To date, over 10 million hectares have been affected by the 2019-20 summer bushfires that have been raging across our nation. Early reports suggest the severe and devastating impacts to our wildlife, wilderness areas, agricultural industry and communities will be felt for many years to come and that recovery will require a massive collaborative effort from a multitude of stakeholders.

Estimates in excess of the loss of a billion animals have been reported widely in the media, and it is anticipated that many species may have become locally extinct, or pushed closer to extinction by these events. While the scale of the loss of species and habitat may not be fully known, and it is still to early to assess many areas, recovery programs will call on the support of NRM bodies, alongside multiple stakeholders.

Hundreds of thousands of hectares of productive forests and agricultural land has also been burnt, there are over 46,000 lost livestock, and many wine grape and horticulture crops in cool climates have been destroyed or tainted. More than 4,600 beehives have been destroyed with a further 23,000 suffering significant losses. The capacity of the agriculture sector to respond and recover from the bushfires has been compromised by ongoing drought conditions across Australia.

28 January – Science and Threatened Species Roundtable: Led by The Hon. Minister Sussan Ley,leading environmental and ecological scientists canvassed strategies on wildlife and habitat recovery in response to the summer’s bushfire crisis.

17 January – Bushfire Roundtable on Agriculture: Deputy Prime Minister the Hon Michael McCormack, Agriculture Minister Senator the Hon. Bridget McKenzie and Minister for Water Resources, Drought, Rural Finance, Natural Disaster and Emergency Management the Hon David Littleproud, met with agricultural industry leaders to discuss the impact of the bushfires and response and recovery. Industry representatives highlighted the upcoming key risks and shared ideas on assistance for the successful recovery of their industries in the fire-affected regions.

15 January – Bushfire Recovery Roundtables: Led by The Hon. Minister Sussan Ley, the first of two roundtables was held on January 15 for conservation groups and NGOs. On January 20, a second roundtable was held that bought together experts in land management, indigenous cultural burning, bush regeneration, marine ecosystems and farming from across Australia came together to discuss ecosystem restoration. NRM Regions were present at both sessions.

14 January – Emergency funding announced: Federal Government announces $100 million in emergency bushfire funding for farm, fish and forestry businesses in fire-affected regions, including the $75,000 grants, off-farm income exemptions and $15 million to fund 60 additional rural financial counsellors and support workers.

13 January – Bushfire recovery package for wildlife and their habitat: The Australian Government made an initial commitment of $50 million for emergency wildlife and habitat recovery. This is a down-payment to support immediate work to protect wildlife, and work with scientists, ecologists, communities and land managers to plan the longer-term protection and restoration effort. $25 million will be provided for an emergency intervention fund to help with the immediate survival of affected animals, plants and ecological communities and to control pests and weeds. A further $25 million will be made available to support wildlife rescue, our zoos, NRM groups, Greening Australia and Conservation Volunteers Australia with on-ground activities.

6 January – National Bushfire Recovery Agency announced The National Bushfire Recovery Agency has been announced  to lead and coordinate a national response to rebuilding communities affected by bushfires across large parts of Australia. The agency will oversee a National Bushfire Recovery Fund which will support all recovery efforts across Australia over the next two years. An initial $2 billion has been allocated to this fund. National Bushfire Recovery Website.

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