Politics is a dirty word

Australia has the dubious distinction of of having the largest wildfires in history. At least 4.6 million hectares have burned so far and the impacts will be devastating for humans as well as all other species. Up to 500 million mammals, birds and reptiles – including 8,000 koalas have been killed, according to ecologists from Sydney University, entire species of animals and plant life may be victims of extinction. The loss of vegetation will worsen climate change and water quality.

Burning of native vegetation in efforts to reduce fuel loads does not make Australia any safer from wildfires.The mantra of fuel reduction burns is used as an excuse to get rid of more native vegetation even though in some cases it restricts the spread of fire.Rather than focus on extinguishing fires as quickly as possible, fires are often left to develop into major burns as they present better photo and television opportunities. An issues paper published by the Federal Parliament in 2002 says: Fuel reduction burning should not be applied uniformly, in terms of frequency or extent, across Australia because of the diversity of forests, topography and climates in southern Australia as well as the different priorities that different land managers have in developing specific burning regimes. In order for fuel reduction burning programs to be effective they need to be designed to be applied to specific vegetation types and implemented by properly trained and resourced staff. Proper assessm...