Prior to the 1960s, fire management in the Northern Territory
was limited to the protection of major assets by pastoral
properties and the opportunistic burning conducted for pasture and
stock management. There is no doubt that Aboriginal burning of the
bush was widely practised and there are numerous accounts of these
burning practices being undertaken to manage food resources and to
assist in hunting. There was however, a distinct lack of control
and coordination, and there are stories today of fires originating
in Queensland and burning for months across the NT until they burnt
through into Western Australia.
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Fire Scars for 2000. Green areas burnt
January-June, Red areas burnt July-December Map: WA DOLA
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The formation of the Bushfires Council of the Northern Territory
in the early 1960s has assisted landholders to better manage and
protect their lands through proactive coordination of operations,
liaison, legislative controls, and financial assistance through
government sponsored programs.
Burning as a management tool
As the fire history map above shows, the Darwin–Kakadu
region has one of the highest proportion of early burning of any
region in north Australia. This reflects the high level of
prescribed burning that takes place in the early dry
season—designed to reduce the grassy fuels for fire later in
the year. Consequently, this region has relatively few high
intensity late dry-season fires, however there are a number of
other issues in fire management that are outlined below.
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Fire frequency in the Top End of the NT
1993-2000— light blue represents a low fire frequency,
grading through green and yellow to red for a high fire
frequency
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Fire frequency
This fire frequency map shows that the Darwin–Kakadu
region has some of the most frequent fires in north Australia.
Fires that are too frequent can be damaging to ecosystems,
particularly to plants that need some years free of fire in order
to establish.
Smoke management
The most populated areas are found in the north-west of the Top
End around Darwin, and in the dry season this area lies in the path
of the smoke plumes blown by the south-easterly winds from fires in
the rest of the Top End and the Gulf. Bushfire smoke can affect
human health and as national air quality standards are now in
force, the management of smoke from fires is an increasingly
important issue for this region. (See section on air
quality in All Regions–Fire.)
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Burning which takes place before vegetation
dries out is more easily controlled
Photo © Martin Armstrong PWCNT
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Urban-rural interface
People living in urban areas often have quite different
attitudes to fire management to people living in rural areas. Urban
dwellers generally do not manage fire themselves; they are often
concerned about smoke pollution and the dangers of frequent burning
to life and property and environmental values. Rural dwellers often
manage fires themselves and are concerned about the impact of fires
on their livelihoods—whether through the burning of fodder,
weed control or for bush tucker and cultural reasons. The
Darwin–Kakadu region has plenty of both groups and it is
important that effective communication and education about fire
management occurs in this region.
Weed management
The growth of woody weeds, linked to changed fire regimes, is
not as significant a problem in this region as it is further south,
however, the spread of so-called "fire weeds"—vegetation that
encourages more intense fire regimes—is a major issue. The
plants of concern here are mission grass and gamba grass.There is
evidence that both plants are spreading in the Darwin–Kakadu
area, and both provide high fuel loads for fire often late into the
dry season. (see section on fire and weeds).
Awareness and education
Awareness and education about fire ecology and fire management
practices is crucial. There is still a general ignorance, if not
apathy, in the urban population of Australia toward fire
management. There also needs to be improved understanding and
knowledge of fire management prescriptions and their effects among
the land managers and extension officers from the various
government agencies. Every opportunity needs to be taken to
involve, educate, and train those people who have a need to use
fire in land management.
