Prescribed burning is defined as
the controlled application of fire under specific environmental
conditions to a predetermined area and at the time, intensity and
rate of spread required to attain planned resource management
objectives.
Research in this area has included
four main elements:
·
basic understanding of
fire ecology and vegetation (fuels) using specific area studies
·
fire behaviour research
that examines how fuels are consumed and the characteristics of the
combustion process;
·
the impact of
prescribed burning on subsequent wildfire suppression and asset
protection; and
·
the development of
tools and knowledge that can help to understand fire propagation
and the impacts of climate change on risk.
1. Workshops / Forums
1.1 High Fire Specialist and
Public Forums – TBA
Specialist forums as requested by
Program Leader B (Dargo High Plains Victoria and Snowy Plains,
NSW) March-April 2009. On location at long-term field sites
on private land.
Participants, including local land
and fire managers and residents, will learn about research into
high country fuels and ecosystems and how bushfire might be better
managed in high country landscapes.
1.2 Prescribed Burning Summit –
TBA
The purpose of this summit is to
bring together a range of researchers and policy makers with an
interest in the role of prescribed fire in landscape management.
Participants can anticipate developing a better understanding of
the various research approaches on prescribed burning.
1.3 Briefing for Departmental Heads -
TBA
An update by researchers and policy
specialists supported by a literature synthesis and related
scientific publications.
Government agencies in Australia
and New Zealand spend hundreds of millions of dollars annually on
the management of bushfires. This briefing will provide an update
for Departmental Heads and senior decision-makers on the
implications of Bushfire CRC research on bushfire management. The
briefing is designed to assist CEOs / Chief Officers to better
understand the parameters and the uncertainties associated with
relevant risk models. It will also provide insights into some of
the complexities associated with the use of prescribed
fire.
1.4 Fire Weather - September 2009
This half-day pre-conference
workshop at the Bushfire CRC Annual Conference will bring
participants up-to-date with the findings of recent research into
fire weather. Research outcomes focussing on a number of high
hazard episodes, as well as ‘mean’ weather will be
discussed, with a view to assisting fire and land management
personnel in their strategic planning.
1.5 Fuel Systems - September 2009
This half-day pre-conference
workshop at the Bushfire CRC Annual Conference will hear from a
range of researchers investigating bushfire fuel in a variety of
landscapes.
Participants will have the
opportunity to discuss the links between fire and land management
and the management of critically important resources such as water
and forests.
1.6 Risk Management Techniques for
Plantation forests – TBA
Fire behaviour in eucalypt
plantations exhibits some very different and, to date, imperfectly
understood characteristics. This workshop will give participants
the opportunity to learn about a range of Bushfire CRC research
pertinent to plantation management. Topics will include prescribed
burning in relation to eucalypt plantations and the use of aircraft
in plantation fires.
1.7 Workshop for Policy and Planning
Officers – TBA
This workshop will provide an
update for policy and planning officers on the implications of
research outcomes on bushfire management. The workshop is designed
to assist practitioners to better understand the current risk
models and thereby be in a better position to use them in their own
situations. There will be the opportunity for practitioners to
apply the new models to local scenarios and to discuss the
implications for changes in practice.
1.8 Fire Management Business Model
– TBA
Participants will learn how the
Fire Management Business Model will assist them to better
prepare for climate related changes to fire regimes. Participants
will gain a better understanding of how changes in one aspect of
bushfire management can affect other aspects of land and fire
management.
1.9 Climate Change and its Impact on
Bushfire Management - TBA
One of the more difficult issues
facing those involved in the management of bushfires is assessing
the likely impact of climate change on the bushfire threat. In this
workshop participants will hear from researchers involved in the
fields of fire behaviour, prescribed burning, aerial suppression
techniques and fuel regimes. The implications for climate change on
land and fire management will also be explored.
2. Specialist Courses
2.1 Fire Behaviour / Fire Weather /
Fuel Systems
Southern Australia; Northern
Australia Dates TBA
These courses are targeted at
regional fire planning officers and related personnel with an
interest in developing an improved understanding of the
implications of research outcomes in fire behaviour, fire weather
and fuel systems, particularly in a changing climate. Participants
will learn about bushfire management models of fire suppression and
management which combines seasonal and geographic data, fire
behaviour science and capability information and how they can use
this information to inform both operational and strategic decision
making.
2.2 Fire Behaviour / Fire Weather /
Fuel Systems –Building Trainer Expertise
Southern Australia; Northern
Australia Dates TBA
In these two three day courses
participants will review their current training strategies in
relation to the research content provided in SC1–ASPB
’Fire behaviour/fire weather/fuel systems‘ and
plan and develop new training delivery approaches. Some time will
be spent on reviewing the latest approaches to adult learning and
training and on participants gaining experience in micro-teaching
and/or developing curricula in selected research content.
3. Fire Notes
24 Fire Notes have been
published (to right). A further 22 Fire Notes are in
preparation, for completion over the next 18 months.
4. Postgraduate Theses
Six Doctoral theses have been
completed, and another twelve and one Masters level postgraduate
studies are underway. A list of students and thesis topics is
located at www.bushfirecrc.com/
5. Specific Products
·
Long-term research
sites have been established and documented across most sites in
Australia. Specific information about these sites is currently
available from the Bushfire CRC website. It is intended that MOUs
will be prepared and signed with each relevant managing agency
concerning the future management and monitoring of each site.
·
A field guide for
Burning Under Young Eucalypt Plantations is in preparation
with a publication scheduled for April 2009.
·
A book synthesizing all the
research carried out as part of Program B is in its final
preparation and will be published in 2009 .
