Administered by CYPDA and funded by the Natural Heritage Trust, the Cape York Peninsula Sustainable Fire Management (CYPSFM) project aims to improve coordination and cooperation between land holders across all land tenures, and develop a sound basis for sustainable fire management strategies and practices. The project is directed by a steering committee, comprised of community and government representatives.
The project documents existing fire regimes to establish best practice fire management for sustainable pastoralism, biodiversity conservation, traditional Aboriginal approaches and broad community issues, including the reduction of large scale wildfires that can endanger communities and cause economic losses for business. This is achieved through analysis of detailed fire histories, vegetation plots, pastoral studies as well as Aboriginal and community consultation and the development of fire plans.
CYPSFM is based in the Cairns office of the CYPDA. It is an excellent example of how cutting-edge technology can be harnessed in a practical way to assist land managers to better understand the effects of fire and enhance the economic potential of their land. Training is being delivered to landowners on Cape York in use of the technology.
The project also has far reaching environmental impacts, some of which will not be realised for years to come. The CYPSFM project is being extended throughout Queensland as the Rangeland Fire Project (see below) and will have staff in Roma and Townsville.
Fire Management Project Objectives
Fire information, including hotspots, firescars and satellite imagery, is regularly being provided to land managers to assist them in managing fires more effectively. NOAA and MODIS hotspots for this region are also being used to track the daily movement of fires. Access to MODIS imagery has enabled the project to expand the area it is mapping for firescars to include the whole of Queensland, being mapped once to twice a week. A complete fire history for Queensland dating back to the year 2000 is currently being mapped using archived MODIS imagery.
The project is analysing fire management at a regional scale for Cape York and in more detail for the Laura Basin. CYPDA now has an 8-year fire history for Cape York Peninsula.
The greater detailed information collected in the Laura Basin will be used to determine the effects of fire on vegetation change at the sites. Woody vegetation change is also being examined using remote sensing to link the satellite mapped fire frequency history of Cape York Peninsula with measurements of woody change such as Foliage Projective Cover (FPC), fine-scale satellite imagery and aerial photography. It is planned to conduct ‘Before and After Fire’ fauna surveys to assess the impact of low and high intensity fires in different areas around the Cape York Peninsula.
A current study is collecting economic data that will be used to model and investigate the economics of fire management on Cape York Peninsula. Results will permit pastoralists to gain improved understanding of the overall relevance of fire to sustainable production and environments, while the CYPDA and natural resource management agencies covering the Cape York Peninsula will gain valuable economic information regarding the coordination of fire management on pastoral properties, conservation areas and Indigenous lands.
The Rangelands Fire Project is funded through Queensland State Government Strategic Reserve Funding, and builds on the Cape York Sustainable Fire Management Program.
A steering group for the project has been formed to provide information on how fire tracking technology can be utilised by land managers in Southern/Central Queensland rangelands to manage fire related risks to their properties.
The project encourages land holders to look beyond their own back yards to manage fires as they have no respect for property boundaries. Inland areas of southern and central Queensland lack a broad scale, regionally driven community process to identify fire management issues and determine priority actions. The Rangelands Fire Project seeks to redress a lack of baseline information to drive informed decision making - both in relation to wildfire response priorities and regional proactive fire management planning.
The project is a collaborative exercise between Regional Natural Resource Management bodies, Queensland Department of Primary Industries and Fisheries, Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, the Queensland Department of Natural Resources and Water, Environmental Protection Agency, Rural Fire Service, AgForce, local Councils and landholders.
A survey of landholders on the subject of fire use, woody thickening and satellite technology was conducted from August to November 2007 across the regional area of Queensland. The analysis and compilation of the results have now been completed and are contained in a report which can be viewed at http://www.cypda.com.au/files/Rangelands_Survey.pdf
CYPDA Inc. wishes to thank participants for their time and effort to fill in the survey. The results are extremely valuable particularly because the knowledge has come from the coalface. Your experience and knowledge is by far the best measurement towards best practice.
In cooperation with State Emergency Services and Rural Fire Service, Queensland, CYPDA has been engaged to install a number of radio communication towers to bring UHF coverage for Fire Management to the greater part of the Peninsula. To date 3 extra towers have been installed and 4 others will be installed before July 2007. Installing the additional UHF repeaters will result in increased UHF radio coverage, greatly increasing the effectiveness of fire management activity throughout Cape York Peninsula.
Fire information is available through The North Australian Fire Information (NAFI) website www.firenorth.org.au, which identifies fire hotspots, enabling land managers to respond rapidly to outbreaks and also provides fire history maps to assist with better managing fuel loads throughout the year to prevent highly destructive wild fires.