Researchers reconstructed 1,000 years of vegetation and fire history within Croajingolong national park in Gippsland, Victoria. The study involved working with the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation to reconstruct this history at Purghagoolah, a lake surrounded by forest in the park.
Investigators analysed pollen and charcoal particles deposited over time within a sediment core that measured one metre. Michael-Shawn Fletcher stated that prior to colonisation, the area represented a 'cared for and managed landscape'.
The research indicated that the shift from open woodland to dense forest following 1788 resulted in more intense fires. Furthermore, the removal of the Gunaikurnai people from Country, according to Fletcher, caused alterations in the amount of trees and shrubs across the landscape, which drove more fires.
Fletcher explained that land use change, occurring over a century before climate shifts, permitted shrubs to increase, leading to hotter fires that subsequently triggered eucalypt recruitment, which in turn increased eucalypts and drove further fire. Cultural burning, which First Nations people use to maintain a safe and productive landscape, is based on a responsive “right time, right place” approach, differing from government agency prescribed burning practices.
Prof David Bowman noted that taking out traditional fire management represents a very significant change, although other factors such as non-native plants and animals have worsened the changes. The findings provided scientific proof regarding the value of cultural burning and the necessity of integrating Indigenous knowledge into modern fire management methods.
Prof David Bowman stated that the research was significant and contributed to the “growing realisation” about the legacy of landscape change resulting from the loss of Indigenous fire management.
