New research from the University of Nottingham has highlighted that increased cultural burning by Indigenous Australians prevented high-intensity fires for millennia.
Forest fires are projected to increase in the coming years, as a result of anthropogenic climate change – climate change directly caused by human activity. Understanding the linkages between climate change, human activity and fires is important to plan for successful management of fire-prone landscapes, such as Australia's.
The new research, published in Science, highlights how the intensity of forest fires in fire-prone southeastern Australia decreased over time alongside an increase in Indigenous populations.
Using tiny fossils preserved in ancient sediment, the research team reconstructed past landscapes across Southeastern Australia to understand how the vegetation has changed over time. They particularly focused on the shrub layer, as this allows flames to climb from ground to canopy and facilitates high-intensity fires.
The team then compared this with archaeological data to analyse how shrub cover has changed as a result of different human activities and occupations.
They found that with the expansion of Indigenous populations, and the increase in use of cultural fires – systematically burning areas to manage the landscape – there was an observed decrease in shrubs of around 50 per cent, and a decline in high intensity fires.
The shrub layer in forests can often act as 'ladders' for wildfires to climb up to tree canopies and spread across a wider area.
Following British colonization and extensive fire suppression, shrub cover has increased to the highest ever recorded, increasing the risk of high-intensity fires.
Dr Michela Mariani, who led the research, said: 'We found solid evidence that Indigenous burning limited fuel availability and kept the region free of high-intensity fires for millennia.
Australia's fire crisis can be tamed with the involvement of Indigenous practitioners in fire management. It's important to rekindle ancient cultural burning practices together with Traditional Owners to reduce the risk of catastrophic blazes."
The team also recommend collaborative working with Indigenous practitioners to further reduce the chances of intense forest fires in the future.
