Healing our land - Bushfire Recovery

As part of the Foundation for National Parks and Wildlife’s Healing our Land initiative, our focus is to repair the damage inflicted on our country following the devastating bushfires.

With over 12 million hectares of national park and bushland affected and an estimated one billion native animals losing their lives, the initiative will focus on the regeneration and recovery of Australia’s flora and fauna.

As an urgent next step following the horrific bushfire season, we have awarded the first of our Emergency Bushfire Recovery Grants, with an initial focus on rehabilitating urgent, devastated areas in New South Wales and South Australia.

Please see below for further information.

NSW

Koori Country Firesticks Aboriginal Corporation/Birkenburn Cultural Burn Program & Workshops: Koori Country Firesticks Aboriginal Corporation (KCFSAC), in collaboration with private landholders Tom Gordon and Martina Shelley, will undertake a cultural burning program for Tom and Martina's rural property "Birkenburn" in the NSW Southern Tablelands. The project aims to regenerate and maintain biodiverse habitat on the property and protect it from wildfire, while encouraging and enabling surrounding landholders and community to do the same.

Aboriginal Site Recording Yengo NP and Surrounding Country: The bushfires affected extensive areas of the Yengo NP and hundreds of cave paintings and engravings sites may have been impacted by the fires. At the same time, unrecorded sites may be revealed as the bush is more open and overhangs and rock platforms are visible. Elder Warren Taggart and his team of volunteers will visit known sites and report back to National Parks (NP) with documentation for the Aboriginal Heritage Information Management System (AHIMS).

Batemans Bay Local Aboriginal Land Council: Cultural surveys will be undertaken on the land damaged by the bushfires, to assess for cultural sites, landmarks and places of significance. Flora and fauna surveys will help with the regeneration, repopulation and natural migration of species which play an important role in our country.

AABR post-wildfire bush regeneration assistance: The Australian Association of Bush Regenerators will create marketing resources and host three weeding workshops in fire-affected high conservation areas where post-fire regrowth is being hampered by weed regeneration. Its purpose is to provide guidance and basic post-re bush regeneration skills to bushland managers and community volunteers.

Climate Change effect on World Heritage Area, Blue Mountains: The Blue Mountains World Heritage Institute (BMWHI) has launched a project to monitor the impact of climate change on the ecosystems of the Blue Mountains of NSW, focusing particularly on the impacts for threatened upland swamps which face intensifying drought, fire and local flooding.

Wattleridge IPA Recovery: This conservation project aims to provide emergency support to sensitive ecological communities and associated fauna species habitats impacted by the recent fires in the Wattleridge Indigenous Protected Area (IPA).

SA

Saving the Nationally Critically Endangered Mount Lofty Ranges Speedwell: The Saving Mount Lofty Speedwell project is a targeted conservation initiative to expand the number of plants in the Mount Lofty Ranges from current estimates of approximately 200 plants to over 600 plants over a 2 year period.

Investigating the impact of bushfires on Kangaroo Island echidnas: This citizen science project aims to investigate echidna distribution, diet and health following the bushfires, which have added additional pressure on the endangered species.

Nest boxes for wildlife after fires on Kangaroo Island: As a result of the Kangaroo Island bushfires, a community nest box project has been initiated to provide immediate shelter for insectivorous bats, pygmy-possums, and several bird and reptile species. 

We will continue to provide updates on each of these projects as they progress.

Links:

• Visit our website for more project news