Northern fire issues aired at forum

A wet and muggy Darwin was the 2019 venue for fire managers from across the north of Australia to discuss topics of interest to the tropical savannas at the North Australia Fire Managers (NAFM) forum at the start of April.

The forum was on Wednesday 3 April 2019 with a field trip the following day, where the participants visited the Tiwi Islands to view Indigenous based plantation forestry operations.

The Executive Director of Bushfires NT Collene Bremner opened the forum with comments on the challenges of fire management across the north of Australia, drawing on specific issues in the Northern Territory.

Other talks focused on the main highlights, activities and weather impacts of the last fire season and how these would affect the upcoming season. Despite the good rainfall while the Forum was on, there was a strong likelihood that the wet season would end with poor total rainfalls in both the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Queensland, in contrast, was still feeling the effects of a severe drought and several major fires that were quickly followed by two cyclones and extensive flooding.

Presentations from the 2019 NAFM forum are now online, along with presentations from other recent NAFM meetings.

Charles Darwin researchers provided updates to projects on Indigenous community engagement, 4D fire behaviour simulations, grassland fire danger ratings, and on the North Australia Fire Information (NAFI). CRC Research Director Dr John Bates outlined the key CRC projects of relevance to the north.

A guest speaker was Anna Boustead, from the Indigenous Carbon Industry Network, who gave an overview of the Indigenous based carbon industry in the Northern Territory and the Savanna Fire Forum, which was a sell-out with 230 attendees at Charles Darwin University in February.

The forum was held at Northern Australia Development Office and a representative of that organisation, Katherine Winchester, from NT Seafood Council, was invited to speak about government assisted developments in the Northern Territory, particularly in the seafood industry but also more generally across other industries.

The NAFM Forum 2019 attracted 46 participants and was hosted by the Northern Territory member Bushfires NT, with the support of the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC. Other participants included NT Fire and Emergency Services, Northern Land Council, Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, Queensland Parks and Wildlife, Bureau of Meteorology, AFAC, WA Department of Conservation, Biodiversity and Attractions, WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services, NSW Rural Fire Service, Australian Defence Force, Charles Darwin University, Western Sydney University, CSIRO and the University of Western Australia.

The Seasonal Bushfire Outlook for Northern Australia is usually developed at this meeting but will now be discussed at a teleconference in May, given the earlier than usual timing of this NAFM meeting.

NAFM 2019 was also held alongside the CRC Research Advisory Forum for Northern Australia. This meeting included a day of research presentations and discussions at Charles Darwin University and was open to all NAFM participants.