Ancient Soil Secrets: How Indigenous Land Practices Shaped Australia’s Fire-Resilient Landscapes
Revisiting 130,000 Years of Vegetation History to Address Today’s Bushfire Crisis
Ancient Mud Unlocks 130,000 Years of Australia’s Fire Management History
Australia’s relationship with fire extends back thousands of years, with Indigenous land management practices deeply shaping the continent’s ecology. A recent study published in Science1 examines how Aboriginal communities increased land management activities in southeastern Australia about 6,000 years ago, reducing forest shrub cover dramatically. This reduction, evidenced through fossil pollen preserved in ancient mud, provides valuable insights into historical vegetation changes and offers important lessons for addressing modern bushfire risks.
Understanding How Shrub Cover Fuels High-Intensity Fires
Shrubs play a crucial role in fire dynamics by acting as connectors between ground fires and forest canopies, which allows flames to spread more rapidly and intensely. The study found that as Indigenous land management practices expanded, shrub density in forests decreased, effectively reducing the potential for large, high-intensity fires. In contrast, modern shrub density in some forests is now higher than it was 130,000–115,000 years ago—a period with a similar climate to today’s but without human intervention. This trend underscores the importance of Indigenous practices in minimizing fire risks and offers new strategies for Australia’s current fire management challenges, especially as climate change intensifies fire conditions.
The Shrub Problem: Legacy of Fire Suppression Policies
Australia has largely depended on fire suppression to manage fires, a strategy that, while useful in the short term, has led to unchecked shrub growth in the long term. In southeastern Australia, decades of fire suppression have allowed the shrub layer to grow denser, creating a “ladder” that fuels fires as they spread upward into forest canopies. This denser vegetation layer has contributed to more intense and difficult-to-control fires, turning southeastern Australia into a fire-prone region. Fossil pollen data from ancient wetlands and lake beds reveal that the region’s vegetation has grown denser over time, creating landscapes increasingly susceptible to large-scale fires.
Insights from 130,000 Years of Climate and Human Impact
The study tracked vegetation changes in southeastern Australia over the past 130,000 years, analyzing fossil pollen and archaeological data to determine how climate and human land use shaped the region’s ecology. Researchers focused on key historical periods: pre-human Australia, periods of Indigenous habitation, and the era following British colonization. Using sophisticated models, they estimated vegetation cover and human land-use patterns over these intervals, revealing that while natural climate cycles influenced vegetation, Indigenous land practices maintained a balance in the ecosystem. Regular, controlled burning by Indigenous groups, particularly in southeastern regions, managed shrub growth and prevented high-intensity fires—a stark contrast to the fire suppression policies that arrived with British colonizers and led to increased plant matter accumulation.
Traditional Fire Management and Cultural Burning: A Sustainable Model
Indigenous Australians have developed nuanced fire management techniques over tens of thousands of years. Evidence of controlled cultural burning in Australia dates back at least 11,000 years, and likely further, with practices that varied regionally. These controlled burns served many ecological purposes, from encouraging plant diversity to reducing fire risk by keeping vegetation density in check.
The introduction of European land management practices during British colonization marked a dramatic shift, replacing Indigenous practices with fire suppression techniques that led to densely vegetated forests. This buildup of vegetation created conditions primed for severe fires, as seen in the catastrophic 2019–20 Black Summer fires.
Integrating Indigenous Knowledge for Effective Fire Management
The study points to the potential of integrating Indigenous fire management techniques into modern fire strategies. Indigenous-led fire management, which is already gaining support in northern Australia, involves collaborating with Traditional Owners to restore natural fire regimes and protect ecosystems. Reducing shrub density and other fire-prone vegetation layers can help prevent high-intensity fires, particularly along the bush-urban interface. By combining Indigenous knowledge, which has been passed down through generations, with modern ecological management, Australia could reduce fire risks in a sustainable and culturally respectful manner.
Toward a Collaborative Solution to Australia’s Fire Crisis
Australia’s fire crisis requires a multi-faceted approach that extends beyond fire suppression. Collaboration with Indigenous fire management practitioners offers a sustainable, effective framework for controlling fires. This approach not only addresses immediate fire risks but also fosters a long-term stewardship model that respects Australia’s unique ecological and cultural needs.
Indigenous fire management practices, combined with scientific analysis of historical vegetation, offer powerful tools for rethinking fire management strategies in Australia. This collaboration represents a promising pathway for protecting lives, landscapes, and biodiversity from the escalating risks posed by increasingly severe bushfires.
Mariani, M., Wills, A., Herbert, A., Adeleye, M., Florin, S. A., Cadd, H., Connor, S., Kershaw, P., Theuerkauf, M., Stevenson, J., Fletcher, M.-S., Mooney, S., Bowman, D., & Haberle, S. (2024). Shrub cover declined as Indigenous populations expanded across southeast Australia. Science (New York, N.Y.), 386(6721), 567–573. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adn8668