<
https://theconversation.com/a-patchwork-of-spinifex-how-we-returned-cultural-burning-to-the-great-sandy-desert-240447>
"How can a desert burn? Australia’s vast deserts aren’t just sand dunes –
they’re often dotted with flammable spinifex grass hummocks. When heavy rains
fall, grass grows quickly before drying out. That’s how a desert can burn.
When our Karajarri and Ngurrara ancestors lived nomadic lifestyles in what’s
now called the Great Sandy Desert in northwestern Australia, they lit many
small fires in spinifex grass as they walked. Fires were used seasonally for
ceremonies, signalling to others, flushing out animals, making travel easier
(spinifex is painfully sharp), cleaning campsites, and stimulating fresh
vegetation growth ready for foraging or luring game when people returned a few
months later. The result was a patchwork desert.
After colonisation, this ended. Without management, the spinifex and grassy
deserts began to burn in some of the largest fires in Australia.
But now the work of caring for desert country (pirra) with fire (jungku, or
warlu) has begun again. We are Karajarri and Ngurrara rangers who care for
110,000 square kilometres of the Great Sandy Desert. Our techniques have
changed – we now drop incendiaries from helicopters to cover more distance –
but our goals are similar. Guided by our elders, we are combining traditional
knowledge with modern technologies and science to refine how we manage fire in
a changing world.
In research published today, we and our co-authors paired analysis of historic
fire patterns with five years of fauna surveys. Put together, we found mature
spinifex was important for creatures of the Great Sandy Desert – and that means
we should burn small and often, like our ancestors."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
