August 9, 2004

The Natural Heritage Trust (NHT) has provided $1.9 million to the Darwin-based Tropical Savannas Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) to develop guidelines and provide information for best managing bushfires across northern Australia.

The new CRC project will develop the capacity of Aboriginal, pastoral and conservation land managers to manage fires across northern Australia, and will make extensive use of satellite information and websites said CRC Project Leader, Jeremy Russell-Smith, from the Northern Territory Bushfires Council.

“This is the first project to share fire management knowledge across the savanna lands of the Northern Territory, Queensland and Western Australia,” he said. “While a lot of valuable regional research on managing bushfires has been done so far, this has largely been restricted to parts of the Top End of the NT. The use of websites will allow people in remote communities access to the latest information on fires.

“But most importantly, if this project wasn’t happening northern Australia’s tropical savanna landscape would continue to be creamed by too many fires burning over too much of the landscape at the wrong times of the year. Managing fire in the north is just as important as managing it in the south of Australia.”

Although much is heard about the bushfires in southern Australia, 70 percent of the land that burns each year occurs in the tropical savanna regions of northern Australia (see map below showing extent of wildfires across Australia).

Fire affects the conservation of almost every animal species in northern Australia. And according to researchers, there has been broadscale decline of many animal species adapted to the fire patterns present prior to European settlement.

Dr Russell-Smith said one of the best things about the project was that it involved employing people to directly work with graziers, Aboriginal groups and conservation managers.

“One of the biggest problems is achieving cultural change,” he said. “We need to overcome this by getting people involved and doing it collaboratively. This means getting black fellas working with the white fellas next door. With such remote areas, we need to help people to rely on their own resources.

“It’s about breaking down the barriers and getting government agencies responding to community needs rather than just trying to direct things from Darwin, Brisbane or Perth.

For interview:

Professor Gordon Duff, CEO, Tropical Savannas CRC, phone (08) 8946 6834, mob 0439 820 104

For media assistance: Jenni Metcalfe, phone 0408 551 866, jenni@econnect.com.au

Peter Jacklyn, phone 0439 820 104, 08 8946 6285, email peter.jacklyn@cdu.edu.au

Satellite images, maps and photos (as jpeg files) are available showing the fires in northern Australia; spectacular broadcast quality footage of northern fires also available

Also see: www.firenorth.org.au to see where fires are currently burning in northern Australia – click on a region and see if there have been any fires in the last 12 hours

Savannas

Savannas are tree-grass landscapes covering almost a half of Australia. They are important to northern Australia supporting the pastoral, mining and tourism industries, worth many millions of dollars. While they are well known in Africa for supporting large animals like lions and elephants, in Australia they are important conservation areas supporting many different types of plants and animals. Importantly, these landscapes also support a large population of Indigenous people in varying forms of land use including, traditional activities.