Fire

Cracking Film Trip into the Blue Gum Forest

Cracking Film Trip into the Blue Gum Forest

On Nov 2nd our Blue Gum Forest team once again descended into the Grose Valley to document the health of the Blue Gum Forest after the fires. The expedition group included Rosalie Chapple, Wyn Jones, Alex Allchin, Keith Muir, Simona Ermilova, Daniel Merson, Mengran Yu and Floris Van Ogtrop.

Wetlands should not burn - Nature NSW

Wetlands should not burn - Nature NSW

Wetlands should never burn, but a swamp in the Newnes Plateau did because it was undermined by coal mining. The Nature Conservation Council of NSW teamed up with Lithgow environmentalists to investigate and document damage to areas affected by mining. What they discovered was a disaster.

Climate change and fire: lessons from the Blue Mountains

Climate change and fire: lessons from the Blue Mountains

Periodic fires are a normal part of the lifecycle of many ecosystems, but climate change is creating mega-fires that instead of supporting biodiversity threaten to destroy it. BMWHI Executive Director Dr John Merson writes for the IUCN blog.

Bushfires: our past, present and future

Bushfires: our past, present and future

Last summer brought some of the worst bushfires in modern history. As a dry–climate nation we have some fire damage every year, but why were these particular fires so severe? What can we learn from the history of bushfire in Australia, and how can we use that knowledge to plan for the future?

Report: reducing the cost and impact of bushfires

Report: reducing the cost and impact of bushfires

The Independent Bushfire Group is 12 non-aligned bushfire practitioners, fire managers, land managers, fire researchers and ecologists with over 400 years of collective experience in bushfires, land management and fire ecology across a range of fire landscapes.

Post-fire bush regeneration resources

Post-fire bush regeneration resources

The Australian Association of Bush Regenerators is building an online portal of helpful material about post-fire bush regeneration and ecological weed management after the wildfires of summer 2019-20. Learn about the importance of weeding and locate volunteers to assist your efforts.

Entire hillsides of trees turned brown this summer

Entire hillsides of trees turned brown this summer

Is it the start of ecosystem collapse? The drought in Australia was a significant driver of the summer bushfires. But it also caused another, less well known environmental calamity: entire hillsides of trees turned from green to brown.

Fire recovery updates from the Federal Dept. of the Environment

Fire recovery updates from the Federal Dept. of the Environment

The Federal Minister for the Environment, Sussan Ley, and the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment are sharing regular updates on their bushfire recovery strategies, including their wildlife rescue interventions, via the following links.

Seven billion burnt trees

Seven billion burnt trees

Half a billion animals, now likely to be closer to a billion. Millions of acres, thousands of homes, 33 human lives. I follow these, I feel these, and a voice in the back of my head asks ‘how many trees, how many shrubs? How many plants?’. Read more from Georgina Reid on The Plant Hunter.

The collective trauma of the bushfire recovery

The collective trauma of the bushfire recovery

Collective trauma is the community wide reaction to a traumatic event, the shared disturbance of a group of people when their world is suddenly upended. The term has gained prominence in the wake of the bushfire crisis and it could hamper Australia’s bushfire recovery.

Photos: new growth breaking through

Photos: new growth breaking through

Fire has sent some of Australia’s most popular national parks into an eerie slumber, but new growth is breaking through the blackness in other areas. While the bushfire season is far from over, in the Blue Mountains National Park of NSW, nature’s recovery is already underway.

Grave fears for rock art sites after fires

 Grave fears for rock art sites after fires

An important rock art site, thought to be at least 500 years old, has been discovered after being irretrievably damaged by bushfire, with grave fears held for thousands of other sites. Some of the art at the site was known but not fully documented. Fire also destroyed a nearby undocumented site.

Feral horses are wiping out rare species in the Australian Alps.

Feral horses are wiping out rare species in the Australian Alps.

Kosciuszko National Park provides habitat for many endangered and vulnerable native species. The bushfires have decimated a lot of what was left. Feral horses now threaten to destroy the remainder, and an urgent culling program is needed.

Weeding to help nature recover from the fires

Weeding to help nature recover from the fires

Many Australians feel compelled to help our damaged wildlife after this season’s terrible bushfires. Suggested actions have included donating moneyleaving water out for thirsty animals, and learning how to help the injured. But there is an equally, if not more, important way to assist: weeding.

Protected species in bushfire affected areas

Protected species in bushfire affected areas

The Australian Department of the Environment and Energy has released an initial list of threatened and migratory species which have more than 10% of their known or predicted distribution in areas affected by bushfires in southern and eastern Australia from 1 Aug 2019 - 13 Jan 2020.

Assessing Australia's ecological disaster

Assessing Australia's ecological disaster

A Reuters analysis of more than 1,400 species affected by the Australian fires highlights the areas, habitats and species hit the hardest. The analysis of fires since September 1st 2019 shows the habitats of hundreds of Australia’s land mammals, amphibians and reptiles have suffered from the fires.

We need a vision for our environment

We need a vision for our environment

Dr. Jack Pascoe, who completed his PhD on Apex Predators in the GBMWHA under the supervision of Dr Rosalie Chapple, writes in the Guardian on the need for a vision for our environment, for the species and ecosystems it will support, and how our communities will sit within these environments.

Conservation response to the 19-20 fires

Conservation response to the 19-20 fires

With other concerned conservation biologists, researchers from the Threatened Species Recovery Hub have developed a blueprint for management responses to the 19-20 fires. After the catastrophe: a blueprint for a conservation response to large-scale ecological disaster, can be downloaded here.

Guide to helping wildlife in emergencies

Guide to helping wildlife in emergencies

The NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment works with the community and wildlife rehabilitation groups to rescue and care for injured and distressed native wildlife in an emergency, such as prolonged drought or after fire or flood. This is their guide to helping wildlife during emergencies.