Post bushfire recovery support

The 2019-20 wildfires of eastern and southern Australia were beyond normal. Catalysed by extensive drought and unusually high temperatures, these fires were exceptionally extensive, long-lasting and severe. More than 12 million hectares were burnt over the period August 2019 to March 2020, across forests, heathlands and farmlands from south-eastern Queensland to eastern Victoria, on Kangaroo Island and in south-western Australia.

As a consequence of these wildfires many threatened species are now far more imperilled, and many species we formerly considered secure can no longer be presumed safe. The 2019–20 wildfires caused a loss of extraordinary magnitude to Australian biodiversity.

Recognising the urgent need to assess the impact of these fires on biodiversity, and that more evidence was needed to help design and prioritise recovery actions, the Minister for the Environment directed $2 million to the hub to undertake a set of priority fire-related research projects.

This work includes:

• Designing rapid on-ground reconnaissance surveys for post natural disaster (fire) to assess the status of species, ecological communities, habitats and threats
• Design for post-fire impact monitoring, including synthesis of current monitoring projects
• Post-fire impact assessment for priority frogs
• Indigenous aspirations and capacity for bushfire response
• Fire-affected invertebrates: priority species and management response
• Variation in the population response to fires across the distributions of priority vertebrate species – where are impacts greatest, and what management actions will support recovery?
• Genetic assessment of priority taxa and management priorities
• Estimating wildlife mortality during the 2019-20 bushfire season
• The impact of myrtle rust on fire regeneration
• Summary of 2019-20 bushfire impacts and emergency responses on freshwater fish
• Impacts of post-fire ash and runoff sediment on physiological tolerances of Australian freshwater aquatic fauna
• Survival and recovery of threatened animal species in fire-affected World Heritage Areas, Gondwana Rainforests
• Changes in feral cat density across time-since-fire and fire location, Kangaroo Island
• Fire-related risks and conservation strategies for Ecological Communities
• Managing impacts of feral herbivores on threatened species and ecological communities post-fire
• Review of faunal responses to fire and post-fire management
• Better managing fire and fire impacts for koala conservation
• Improving rapid bushfire response for conservation of threatened species and communities