THE GROSE VALLEY FIRE FORUM
The Grose Valley fire
The Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute organised a forum of representative community members and fire authorities to address issues arising from management of a fire in the Grose Valley in the Blue Mountains in November 2006.
The Institute was invited by the then Minister for the Environment, Bob Debus, to hold this forum with the following aims:
To brief the community on the management of the Grose Valley fire and the framework and context for the management of fire generally within the World Heritage Area;
To identify any issues that relate specifically to the management of the Grose Valley fire, and that haven’t already been captured and/or responded to within the s.44 debrief report;
To identify longer term and landscape scale issues relating to the management of fire in the Greater Blue Mountains WHA, particularly in this time of climate change;
To develop an action plan, which responds to any unresolved issues identified above.
The forum report contains an action plan addressing issues and questions including:
How does bushfire management need to adapt to the implications of climate change?
How can bushfire management policy better account for protection of World Heritage values?
How adaptive is bushfire management and policy to the specific circumstances of the Blue Mountains?
Better interpretation of ecological data into decision-making and practical fire-fighting procedures;
Improvements in bushfire risk management planning;
Better translation of legislated objectives for protection of natural and cultural values into operational guidelines;
Improved information flow between fire authorities and the community during and after major fires, including more transparency and public involvement in the review processes;
Increasing funding for fire-related research, planning, risk mitigation, and post-fire ecological rehabilitation.
REPORTS AND PUBLICATIONS
Download the Grose Valley Fire Forum - full report
Download the Grose Valley Fire Forum - report summary
Download Bushfire in a Heating World - a conference paper by Dr Rosalie Chapple.