Bushfire recovery support in the Riverina Highlands
Bushfire recovery support in the Riverina Highlands
Working with local communities to recover from the Black Summer Fires of 2019-20.
Community Participation -
NSWLP-011-055
The issue
Landcare considers how to protect one of the only known populations of Grevillea wilkinsonnii from wildfire, whilst still providing the right kind of fire for this isolated population to thrive. Factors to consider include the lifecycle of the species, the fire history and how tolerant this vegetation community is to different kinds of fire events. Knowledge of how a range of species will respond depending on the season and intensity of burning. Landcare needs to consider how to safely, legally and authentically bring back the most appropriate fire regime.
The solution
Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Funding from the Australian and NSW Government has enabled Landcare to drive new and ongoing solutions. The Hotspot team from the Nature Conservation Council and Rural Fire Service scheduled a workshop in the Riverina Highlands community. A demonstration burn was carried out on a Travelling Stock Reserve after a day of learning about the required legislation. Landcare Bushfire Recovery Project Officers have also been able to support a variety of partner workshops. Longer term ecological monitoring was installed, and funding and advice was provided for on-ground works for landholders. It is hoped that First Nations locals can continue discussions with landholders about appropriate fire regimes and be involved in result monitoring. Landcare hopes to continue to support landholders to implement their own cool burns.
The impact
Landcare staff can undertake follow up monitoring which will be facilitated by Murrumbidgee Landcare and First Nations partners such as the Tumut Brungle Local Aboriginal Land Council, and Ngumbaay Indigenous Corporation. As with all of the work we do, this builds on a longer term partnership to regenerate the Grevillea and seed collection to supply the Riverina Highlands Landcare Nursery and threatened species programs.
Landcare has developed a training module in collaboration with the First Nations community who attended and planned the workshop and came together afterwards to consolidate the future learnings. We have commenced delivery locally and will continue in the future, as we engage the community in recovery activities and technical information sessions. We started with a follow-up post burn monitoring program in Spring to again bring together our First Nations community and the local Goobaragandra community, to promote the realisation of their community and ecological fire plans over time.
The Hotspots workshop was utilised as a catalyst for all of this activity and the package we have been able to wrap around it, thanks to the Bushfire recovery program can be carried into future programs, such as a series of Landcare NSW Resilience workshops planned next year.
Key facts
- Bushfire recovery.
- Cool burns.