This presentation by Stuart Midgley, Assistant Commissioner of NSW Rural Fire Service presents an update on the 2014-15 fire season and an overview of the RFS projects related to fire and restoration., Presentation from Nature Conservation Council of NSW 2015 Bushfire Conference - Fire and Restoration: working with fire for healthy land

1. NATURE CONSERVATION COUNCIL
BUSHFIRE CONFERENCE 2015
Stuart Midgley AFSM | Assistant Commissioner

2. 2014/15 Fire Season
› Forecast was for above normal bush fire potential
› Season began with early operational activity in the Clarence
Valley and Lower North Coast
› Further significant activity followed in the Blue Mountains
› Widespread rain resulted in more favourable conditions and
reduced the risk
› There was late activity in the north west (Pilliga)
› Despite a relatively benign season, there were still 11,382
bush, grass, forest fires, as well as 10,885 other incidents
› Provided interstate firefighting assistance to VIC, SA, WA,
Canada and cyclone affected Elcho Island (NT) as well as
recent storm events within NSW

3. 2015-16 Outlook
› BoM has advised that El Nino thresholds have been
reached
› Outlook is for drier than average and warmer than
average conditions during late winter/spring
› Recent rain and storms have saturated fuel and
hindered hazard reduction activities
› The RFS will conduct dryness and fuel load
assessments in the lead-up to the upcoming season
› The NSW RFS will be working closely with the BoM
over the coming months

4. Breaking down boundaries: Collaboration
in Restoration
› NSW RFS Objectives
› Prevention, mitigation and suppression
› Coordination of firefighting and fire prevention
› Protection of people, assets and environment
› Fire for risk reduction and fire for restoration are not distinct
› Hazard reduction and risk mitigation processes can support or
enhance biodiversity
› Collaboration to achieve best possible outcome for healthy
landscapes
› It is better to have low intensity hazard reduction activity then
bushfire

5. Hotspots Fire Project

6. Hotspots – Bowen Mountain 2015
› Bowen Mountain workshop focused on the role of
fire in weed management, especially lantana
› Collaboration between land owners, land
managers and subject experts resulted in win/win
for both fire and environmental management
› Integration of responsible land management and
HR
› Increased landscape productivity

7. Aboriginal Communities and the RFS: Perfect Partners

8. Aboriginal Communities: Cultural burning
› Perfect Partners
› Bushfire Resilience for Aboriginal Communities (BRAC)
› Joint program with Fire and Rescue NSW, Aboriginal
Groups and BFMCs
› Encourages participation in BFMCs

9. Garby Country Project
› Brings key partners together
› Integrated and culturally appropriate program
› Further research on cultural burning and development
of relationships

10. Helping an Aussie icon

11. Bermagui Koala Management
› Listed as Vulnerable: fire is a key threat
› Collaborative research project to manage risk to koalas
and fire risk to the community
› Community volunteers establish location of
populations (scat identification)
› Land managers and landowners plan fire
management strategies based on data
› Restoration of species habitat and engagement of
landowners

12. Bush Fire Environmental Assessment
Code Review
› Streamlined assessment process
› 2013 / 14 saw 2,631 HRCs issued
› Code is currently under review
› Multi-agency reference group
› Key changes
› APZ distances
› Fire trail assessment
› Soil erosion risk
› Threatened species
› Anticipate draft Code available Sept 2015