Fires pose burning questions: aftermath and recovery

The extreme fires across our region over summer have devastated vast areas of the bush and our living environments. The total impact is difficult to measure but clearly it has been immense. Coming closely upon the massive Alpine fires of 2002/3, numerous questions are stirring strong community debate about the direction of future fire management of our natural and built environments.

Are these fires a sign of a new increasingly frequent pattern? What are the causes? What and who is to blame? What -- if anything -- can be done to prevent or reduce the impact of fire in our precious but highly fire-prone environment.

These questions beg a host of others. Is fuel reduction the answer? If so, how should it be best achieved? How much can be attributed to climate change and global warming? Or is it simply about the ‘normal’ cycles of drought or El Nino?

From an environmental perspective, we can ask what effect is the apparent increasing frequency and extent of fire having upon the natural ecosystem? Do we take the resilience and recovery of the bush for granted?

Many elements of Australian environment are dependent upon periodic fire for their survival. But in reality what is the impact on some flora and fauna which require less frequent and less extensive fires? Can they survive? And more importantly, what practical measures can we take that might assist their recovery and survival?

In addition, there are ongoing issues about the immediate and long term impact on the water environment, and all the human and natural implications of the great water debate we are currently engaged in. These and many others are difficult and complex questions.

During 2007 the King Basin Landcare Group plans to sponsor a series of community events designed to inform and explore these questions. The essential purpose will be to stimulate constructive debate and look for practical local projects that might have real and positive impacts on our local environment.

To kick off, a free screening of the acclaimed documentary film

“An Inconvenient Truth” featuring former US Presidential candidate Al Gore and his campaign on global warming will be held at the Cheshunt Community Hall on Monday 16 April 2007. Details this page.