Where there is smoke there is fire.
Sue Brooks July 21st, 2009
Massive controlled burns on Fraser Island at this time of the year are the norm it seems (FCC 14-7-09). Clouds of smoke billowing into our beautiful blue skies and hectares and hectares of pristine natural habitat destroyed. While it can be claimed that controlled burn offs are a useful tool if carefully done, to provide safety to areas of human habitation, why on earth are we burning Fraser Island? Naturally fire would only occur in this part of the world via lightning activity. Most of our stormy weather coincides with our wet season so fires, I believe, would not have been prevalent on Fraser Island prior to human settlement.
Fraser Island supports a wide and varied unique ecosystem based on pure sand which has developed over eons. The plants that grow there obtain essential nutrients from the leaf litter that falls and slowly decomposes to enrich the sand, together with the waste products of the fauna that live within the branches and feed on the plants. Rainfall provides the other essential ingredient and has helped create the wonderful and varied natural habitat we find on the island today. Burning off this leaf litter surely leaves the plants and the sands vulnerable. Gordon Barsby in a letter to the Chronicle last week is right when he claims that our land management practices need examining. Are we, with the very best of intentions, actually doing more harm than good?
- Fraser Island
- Comments(4)
As I have said before QPWS or DERM have no idea about managing the Island. The aborigines did these massive fire burns for years and they have destroyed the centre of Australia. Fraser Island has a very fragile ecosystem. By burning off vegetation it destroys all ground cover and what holds the soil together, leaving the place open to erosion. If they followed the advice from Peter Andrews or even read his book ” Back From the Brink ” they would know that this burning practice is flawed.
http://www.naturalsequencefarming.com/
go to this site and have a very good read and be enlightened.
Yes Sue, they seem to be going a bit overboard with the size of the fires on Fraser these days. It looked pretty out of control for a ‘controlled burn’ to me, and our furniture and house is just covered in nasty white and black ash again … just like it is after nasty smokey sugar cane burns which I heard are being discouraged these days.
From everything I have heard and read, controlled burning is very good and necessary in lots of places including Fraser for safety and revegetation reasons. I am reliably told that aboriginals also did it for the same reasons, but in smaller, more controlled ways so that harmful aspects and risks were minimised … just like they do in the territory to this day. Qld Forrestry carried on these sensible burns as part of their forestry industry operations on Fraser, but the current government depts now in control seem lack be seriously lacking in common sense and skills I think!
Aboriginal people could not control fire any better than we can and we are very bad at it. In the NT the entire dry season sees the sky filled with smoke. It was a very sad aspect of dry season life in Darwin to be constantly breathing smoke! I don’t think nature ever burned the country side as much as humans have done so vegetation has evolved to cope with regular burning.
Goodness knows how many habitats have been permanently destroyed since humans settled our country! While wild fires do tremendous damage they would be much rarer than the human caused fires of today. We have come to believe for some strange reason that burning the countryside is ‘good for it’. I believe this to be a false premise and worry that we over use fire. But it is good to have the debate and possibly think of different ways to care for our country than the traditional long held beliefs under which we function!
I agree with DingoSimon that the Island has a unique ecosystem which cannot be managed in the same way as mainland ecosystems.
As you say Sue, fire this time of year is the norm. is it a coincidence that this is also whelping season for the dingoes on the island?
I think not.
Burn the puppies before they have the chance to grow in to aggressive human-eating savages.
In fact I would go so far as to say that all Island management practice (ie toilets at major tourist destinations being blocked for two days) – which is purportedly ‘World’s Best Practice’ is actually way behind the rest of the world.
I spent the day today with a Canadian who spends much of his time trekking around the country’s three major national parks. There, they have bears, cougars, and wolves to deal with – and yes there are incidents of human death. But that is accepted as part of the ‘enter at own risk’ strategy. He rather felt that DERM management of FI was archaic.
Does the Queensland Government wish to continue to be seen by the rest of the world in this way? And seriously – we are not dealing with bears or cougars here, a dingo cant rip your face off with one swipe of it’s claw.
Arian and Adam, with years of experience under their belts are sadly yet another voice in the wilderness. DERM and the Qld Govt can continue to put their heads in the sand and will inevitably be remembered for the Government which saw the demise of the dingo on Fraser Island. Well done.