Bushfire Recovery and Regional NRM Organisations
NRM organisations often play a pivotal role in response to bushfires, both immediately and over the longer-term. Regions are frequently among the first on-ground to assess and respond to impacts of bushfires on natural resources and biodiversity. As organisations embedded in their local communities, they are also often involved in longer-term recovery efforts and in working to manage fire and embed resilience and preparedness for future emergencies.
Following the 2019–20 wildfires, Natural Resource Managers responded to a huge diversity of needs: to care for ecosystems, soils, waterways, species, heritage, and culturally significant sites, working with First Nations communities to support recovery and fire management, supporting landholders and community recovery, and drawing together networks to prioritise actions. The severe impacts from fires of this scale on communities and organisations place significant pressures on systems in place for biodiversity and landscape management. A pre-existing knowledge base supported rapid response and effective prioritisation, but is uneven across landscapes, species and ecosystems.
NRM Regions Australia project- Knowledge for Capacity in Bushfire Recovery
In recognition of the vital role NRM organisations play in bushfire recovery, the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) have provided funding to NRM Regions Australia until June 2023 to help draw together knowledge, resources and lessons from the 2019-20 wildfires and build capacity and resilience in regional NRM organisations to respond to future emergencies. This project supports:
- A part-time Bushfire Recovery Knowledge Broker.
- Coordination of a Bushfire Recovery Community of Practice to build peer learning, share knowledge and provide information and resources.
- Development and sharing of resources within the Knowledge Hub to support NRM staff.
Some of the resources from our Knowledge Hub are housed here in our website, but others can be accessed via our members-only Knowledge Hub and Collaboration spaces which you can login to from here.
If you would like more information, or to join the Bushfire Recovery Community of Practice, please get in touch with Knowledge Broker Rachel Morgain at [email protected].
Recent submissions
Stories of bushfire recovery and resilience
Wiradjuri-led Bushfire Recovery - women collecting seed
Following the devastating 2019-20 bushfires, the recovery of the natural environment is ongoing. This Murray and Riverina Local Land Services project involving the Wiradjuri people of the Brungle-Tumut Local Aboriginal Land Council highlights recovery activities from a traditional owner perspective. In this video, Wiradjuri ladies are trained in the skill of collecting native plant seeds for sowing. Watch the video here.
Rescue attempts underway for crucial mangrove forests
Mangroves on the NSW South Coast destroyed during the 2019-20 bushfires are not growing back, but OceanWatch are working with the community to see if it is possible to regrow the forests. The 300-year-old mangroves are critical to reducing erosion and stopping mud and sediment from running downstream. But they will take decades to recover. The project is aiming to help them regrow by gathering seedlings from oyster farming infrastructure, caring for them and replanting them at the burnt sites. Read the story here.
Creek stabilisation brings the platypus back
Managers at Riverina Local Land Services have been working with scientists and landholders to bring platypus back after fires devastated riverbanks and caused the creeks to silt up. Stabilising the creeks has helped slow the flow and clear the water so that it's once again habitable to the iconic swimmers. Read more about the work at this story.
Primary kids grow plants for Cudlee Creek fire scar revegetation
Year 6 students at Woodside Primary School have been doing an amazing job growing plants for the 2022 Plant Giveaway. Hills and Fleurieu Landscape Board have coordinated the Plant Giveaway for the past two years to support Cudlee Creek landholders affected by the December 2019 bushfires. In this video the kids explain how they feel about doing something good for the community, and what they’ve learnt as volunteer growers since Day One. Watch the video to find out more.
Specialist teams bring rainforest back to life after wildfires
The hard work of weed eradication is helping bring the Gondwana World Heritage rainforests back to life. Healthy Land and Water and other catchment management and community groups have been working tirelessly to ensure the fire-devastated regions recover, but more years of work are needed until the rainforest canopy heals and the ecosystem can keep the weeds at bay. Read more of the story here.
Rehydrating landscapes to prevent fire
Leaders of a project to rehydrate the landscape of a north Queensland cattle property say the results are proof that profits can flow from keeping more scarce rainfall on-farm. Since 2015, a project to rehydrate Worona Station with assistance from NRM group NQ Dry Tropics and the consultancy arm of the Mulloon Institute has rehabilitated the country. Rehydration protects the land from fire, drought and erosion, while increasing water infiltration to the soil and aquifer. Profitability has increased, with the comparatively small 6,677-hectare northern operation now providing full-time stable employment for the owner and his son. Read the article for more information.
Bushfire Recovery Publications from NRM Regions
Videos
Webinar: Facing the rising risks to ecosystems of fire, flood, cyclones and climate extremes
Australian ecosystems are facing rising risks from climate extremes and natural hazards, compounded by ongoing pressures such as invasive species, fragmentation, declining water and soil health. This webinar discusses approaches from research and natural resource management to building resilience and making decisions in the face of compounding challenges, and draws on the real-world experiences of NRM managers building resilience to wildfires, floods and cyclones.
Webinar: Coordinating to protect culture and biodiversity in the heat of wildfires
This second webinar in our joint series with the National Environmental Science Program's Threatened Species Recovery Hub covers how Australia's 2019-2020 wildfires tested the capacity of people and systems across several states to conserve threatened species and ecological communities, and highlighted the urgency for resourcing First Nations heritage protection and fire management. This webinar brings together perspectives from researchers, managers and policy makers to discuss what we can learn from these events, and what systems or responses are needed to better protect biodiversity and empower First Nations leadership in the heat of bushfire events.
Webinar: Saving wildlife after bushfires: what is the evidence for effective action?
As part of a collaborative project on Bushfire Recovery in 2021, NRM Regions Australia ran a double webinar series jointly with the National Environmental Science Program's Threatened Species Recovery Hub in 2019. The first of these addressed the evidence for actions to support wildlife recovery following the fires. Featuring stories from Kangaroo Island and the Australian Capital Territory, and research led by ANU into evidence for fauna recovery, the webinar discusses what we know, what we don't know, and what we hope to learn about the effectiveness of the actions we can take to protect and recover fauna during devastating wildfires.
Biodiversity costs and lessons from the 2019-20 wildfires with John Woinarski
Professor John Woinarski is an esteemed conservation researcher, and was Deputy Chair of the Australian Government's Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel in 2020. He has led a large collaboration reviewing the consequences for biodiversity of the 2019-20 fires and the national response. Here he presents a summary of those findings to the NRM Regions Australia Bushfire Recovery Community of Practice.
Coordinating systems to protect biodiversity during bushfires: lessons from 2019-20 with Libby Rumpff
Associate Professor Libby Rumpff (University of Melbourne) speaks at our Bushfire Recovery Community of Practice, presenting findings from her research project on creating systems, processes and policy responses to protect biodiversity during wildfires, drawing on lessons from the 2019-20 wildfires.
Recovery and management of SEQ lowland subtropical rainforest after fire - Paul Donatiu
In September 2019, fire devastated 10 major fire grounds in South East Queensland lowland subtropical rainforest, including Gondwana Rainforests World Heritage Areas at Mt Barney, Main Range and Lamington National Park. This presentation by Paul Donatiu from Healthy Land and Water outlines the impacts from the fires, the recovery of rainforest systems, and the actions taken to support that recovery. It was presented as part of a series to the NRM Regions Australia Bushfire Recovery Community of Practice ecosystem recovery workshop.
Research and resources
Bushfire recovery resources from the NESP Threatened Species Recovery Hub
The National Environmental Science Program's Threatened Species Recovery Hub coordinated a significant research effort following the 2019-20 wildfires. Reports and findings from that effort include assessments of the impacts of the bushfires on vertebrates, invertebrates and ecosystems, Indigenous perspectives on bushfire prevention and recovery, and analysis of how our systems and governance mechanisms could better prioritise and protect biodiversity during wildfires. Access these resources here.
ALA Environment Recovery Project
Over 17,000,000 acres burned in the 2019-2020 Australian bushfire season in southern and eastern Australia. Understanding how the environment recovers from this unprecedented fire season has been an important scientific goal.
At the time, Atlas of Living Australia launched a citizen scientist projects asking for observations from recently burnt areas. That project has since collected thousands of data points and is still growing. Visit the site to learn more.
Australian Disaster Resilience Knowledge Hub
The Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience manages and maintains a knowledge hub with resources for responding to and reducing risks of natural hazards and other disasters. Their hub includes frameworks and resources for disaster risk reduction, handbooks for resilience, best practice guides for planned burning and an enormous emergency management library. Access these resources at the AIDR Knowledge Hub.
NSW Applied Bushfire Science Program
The NSW Department of Planning and Environment has established an Applied Bushfire Science program to address bushfire risks to environmental and Aboriginal cultural values across NSW. The Applied Bushfire Science Program will address key recommendations from the NSW Bushfire Inquiry relating to ecosystems and recognition of Aboriginal cultural knowledge, as well as impacts of fire on Aboriginal cultural values.
The program includes establishing a central point of information for managing fire risk for native plants, animals, habitats and Aboriginal cultural values across the state. Find more information here.
Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel
The Australian Government's Wildlife and Threatened Species Bushfire Recovery Expert Panel met for 9 months in 2020 to assess and respond to the 2019-20 wildfires across southern and eastern Australia. Their communiques include valuable information and resources that are informing the ongoing assessment of the bushfire impacts and response. Read them here.