Representatives of Natural Hazards Research Australia (the Centre) were invited to share research knowledge and actionable findings at a recent meeting of the Tasmanian Bushfire Research Group in Hobart.
Centre researcher, Lachlan Beggs (Deakin University) shared resources and knowledge gained during the Cultural land management research and governance in south-east Australia project, in the presentation A sense of partnership: understanding the practice of collaborative Indigenous fire and land management in mainland southeast Australia.
Centre Victoria and Tasmania Node Research Manager, Dr Blythe McLennan introduced the Centre’s updated research portfolio and highlighted new Tasmanian-relevant Centre research, including Operationalising Aboriginal land and sea management and Identifying and defining landscape dryness thresholds for fires.
Other Centre research also on display included current projects being undertaken by the Bureau of Meteorology and a new project initiated by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania - Fire mosaics in landscape fire planning.
Blythe also assisted Dr Pep Turner, Manager State Fire Management Council in facilitating a Fire management practice to research workshop on the following day, designed to empower participants to develop a shared understanding of their agencies’ research priorities and how to progress them in a coordinated way. This workshop supported the State Fire Management Council’s strategic aim to support and promote bushfire research and innovation.
During this workshop, a working group of agency representatives was set up to document and progress participants’ shared outcomes, including the mapping of Centre and other research against the research priorities identified by the group, and possibly establish a Tasmanian multi-agency bushfire research committee in the longer term.
The remit of the Tasmanian Bushfire Research Group is to share, collaborate and implement a state-wide research agenda and the group is managed by the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania and Tasmanian Parks and Wildlife Service.
Presentations at this meeting featured representatives from the managing organisations, including the Parks and Wildlife Service’s Aboriginal Burning Program, as well as from the Australian National University, Bureau of Meteorology, Deakin University, melythina tiakanna warrana Aboriginal Corporation, Natural Hazards Research Australia, Queensland University of Technology, Sustainable Timber Tasmania, University of Adelaide and University of Tasmania.
Congratulations to the organisers for bringing these important events together.