learning curve, and the usual practices of managing fire are no longer necessarily fit for purpose.
There is an increase in Scientific recognitionClimate change-driven fires could lead to the Gondanwan ecosystem’s collapse. A new draft fire management plan outlines key steps to ensure these iconic forests survive for decades to come – and it must receive dedicated funding.
Tasmania’s drought
Western Tasmania is one of Australia’s wettest regions, where average annual rainfall can exceed 3 metres. Cool temperatures, year-round rainfall, and complex topography have created fire refugia – landscapes naturally protected from fire. This is why western Tasmania is home to a suite of so-called “living fossils”, such as Huon pines and pencil pines.
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These relic species’ survival depends on a delicate balance. They can be found in small patches, surrounded by dense areas of highly flammable Australian vegetation like eucalypts, teatree, and, within the World Heritage area, the ubiquitous buttongrass moorland.
Cool climate and skillful, deliberate application of fire by Aboriginals have preserved unique trees for millennia. Some Gondwanan have experienced changes in their fire patterns since colonialism. Refugia for the collapse.
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Western Tasmania’s current drought is its worst in 40 years, despite the presence of La Niña – a natural climate phenomenon that brings cool, wet weather to parts of Australia. It has also been one Tasmania’s hottest summersRecord.
Fortunately, there have been very few lightning strikes that have caused bushfires in the past summer. Nevertheless, one of these fires was close to the equator. Last remaining standUnlogged Huon pine forests
To understand the level of risk to Tasmania’s World Heritage Area, we can look to bushfires in 2016 and 2019.Massive dry lightning storms sparked wildfires in remote wilderness areas, potentially threatening ecologically irreplaceable areas like the Walls of JerusalemAnd Mt. Anne.
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And let’s not forget, The largest fireIn the 2019-20 bushfire emergency, which threatened many Blue Mountains communities, a lightning strike occurred in a remote, rugged area.
The same applies to the devastation. Bushfires in 2003 CanberraLightning strikes in Namadgi National Parks and Kosciuszko caused the lightning strike.
There can be no doubt effective management of Tasmania’s wilderness will provide protection for nearby towns.
What does sustainable fire fighting look like?
It’s widely accepted among Australian fire management agencies and conservation groups that aerial firefighting is key to controlling remote bushfires. However, there are serious drawbacks to this approach.
The most important factors are the high cost of using an aircraft and the negative environmental impact. Firefighting chemicals. Certain firefighting chemicals, for example, can alter soil chemistry to favor weed invasion.
AAP Image/Tasmania Parks and Wildlife Service
Tasmania’s Wilderness World Heritage Area needs a sustainable fire managementapproach that involves and employs Aboriginal people. This would not only benefit Tasmania’s environment, but also allow Aboriginal Tasmanians to reconnect with cultural sites.
A sustainable approach is one that reduces the amount of large bushfires and intentionally burns fire to ecosystems or threatened species that are in danger. The critically endangered is an example. Orange bellied parrotIt needs to be surrounded by regularly-burned buttongrass moorland.
For this to work, we need to create carefully designed fuel breaks across the landscape – strips of land with less vegetation available to burn, which slows bushfires.
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Naturally, such planned burning must consider biodiversity, ensuring fire sensitive plants that can’t bounce back – such as pencil pines and alpine vegetation – are protected. However, it is important to continue to burn native plants that rely on fire for their regeneration.
Protecting biodiversity can be achieved through carefully implementing a practice called “mosaic” burning. This is where small areas of land are continuously burned to create a network of habitats that allows wildlife to have a variety of resources.
A well-designed landscape management system will allow managers to let some fires go unassisted, and not resort to costly aerial firefighting.
Those areas that have cultural and natural values internationally should be protected from bushfires. innovative usesprinklers to protect Lake Rhona’s shores
We are seeing more fire in the future
The current draft includes the following fire management methods fire management planFor the World Heritage Area. Realising its objectives will require dedicated, recurrent funding, without which the plan’s goals will remain aspirational.
What’s more, any fire management evaluation going forward must be publicly transparent to see continual improvement. It will also ensure there’s a broader community understanding of the need to make difficult decisions to adapt to climate change-driven bushfires.
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Photos taken in the field: Capturing the glory and heartbreak of Tasmania’s giant trees
The 2019-20 bushfire crisis, which shocked the world, has been overshadowed by other crises like the pandemic, flooding, or geopolitical turmoil.
Indeed, bushfires were believed to have disappeared after the soggy season in eastern Australia. They haven’t. The luxuriate growth from the La Niña is priming landscapes across eastern Australia to burn again.
We must remain focused on adapting to bushfires caused by climate change. With serious investment to protect Tasmania’s precious environment, the rest of Australia – and indeed other flammable wildernesses elsewhere in the world – can too learn how to sustainably manage increasingly devastating bushfires.
