Vegetation, Land Management Policies and Bushfire Risk
Many of you will know of farmers, friends, colleagues and communities that are impacted by the current fires ravaging our nation. I trust you and your family are keeping safe, along with any animals and assets that have potential to be impacted.
On this important topic, recently I read an interesting piece by Professor Rod Keenan from the University of Melbourne on the bushfires and the role of vegetation management in contributing to them.
He pointed out that as monstrous blazes overwhelm Australia’s south-east, the need for a national bushfire policy has never been more urgent. Active land management such as hazard-reduction burning and forest thinning must lie at the core of any such policy. Done well, controlled burning limits a bushfire’s spread and makes suppression easier, by reducing the amount of flammable material. Clearing or thinning vegetation on roadsides and other areas also helps maintain fuel breaks, allowing firefighters access to forests in an emergency.
He pointed out something interesting and I’ll quote him:
“As former fire chiefs recently pointed out, of all factors driving a fire’s severity – temperature, wind speed, topography, fuel moisture and fuel load – fuel load is the only one humans can influence”.
I think there is a role for the Ag Institute of Australia (AIA) to have constructive input into this area of policy review and development given many of our clients will be impacts directly or indirectly by bushfires (either now or previously). So when I saw the following open inquiry, I felt that this was something that AIA could make an important contribution to given the extensive capability we have across our organisation.
Call for AIA Member Input
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on the Environment has commenced an inquiry into the efficacy of past and current vegetation and land management policy, practice and legislation and their effect on the intensity and frequency of bushfires and subsequent risk to property, life and the environment. The Committee’s inquiry is in response to Minister for Natural Disaster and Emergency Management, David Littleproud.
The inquiry will have particular regard to matters including (i.e. the ToR):
1. past and current practices of land and vegetation management;
2. the impact of current legislation and regulatory responses for landholders;
3. the scientific basis behind relevant bushfire management activities;
4. legislative capability at the local, state and federal levels requiring landholders to reduce fire risk on properties;
5. the economic impact of severe fires in urban, regional, rural and remote areas;
6. the progress and implementation of various state reviews over the last decade; and
7. the engagement of emergency services with land management officials in managing fire risk.
After discussion and agreement with the AIA Advocacy and Policy Special Interest Group (AP SIG), a committee of the AIA that reports to the AIA Board, I am asking for members to provide input into a AIA submission to the above inquiry.
We would like your input to address one or more of the above ToR points.
Please be clear in your response as to which ToR point your comments refer to and keep in mind that the AP SIG may well use your comments in any submission that the AIA makes.
We will need your input by 31 January 2020 so the AP SIG will have sufficient time to consider contributions.
Further Reading
For Professor Rod Keenan’s recent article in the Conversation: https://theconversation.com/theres-only-one-way-to-make-bushfires-less-powerful-take-out-the-stuff-that-burns-129323
For a link to the Discussion paper titled “Inquiry into the impact on the agricultural sector of vegetation and land management policies, regulations and restrictions by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture and Water Resources April 2019, go to: https://bit.ly/383NpU6