Witnessing Australian Bushfires

Bushfires in Kakadu NP as seen from the plane towards Cairns

Remember when I explained why Australian bushfires can be good — not talking about wild fires of course? I witnessed burning bush and grass in the Darwin region (Northern Territory) on 5 out of 6 days last July (cool season).

Even though prescribed burnings are considered “low intensity” it felt odd to drive through forest areas burning till the border of the street. The following photos are taken out of the car while passing fires in Kakadu National Park.

1. Approaching a managed fire area by car. Park Rangers scout the park for high growing plants, then throw in a few matches to avoid that too much fuel is building up. This shall prevent the region from struggling with high intensity fires, which would be much harder to control.

2. Most of the bushfires I have seen around Darwin were smouldering, producing lots of smoke only. However, I did come across fires with high flames as well, and despite of my distance I clearly heard it crackling and sizzling. Controlled fires usually extinguish on their own during the colder morning hours.

3. The sun through a thick smoke cloud. Since Park Rangers only burn small patches here and there, animals like birds and kangaroos can easily change location. For mice, lizards and other small ground animals however, fires are a real threat. They have to leave their ground holes and escape the heat while hawks are circling above them, watching out for food (yes, the black dots on the photo below are hawks — click on the image to see it in big). They learned fast that fires mean feast time for them.

Bushfire between Kakadu NP and Litchfield NP

4. Passing a part of the forest which had been recently burned and now starts to recover. The ashes act like fertilizer for fireproof seedlings.

A few months after, nature recovered, new plants grow wildly and the whole cylce restarts.

What do you think of fire management?

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Photo Essay: Northern Territory, Australia

How could I ever squeeze the words “freezing”, “dry”, “red”, “traditional”, “heat”, “crocodile”, “billabong”, “blue” and “bushfire” into one photo essay description without writing a novel? You’re right, I can’t. So let me just briefly discuss some weather phenomenons of the Northern Territory, which create a huge natural variety and diversity on the 1,800 kilometres between Australia’s tropical North and the continent’s arid centre.

During our first week in the Red Centre — around Alice Springs — we didn’t see a single cloud. Unfortunately, that clear blue sky over the desert didn’t offer much protection when temperatures dropped from comfortable 20°C over the day to uncomfortable 0°C at night. Camping fun!

That said, taking the plane to Darwin to spend our second week in the Northern Territory’s tropical North sounded like the greatest thing since sliced bread. Due to the wet season, when tropical cyclones and monsoons reign the northern top end, the Darwin region gets 9 times more rain each year than the central desert. While it didn’t rain during our stay (July = dry season), we got to see some clouds up north; and we were finally back to comfortable camping temperatures at night.

Let’s have a look at how these weather differences influence(d) the land, nature and animals of the Northern Territory.

Typical morning routine: A hot beverage to forget the freezing night temperatures

Uluru — Ayers Rock — is the reason why thousands of tourists travel thousands of kilometres through the Australian desert each year

Some shapes, like this wave, are inexplicable (if you don’t believe in the Aboriginies’ mythology)

The moon over Uluru, which isn’t all that smooth on the surface and actually reminds me of New Zealand Kauri

Each evening, Uluru does its magic when it’s turning redder and redder

Every morning the same procedure…

Sunrise over The Olgas (Kata Tjuta)

These large domed rock formations are not far from Uluru but lesser known

The Kata Tjuta Rim Walk leads through beautiful landscapes, though it’s often unsheltered and tough in hot summer temperatures

Kings Canyon, another red National Park in the NT

To be honest, I preferred the walks and views over Kings Canyon to Ayers Rock and The Olgas

Enjoying the sunrise on the Kings Canyon Rim Walk

Ghost Gum, a rare evergreen eucalyptus tree growing in rocky and arid regions of the NT

Harsh desert conditions are tough on plants, which often appear spiky

That’s the soil such plants can grow on in the West McDonnell Ranges (Trephina Gorge) near Alice Springs

A species found in the East McDonnell Ranges

Ormiston Gorge reflections (sorry for the mind play :) )

Perfect reflections like this one are only visible in the early morning or late evening hours when the wind settles down

Ellerlie Creek Dolomite Walk — a kangaroo’s paradise

Nature is the best artist!

Waterhole at Ellerlie Creek (10°C)

Taking the plane from Alice Springs to Darwin; flying over the beautifully meandering Adelaide River

Must do from Darwin: Visiting the Kakadu National Park

Marveling at the sunset over these wide plains with heaps of billabongs

It isn’t recommended to go close to billabongs since crocodiles live in there

So we focused on the tiny animal world…

…and flowers growing on arid soil

The NT is and always has been home to many Aboroginies

Their culture and dreamtime stories are well documented and explained in the National Parks as well as museums nearby

Kakadu NP: yellow flowers

Kakadu NP: Yellow Water

When joining a Yellow Water Cruise, locals will guide you really close to these inhabitants of the billabongs

Crocodile blending in. That’s why they’re so dangerous and unpredictable

Lotus flowers on the Yello Water billabongs

Bushfire between Kakadu NP and Litchfield NP

Litchfield is known for its amazing termite mound landscapes. Besides the cathedral mounds that you can also see in Kakadu NP, Litchfield is home to magnetic termites, building their mounds in a Nort-South direction to avoid that their homes heat up too much

This cathedral termite mound is over 3 metres tall

Litchfield’s waterholes serve as natural pools, which are frequented by locals as well as tourists

After walking around this natural pool in the midday sun, nothing could stop us from jumping straight in

Last sunset over Darwin before heading East to Queensland (photo essay to come)

If you like this article you might also want to check out my:

• Photo Essay: South Australia, Australia
• Photo Essay: Victoria, Australia
• Photo Essay: New South Wales, Australia
• Photo Essay: Australian Grounds

Why Australian Fires Can Be Good

Here I am, trying to summarize a rather surprising lesson I learned during our recent vacation in Australia. So far, the media had managed to paint a different picture of bushfires in Oz in my head. 

Fires have been a specific feature of the Australian continent since millions of years. Primarily eucalyptus forests as well as banksia woodlands have evolved to be dependent on fire. But not only plants, even animals depend on fire for reproduction or survival.

Aboriginal people have long been aware of this relationship of fire to bush regeneration. They learned to live with bushfires and began to manage them through strategic man-made fires. This form of vegetation management is nowadays maintained by the Australian Department of Parks and Wildlife, which uses prescribed burnings in both urban and rural areas.

Prescribed burnings are used as hazard reduction during the cooler months to reduce fuel buildup and decrease the likelihood of high intensity fires. Controlled fires are generally less than a metre high, erasing bushes and leaving behind a layer of ash which acts like fertilizer and helps to maintain biodiversity.

Thanks to our recent trip through the south-east of Australia I can give you a concrete example of where prescribed burnings could be a lifesaver for a bunch of cuddly koalas, and another example of how a fire stimulates germination:

1. In Hordern Vale, a region at the Great Ocean Road in Victoria, these adorable koalas on the photo above suffer from a lack of bushfires. The absence of flames over there allows coastal scrub to spread throughout their eucalyptus forest. Low dense plants prevent the sunlight from reaching the forest floor where new eucalyptus seeds depend on the warmth and the light of the sun to grow. As the coastal scrub acts like a pest the next bushfire could help to eliminate that problem and allow new eucalyptus seedlings to grow.

Have a look at the photo below: The black and white image shows a severely affected part of the Hordern Vale forest as seen in December 2013. The old eucalyptus trees are not only surrounded by dense bushes, they are bald as well; partly because of their age, partly because of koalas. The cuddly marsupials “waste” up to 3 kg of eucalyptus a day (in fact, one koala eats up to 1 kg and throws up to 2 kg to the ground – they are a picky bunch!). To guarantee their survival new trees are needed.

As you can see, a prescribed fire might be one possible solution with which the Hordern Vale locals could try to combat the decline of their eucalyptus forest. If they fail, they might need to think of a strategy to relocate the koalas; a process which many of them might not survive.

2. A vast number of Australian plants only produces flowers and seeds as reaction to fire; one could say it’s a survival strategy. Their seeds are therefore fire proof and able to survive large bushfires. The ashes act like soil fertilizer and help the seeds to germinate.

Let’s have a closer look at the different stages of a Banksia tree flower.

4 different stages of a Banksia tree flower.

Top left: Nectar producing flower spikes.
Top right: old flower spikes get brown and “hairy”.
Bottom left: Old Banksia cones only form follicles with seeds when under threat (for example due to extreme heat).
Bottom right: The cones require the heat of a fire to open and disperse the seeds.

Does all that mean global warming is no major threat for Australia? Not at all! Global warming increases the chances for wild bushfires and decreases the opportunities for prescribed hazard reduction burnings. More frequent “megafires” means less time for nature to recover from former fires, but it still takes up to 5 years till new plants are able to produce their fire-proof seeds which ensure the survival of complete forests.

To wrap up, wildfires can have a positive impact on wildlife and landscapes. However, if they reach high intensity they can kill and injure humans and damage property. To prevent or reduce the size of wildfires prescribed burnings are a possible approach and the reason why my post is titled “Why Australian Fires Can Be Good”.

Please let me know what YOU think. I am aware that some people oppose prescribed burnings as they fear they damage the environment. Do they cause more damage than high-intensity wildfires getting more and more frequent?

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