Modelling the impacts of bushfire events on forestryFriday 3 Mar 2023
In the face of a climate likely to become hotter and drier in the future, and with bushfires continuing to pose a significant threat, a variety of forestry-related research initiatives are currently underway across Australia. As an industry, forestry is particularly vulnerable to bushfire threat, with the associated risks having the potential to impact plantation companies, native forest managers, wood processors and manufacturers in a variety of ways. The latest episode of FWPA’s WoodChat podcast series therefore focuses on a recently-completed FWPA-supported research project aimed at increasing the industry’s capacity to minimise the impacts of future bushfire events. This work is focused on updating fuel accumulation and fire spread models for Australian forestry plantations. The project was co-funded by most of Australia’s large plantation managers, with matching funding from the Australian Government. “A better understanding of how fuel accumulates over time in plantations means improved performance of fire behaviour simulators and, in turn, more accurate predictions of fire risk for plantation owners,” said Dr Kate Parkins of the University of Melbourne's School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences FLARE (FLAmes to REgimes) Wildfire Research Group, who led the research and is interviewed during the episode. “Our results indicate that fuel loads have previously been under-predicted at key times during a rotation. This suggests that, in some cases, landscape-scale fire risk in areas with plantations may also have been underestimated. As part of our research, we explored future fire risk across different growing regions and under different climate projections. This enabled us to quantify where in the landscape and under what conditions fire risk will be at its highest. This information can be used by plantation owners to guide strategic fuel management and minimise future fire risk,” Parkins said. The research also highlighted that, for plantations overall, rapid suppression response times represent the best area for investment to minimise plantation losses under a changing climate. In addition, other important approaches identified to help reduce future fire impact on plantations included continued fuel management strategies outside of plantations, and a focus on increased early detection. In addition to Dr Parkin’s work, during the episode hosts Sam and Georgia provide a round-up of other interesting projects around bushfire mitigation and management happening around Australia. Listeners will hear from David Bowman, Professor of Pyrogeography and Fire Science at the University of Tasmania, about a sophisticated fire detection camera known as FireHawk. Also included is Rodney Carter, CEO of the Dja Dja Wurrung Group, on the organisation’s focus on and promotion of traditional, cultural and cool burning practices as a means of mitigating bushfire risk. And Dr Kevin Tolhurst AM, Principal Fellow of the School of Ecosystem and Forest Sciences at the University of Melbourne speaks on the development of an Australian bushfire management framework. You can listen to WoodChat on Soundcloud, iTunes and Spotify. Source: FWPA | ||
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