What are ecological fire management strategies?

Ecological fire management strategies have been developed for several significant threatened or pest species for which fire is a critical threat or management tool.

Each strategy supports decision making to maximise ecological benefits and minimise ecological risks when undertaking prescribed burns.

They identify issues to consider before, during and after fire. These include protecting food sources, nesting areas and habitat, how to protect sites during a bushfire, weed control strategies and monitoring priorities.

What are ecological fire management guidelines?

NPWS has developed Ecological fire management guidelines to help when conducting prescribed burns in conservation zones.

They can be used to develop ecological fire regimes (the interval, frequency, spatial, intensity and season of a fire) to maintain and enhance biodiversity. It does this by identifying fire regimes that are most appropriate for the suite of species within each major vegetation type.

This helps land managers decide the appropriate regime to maintain broad biodiversity values in that location.