Antinuclear

Can traditional Indigenous methods of fire management help prevent catastrophic bushfires?

That’s an argument being raised again, as the bushfire season gets underway.

But there those cautioning that while traditional methods may be useful in some areas, they can’t be applied across Australia.

Santilla Chingaipe has more.

Joe Morrison is the chief executive of the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance.

Mr Morrison has told NITV, Indigenous people could play a role in reducing the risk of bushfires.

“We know there’s a disconnect between people actively managing fire right around the country and the ability to then suppress it later on. If you’re not actively managing it or reducing fuel load then and taking a responsible approach to managing country then you end up with these huge events that are regularly occurring in the south.”

Mr Morrison says in the Northern Territory, controlled fires are used to harvest the land and to avoid major bushfires.

And he says these methods could be be used in other parts of the country. “We’ve had a situation right around the country for around 100 years where people were moved out of the landscape and fire was seen as a bad thing and I think we just need to return to the days of actively managing fire and seeing fire as a good thing.”

That’s an argument also supported by Professor Rebecca Bird from Stanford University in the United States.

She’s been involved in a research project on the effects of fire in the Western Desert of Central Australia.

“Often it’s very difficult for people to accept, especially the role that fire plays in the environment…….