2017 Symposium - Bushfires: Balancing the Risks
A community symposium discussed research, strategies and expectations for fire management in the ACT in a changing climate.The symposium aimed to ensure an informed ACT community will be able to contribute positively to ACT government policy, goal setting and strategic directions of fire management.
Themes the symposium explored include:
- Law and Legislation: exploring the legal setting for bushfire management in the ACT.
- Understanding hazards and risks: what data and modeling do we rely on to understand fire hazards and risks?
- Values: what social, economic and personal values do we bring to fire management?
- Mitigating hazards and risks: knowing our risk models and our values, what mitigation strategies do we turn to? Includes learning from past bushfires and prescribed burning. Measuring reduction of risks.
- Linking Research and Management: how is current research changing our options, changing the debate?
- Environmental risks and climate change: as if it wasn’t complicated enough already, climate change is presenting new and complex problems.
- Indigenous fire management: as we learn more and more about the sophisticated fire management used by indigenous people, how do we incorporate that learning into fire management practices?
- Wildland/Urban interface: as a ‘bush capital’ the ACT has a special interest in balancing fire management, urban development, conservation and recreation; includes consideration of fire prone urban areas; FarmFirewise; asset protection zones etc.
- Fire impacts: fire management impacts on water, vegetation, weeds fauna, insects and people eg smoke impact on health. Public accountability.
- Shared responsibility: the final session will explore our shared responsibility for managing fire hazards and risks and how the community can interact effectively with the fire management planning process.
Download the FINAL program here with bios and transcripts.
Case Study: Science and decision making – the McArthur model as a case study
Case Study: Aboriginal fire management.
Case Study: Aranda Bushland fire history.
Case Study: Future burning: Meeting the challenge of bushfire management.
Case Study: Community involvement in the SBMP planning process.
Case Study: Ecological principles involving the use of fire in grassland and grassy woodland.
Discussion Paper: Assessing mitigation of the risk from extreme wildfires using MODIS hotspot data.
Audio (MP3) from the symposium: Fri AM early; Fri AM later; Fri PM early; Fri PM later; Sat AM early; Sat AM later; Sat PM
