Bushfire experts spot native plants popping up after managed blazes
Bushfire experts spot native plants popping up after managed blazes
10 October 2014
published by www.dailytelegraph.com
Australia — Native plant species are popping up along the harbour thanks to hazard reduction burns.
A team of firefighters burned off undergrowth at a Wollstonecraft reserve on Friday and they have noticed their previous efforts are having a positive effort on biodiversity.
We get some really good regeneration, said Bushfire Officer and Senior Firefighter Rob Strauch.
The non-natives take dominance over the reserves and by clearing them it gives the natives a chance of growing again.
He explained that a lot of the species appearing havent been seen around the harbour area.
The fire at Badangi Reserve was a moderate intensity burn, which is optimum for enhancing ecological biodiversity.
The firefighters just took the undergrowth out to reduce the fuel load in the reserve.
It was hailed as an excellent burn by the team and took six hours to complete. It is the second burn in the reserve in just over a year and nearby Balls Head was burned off in July.
It cleaned up really nicely, he said.
There was a little bit of rain on Wednesday, which helped us as otherwise it would have been too dry to keep in the box.
The burn has created fire breaks for the residents in neighbouring Cable and Tryon Streets.
The south west wind conditions were favourable for the burn and the smoke did not affect a nearby colony of microbats.
Three fire trucks from Drumoyne, Randwick and Mosman attended the operation.
Meanwhile, the NSW Rural Fire Service says firefighters are preparing for a challenging few months ahead.
Its a more ominous outlook than we had last year, said commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting above-average temperatures and below-average rainfall for the next three months.
Mr Fitzsimmons urged people living in high-risk areas to prepare their properties and make a bushfire survival plan.
The RFS is holding its first ever Get Ready Weekend on October 18-19 to get people prepared for the fire season. Details: rfs.nsw.gov.au.
