Kimberley Cool Fires
We drove west from Yiyili one evening and encounter massive wildfires burning out of control. There were no humans, no fire trucks, no water tankers. The fires are intentionally set, burn on their own free will until the winter rains put them out. They are called Cool Fires as they are set during the cool winter months in the Kimberley. There is a 30,000 year old reason for this.
Aboriginal people in the Kimberley have been undertaking traditional fire management for thousands of years. However, with the onset of colonisation and the removal of Aboriginal people from traditional lands, traditional burning was largely stopped during the twentieth century. This led to the emergence of large, uncontrolled wildfires, usually occurring late in the dry season and destroying important ecosystems and habitats. Often these late dry season wildfires impact grazing pasture, infrastructure and other assets.
In the last 25 years, with the introduction of native title and the recognition that western fire prevention methods have not been working effectively, we are now seeing a reinvigoration of traditional fire management in the Kimberley and all across northern Australia.
Indigenous fire management involves the lighting of ‘cool’ fires in targeted areas during the early dry season between March and July. The fires burn slowly, reducing fuel loads and creating fire breaks. Not all the area is burnt, with the end result a mosaic of burnt and unburnt country. This creates a similar landscape to when Kimberley Aboriginal people walked the country and burnt as they went for hunting, ceremony and other cultural purposes. The method removes fuel for larger fires late in the dry season when the weather is very hot, at the same time as maintaining and protecting habitat for mammals, reptiles, insects and birds.
There are other organisations and government departments such as the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions, the Department of Fire and Emergency Services, the Australian Wildlife Conservancy and pastoralists that manage fire in the Kimberley by carrying out early dry season prescribed burning.
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