As is the case with much of north Australia, fire plays an
important role in the maintenance of ecological systems in Cape
York. The country ranges from floodplains to mountains, often with
dramatically different rainfall regimes, which has important
implications for fire behaviour and management. Fire management is
much more of an issue on the drier Western side of the cape than on
the eastern side. Outside of these physical parameters though, the
issues involved in fire management on Cape York have much in common
with those of the other savanna regions.
Fire and land use
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This 2000 satellite photo shows early
fires in blue and late fires (after July 31) in red. Cape York has
few early fires and many late fires on its western coast
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Many areas of Cape York which were once inhabited by Aboriginal
people now have few visitors. The Cape York Land Council and others
are encouraging traditional people to move back to some of these
areas, but in the meantime, they remain unmanaged.
Likewise, the number of people working in the pastoral industry
continues to decrease. This means fewer people to help out on the
stations, and therefore less hands-on fire management (burning) is
taking place. With low cattle prices and rising operational costs,
many station owners have been forced to supplement their incomes
with off-farm employment. This cuts into the time they can spend
looking after their properties. Another contributing factor to the
decline of effective fire management has been that as properties
have changed hands, land-management knowledge accumulated over many
generations is often not passed on.
Burning as a management tool
The burning of pastoral country can help achieve several
management ends. Primarily it can help maintain native pasture, as
well as help control a range of exotic weeds. Appropriate fire
regimes then have the potential to greatly improve the productivity
of grazing areas.
Queensland Parks & Wildlife personnel in Cape York also use
fire to achieve various goals. Much of the burning is carried out
in an attempt to achieve a mosaic of vegetation types akin to that
which would have resulted from traditional Aboriginal burning
regimes. The timing of these burns depends on the ecology of the
particular park, and the tolerance of the species which live
there.
Storm burns
Of late, Queensland Parks & Wildlife personnel have been
carrying out what are known as 'storm burns'. These are very hot
fires lit just before the rains come when fuel levels are very
high. These fires are specifically aimed at encouraging the return
of native grasses to country which has been thickening up with
woody weeds and trees. Incursion of these trees into areas which
were previously grassland savannas impacts on biodiversity and
threatens the survival of certain species.
Queensland Parks & Wildlife also use fire to control the
spread of rainforest into other unique habitats. These burns help
maintain maximum biodiversity of the parks. However, like all the
other stakeholders in Cape York, National Parks is also severely
constrained by a lack of resources - only four rangers are employed
to manage all the parks on the Cape.
Fire and the golden-shouldered parrot
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The golden-shouldered parrot is declining
in Melaleuca woodlands under a regime without intense late
fires.
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Seed-eating birds such as the golden-shouldered parrot rely on
the grasslands for both food and nesting sites. This endangered
parrot nests in termite mounds in grasslands in Cape York
Peninsula.With recent removal of intense fires, these grasslands
are being invaded by dense stands of Melaleuca(see "Melaleuca
Invasion"). Butcherbirds can now perch close to the parrots’
nests and attack and kill their fledglings. There is also less food
from seed of cockatoo grass.This has lead to a great reduction in
the range and abundance of the golden-shouldered parrot.
Communication
Given that the various land managers are all experiencing
growing constraints to the amount of time and resources they have
spare to devote to fire management, cooperation and communication
between groups is becoming all the more important. Workshops such
as the Cooktown Fire Workshop Fire Stick to the 21st Century held
between 12 to 16 July, 1999, are fundamental to achieving and
maintaining a productive use of fire in land management
strategies.
