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Aboriginal wetland burning in Kakadu
(Burning for Biodiversity)
The Issue
Aboriginal Australians successfully lived with landscape fire for tens of thousands of years prior to European settlement. Unfortunately, throughout most of southern Australia Aboriginal fire management has long been consigned to history. However, this is not the case in the north, where much of the area is Aboriginal land, and fire management remains an integral part of Aboriginal life. Although Aboriginal fire management has been severely disrupted, much of the traditional knowledge relating to fire management has been retained, and the opportunity still exists to re-apply such knowledge to landscape management.
CSIRO Research
As part of the Bushfire CRC's northern Australian 'Burning for Biodiversity' project, CSIRO is working with a family of traditional owners in Kakadu National Park to examine the cultural benefits of Aboriginal fire management as it is re-applied to floodplains associated with the South Alligator River (Boggy Plain and Yellow Water).
Boggy Plain
At Boggy Plain vegetation has been monitored in both burnt and unburnt areas since 2001, using both satellite imagery and ground-based surveys. Changes over time have been recorded using a series of permanent photo points. Turtle-hunting efficiency studies have also been conducted.
Yellow Water
Permanent photo points have been established at Yellow Water, but there is no formal vegetation monitoring programme. Water birds will be surveyed in burnt and unburnt areas of Yellow Water in 2006, and the cover of different vegetation types will be visually assessed.
This study serves as an internationally significant model for integrating Indigenous and Western knowledge systems to achieve positive outcomes for both traditional resource use and the conservation of biodiversity. It involves collaboration between CSIRO, the Bushfire CRC, Parks Australia North, and the Environmental Research Institute of the Supervising Scientist.
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Collaborators
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