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Recreating the Country blog

Ancient Australian culture - the traditional skill of cool burning

4/5/2017

14 Comments

 
European culture and its battle with nature
PictureSpraying invasive weeds is an annual battle to protect remnant grassland plants
As an ecologist and a manager of flora and fauna reserves I seem to spend a lot of my time battling against the forces of nature. For example each of the three reserves that I help to manage has problem weeds that have to be suppressed with herbicides each year. This is to prevent them from spreading and over running the remnant native plants. Ironically the spraying kills some of the native grasses and herbs that we are trying to protect. Spraying is also very expensive ($1000/day) but we seem to be locked into an endless annual cycle of herbicide spraying in a fight with nature, from which there appears to be no retreat.

Since the beginning of white settlement in Australia, battling nature has been our chosen way of life.
Richard Howitt wrote in 1845 in 'Impressions of Australia Felix';

   "Day after day it was no slight army of trees against which we had to do battle. We had to  fight hard with them to gain possession of the soil, for the trees in those days were giants"

Howitt was describing the beginnings of 170 years of clearing trees from the Australian continent which sadly is still going on full steam ahead in some states. There is no doubt that many Australians still see the environment as an enemy that has to be beaten into submission or at least subdued.

The First Australians partner with nature
PictureAn 1874 image of the Barwon River at Fyansford by Edward Paxtman Brandard showing patterns of trees created by indigenous burning. Gammage explains how this design was both ecologically sensible and aided hunting. State Library of Victoria
It makes more sense to work with nature than to do battle against her. Becoming a partner with the most powerful force on earth has clear advantages, but is it possible?

T0 the First Australians nature and nurture are inseparable. Partnering with nature is so deeply embedded in their culture that it is impossible for them to feel whole as people without maintaining a tangible connection. This connection with 'country' goes far beyond the love and empathy for familiar places that I often feel for the place I live, it's a deep and complex spiritual connection that sadly goes well beyond my powers of comprehension.
 
Bill Gammage on page 131 of 'The Biggest Estate on Earth' quotes Strehlow to give some insights into this spiritual relationship;

"the overwhelming affection felt by a native for his ancestral territory - mountains and creeks and springs and water-holes are to him not merely interesting or beautiful but the handiwork of ancestors from whom he himself has descended. He sees recorded in the surrounding landscape the ancient story of the lives and deeds of the immortal beings whom he reveres. The whole countryside is his living age old family tree."

The ancient art/science/spiritualism of cool burning
PictureWiyn-murrup yangarramela - ‘fire spirit comes back’.
Two events that I attended recently brought me a little closer to understanding this deep spiritual connection that the First Australians have with nature. Both involved fire and both were profoundly moving experiences. This blog will describe the first of these events. The second event will be described in the June blog. 

Wiyn-murrup yangarramela is Wada Wurrung (Wathaurung) for ‘fire spirit comes back’. Hearing this ancient phrase spoken at Bakers Lane Reserve, Teesdale was the prelude to what was planned for this 4ha reserve in the next few hours. It was a process, a ritual, a ceremony and a celebration that this grassy woodland had not experienced for over 180 years. It was the beginning of the ancient practice of indigenous burning lead by Ngarigo elder from the Snowy Mountains, Uncle Rod Mason. He had practiced his craft for 53 years and had started as a boy in his homelands in the western desert.

PictureNgarigo elder from the Snowy Mountains, Uncle Rod Mason preparing the group for the indigenous practice of cool burning
It had been a dry summer and April 4th dawned as the perfect windless day for a burn though the forecast was for a warm day in the high twenties. So the planned afternoon burn was brought forward to a 7am start to avoid any safety risks associated with a warm afternoon. A small 'camp' fire was burning and people were gathering, some in casual clothes around the fire and others in CFA yellow protective overalls around the fire trucks.

Before the burn we were welcomed to 'country' by Wada Wurrung Elder Uncle Bryon Powell. He explained that the smoke from the branches of Cherry Ballart and River Red Gum were symbolic. The smoke was to clear away any negativity that we may have brought with us, the parasitic Cherry Ballart reminded us of the importance of giving back to the land that nurtures us and the mighty River Red Gum would give us strength.

A dark skinned man in his 60's wearing jeans and a checked jacket stepped to the centre of the circle of people and comfortably spoke about the day ahead.

This was Uncle Rod Mason who held the knowledge about indigenous burning and its benefits to 'country'. "This is a safe technique and today 's workshop will help build your confidence" he said. Uncle Rod was watching the smoke from the fire and was waiting for the first breeze to come with the sun rise

PictureThe Wada Wurrung lit patches from the main fire with dry burning grass. Photo Tracey McRae

By 7.30 as predicted we had a breeze from the north, so the group moved to the southern end of the reserve where Uncle Rod walked into the long grass and started lighting a clump of grass with a cigarette lighter. Quickly the Wada Wurrung onlookers joined in and numerous patches of burning grass began crackling. The ancient practice of cool burning had begun.

Cool burning - how it was done
PictureSmall fires were spaced about one metre apart. This close spacing was important to keep the burn cool
The process was simple as Uncle Rod explained. Keep the wind to your back and light patches of grass about 1 m apart. So the indigenous burners backed into the long grass lighting up patches with handfulls of dry grass that were lit from the main fire.

At this time I made a few interesting observations - the fire was cool, patchy, there was not much smoke and it was not threatening. People were standing within a few meters of the cracking grass and chatting. It was a very friendly social occasion, a shared and connecting
    experience.

Burning the allotted 3ha took about 3 hours and it was fun with most of the people having a go at lighting up. My only discomfort was a few singed hairs on the back of my right hand. 

The CFA also joined in but started to vary the pattern and spaced the fire patches further apart to between 5 - 10 m. This simple variation made the fire much hotter and chatting onlookers began to move further back.

I mentioned this to Uncle Rod who by this time was burning 50 m away from the CFA. He knew their fire was hotter because the smoke was black. "We want to keep the charcoal on the ground to protect and insulate the soil on hot days. The smoke should always be white for a burn to revitalise the ground" he said.

PictureLong grass is knotted to prevent it flaring and burning a young River Red Gum.
At this moment he bent down and put his hand flat on the burnt ground and then pointed to a small spider that was scurrying across the sooty newly burnt surface. "This ground is already cool and the burn will make the land fresh and healthy again. Fire should move across the ground like trickling water and as the slow burn moves, wildlife can move away because they have plenty of time. The burn should be cool enough for insects to survive and there should be no scorch marks on the trees" he said. 

From our conversation I understood that annual cool burns would return an ecological balance of plant, insect and animal species to make this place healthy again. Would this process of regular cool burning 'clean up' the weedy plants that I have been fighting against for decades?

When the indigenous burn was completed, the CFA used their technique to burn a 1 ha section to the north of the reserve. The two styles of burning would demonstrate differences in the recovery of the two sites. Dale Smithyman from the Golden Plains Shire who had organised the event wanted to observe the varying patterns of plant species and plant density that would emerge after the burn. 

The CFA burn for comparison
PictureThe CFA lit a line of fire with their drip torches. This method produced a hotter fire and a lot of black smoke. Photo Tracey McRae
We were standing to the south of the CFA burn and watched as the line of flames on the far north side leapt into the air. The flame height was two - three times higher and thick black smoke filled the air. Very quickly the onlookers were moving to safety because the flames were hot and the air was pungent and hard to breathe. The burn was over within thirty minutes but what had been a convivial and relaxed ambiance was now changed.

Uncle Rod was watching with the rest of us so I asked him for a comment. "After the indigenous burn the ground will take 2 weeks to recover, but after that hot burn the ground won't recover for 3 months", he said.

We assembled back at the Teesdale Hall for lunch and some talks about the culture of burning from members of Wada Wurrung community. However before the guest speakers could begin we had a long wait for CFA who had stayed back at the burn site to make it safe by doing some 'mopping up'.

When they finally arrived I overheard one of the CFA chiefs confiding in another;
"you know Tony, the indigenous burn may have taken longer but there was no mopping up". Tony nodded. "we spent all our time mopping up around the CFA burn and making it safe and we'll probably be back tomorrow".

The same CFA officer added "the indigenous burn may have taken three times as long but there was no mopping up needed so overall the two methods took about the same time but the indigenous burn was much safer", Tony once again nodded his agreement

Richard McTernan, Co-ordinator of Wooragee Landcare recently (Feb 2020) sent these insightful comments.

'With the Teesdale burn, we actually did remove the timber from under the large gums at the back of the block,  which were instructions from Uncle Rod . From my observations this allowed the fire to do its job and not leave smouldering logs which can burn for along time and be a fire risk.  At the Teasdale burn the left hand side of the reserve that the CFA burnt no timber was not removed and I remember the CFA spent 3 times as long putting out smouldering logs after the initial fire. 
 
Out at Wooragee we asked the participants to do the same and by the time we had finished I believe that there was little to do as we had removed the threat of smouldering timber.  I do believe that at Wooragee there was some large timber on the ground that we did burn around, from memory some large white box branches that had fallen down.
 
Interestingly Uncle Rod says that traditionally most small timber was collected for the camp fires so only large timber was left (for habitat I assume).   Over the years what I have noticed is that the removal of small timber also reduces the intensity of the fire and doesn’t allow the flame height/ heat to impact the canopy which is where animals escape to in a cool burn.

This is a good discussion within itself as excessive heat in grassy woodland fires burns the canopy and within a few weeks the dead saplings and leaf drop create just as much fuel as there was before the fire.  This can be noticeable on sides of country roads where authorities have conducted burns with minimal prep'. 

Thankyou to Tracey McRae for the beautiful photographic record of the cool burn below;
A gathering to be part of the first cool burn at this site in 180 years
The smoking ceremony burned Cherry Ballart 'leaves' to clear away any negativity before the burn
Uncle Rod Mason lit up and the cool burn had begun
The other members of the Wada Wurrung started lighting fires every meter
The cool burn was safe and no threat to participants
Uncle Rod Mason directing the progress of the burn
The ground was cool very soon after the burn
The trunks of trees showed no sign of scorching
Insects were not stressed by the fire and smoke
Wada Wurrung elder Uncle Reg Abrahams warms his hands
Two indigenous elders discussing the progress of the burn
The smoke is mostly white so the carbon stays on the surface to protect and insulate the soil
The CFA used the same technique but increased the spaces between the spot burns. This made the fire much hotter
Very little 'mopping up' was needed with the cool burn
The CFA's hot burn needed considerably more time and equipment for mopping up
Ancient Australian culture - Welcome to country smoking ceremony  in June
14 Comments
Gib Wettenhall
17/5/2017 10:27:49 am

Really interesting and absorbing reading. An inspiring initiative. I'm going to suggest at the next Ballarat Region Treegrowers meeting that we commission the Wada wurrung to manage a cool burn at the ImLal biorich plantation.
Furthermore, Elder Bryan Powell undertook the smoking ceremony at the launch of the Canadian Regional Forest Park at Ballarat. Maybe he could be requested to carry out a cool burn there as the site has an abundance of weeds springing up.

Reply
Steve Murphy
17/5/2017 11:18:45 am

Thanks Gib,
I agree that a cool burn would benefit the Biorich planting at Lal Lal, particularly on the southern edge to encourage the indigenous grassland plants on the road reserve to migrate into the Biorich site. Other burns in random patches would likely add to the diversity of the of the indigenous plantings of shrubs and understorey.
Bryon Powell took part in the Bakers Lane Reserve burn and has a good understanding of the subtleties of the method

Reply
Hedley Thomson
5/12/2017 09:16:25 pm

So sensible and so possible in so many of our reserves.

Reply
Richard Gilbert
12/10/2018 01:56:31 pm

As an ex CFA operative I appreciate the difference between hot and cool burns.
Cool heads initiate cool burns.
It would interest me to investigate the carbon released by each type of burn.

Reply
Steve
13/10/2018 10:56:53 am

Hi Richard,
Thanks for your insightful comments.

I like your thought that 'cool heads initiate cool burns'. I think attitude toward burning plays an important part in burning outcomes. I often heard from department people that 'a hot burn was a good burn' and these events left few unburnt patches for wildlife to survive and recolonise. It was both surprising and gratifying to see healthy insects on small trees that had survived the passage of the Traditional Owner burn at Bakers Lane, Teesdale. Even spiders running across the warm sooty ground only minutes after the fire had passed through.

According to Rod Mason the indigenous elder who managed the Teesdale burn, more carbon (black smoke) means more heat. When he saw black smoke he told me that the fire was burning too hot. An ideal cool burn emits mostly white smoke and I suspect a lot less carbon, if you get my drift.

Reply
Ev link
14/10/2018 10:38:44 am

Thanks for the interesting read. I had wanted to attend this event myself but circumstance made that impractical.

Was part of the aim for the day to create two different burn sites to conduct the analysis you have mentioned in the article ie native vs introduced species recovery after burning using two different burn methods (cool and hot burns)?

There would be quails nesting on the ground at this time of year; did anyone mention if their nests survive a cool burn?

Reply
steve
19/10/2018 06:44:23 pm

Thanks for those comments Ev. The burn was organised by Dale Smithyman, the very excellent natural resources officer for the Golden Plains Shire. Dale wanted to observe if there were differences in the response of the ground flora to the different burning styles.

The CFA burn was certainly a lot hotter and blanketed the area in black smoke. The TO burn was comfortably cool with tolerable amounts of white smoke. Dale did say that he went back to observe the vegetation on the different sites a few months after the burn and he found no significant differences at that stage.

I would suggest that insects and small mammals like micro-bats, sugar gliders, possums living in the old River Red Gums would have been stressed by heat and smoke from the CFA burn. Much less so from the TO burn.

Your observation that stubble quail could be nesting on the ground is an important one. I think it was assumed that in autumn nesting and fledging would have been complete. However its definitely worth considering the impact of burning on wildlife in all seasons.

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Reply
Cameron Reid
23/9/2020 10:35:22 am

Hi there
Great work with the cool burn . Just wondering if it helped control the weeds significantly, better than spraying ? I have 5 hectares in Ebenezer qld listed Land for Wildlife , and have about 1/4acre of mother of millions I'd like to wipe out . I'd prefer not to use Grazon . I'm sure a cool burn would be healthy for the trees . Big koala population here . Cheers

Reply
Steve
23/9/2020 12:51:07 pm

Hi Cameron,
Thanks for your comments. Mother of Millions can be controlled with cool burning. (Small areas can be hand weeded and burned later). It should be slow and cool so as not to disturb your resident koalas.

I would suggest slashing the area and allowing the plants to dry. Also clear (by mowing and raking) a suitable firebreak around the area 1 - 2 meters wide. Clear any build-up of flammable debris under trees to prevent the trees burning. Ideally the trunks shouldn't show any scorching after the burn.

Burn a small area to test (2x2 metre) if the slash is moist enough (not too dry) to burn slowly and not flair too much. The smoke should be white (not black). If the fire is burning slowly and in a non threatening way, just let it trickle along.

Have on hand some wet sacks and suitable firefighting backpacks or slip-on pump and tank just in case you need to mop up or prevent it spreading.

Start your burn at the fire break edge with a light breeze at your back. Light up spots about 1 metre apart. If you space the spot fires too far apart the fire will burn hotter.

Before you light up, let the koalas and other wild life know that your going to burn by walking around the site and calling out to them. Indigenous people would always do this to prepare the animals for a burn beforehand.

You will likely have to repeat this process annually or biannually to eradicate the weed. Hopefully you will find the local species will start to recolonise this area

I would recommend reading 'Fire Country' by Victor Steffensen as an excellent resource before you start

Reply
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John Stafford
9/7/2024 04:47:21 pm

As white Europeans, when will we even begin to appreciate the complexity involved in being fully engaged with our natural environment? Yes cool burning seems to be an art that our fire authorities are yet to add to their skills sheet. But are any of us even vaugely aware of the very fundamental, yet complex biological "engineering" that is the result of cool burning?
Just very recently I took advantage of an extended dry season to conduct a cool burn of my pastures in the hope that I might determine if cool burns had any relationship with soil fungi.
I had already managed to trigger a chain reaction where saprophytic fungi, stimulated by the mulching of my pastures with a mower, in turn enhanced the activity of mychorrhizal fungi to reconfigure the carbon structure of my soil.
But our First People did not have tractors, only fire. So could fire have been the tool they used to precipitate a process to stimulate mychorrhizal fungi and thereby lift their soil carbon content to the dizzy average height of 20% and in some cases to even 30%?
By mulching grass I have thus far managed to raise my SOC content to 10%. But I have also discovered that a cool burn is probably even more effective in stimulating both saprophytic and mychorrhizal fungi than my mower.
In planning next year's budget, I am now comparing the cost of a box of matches with the price of a new flail mower at $20.000 plus.

Reply
Nina Samuels link
25/10/2024 10:03:26 pm

This fascinating recount of cool burning underscores the wisdom embedded in Indigenous land care. Uncle Rod's gentle, steady technique not only revitalizes the land but highlights an approach that respects nature’s pace. It’s a powerful reminder that partnering with nature leads to healthier ecosystems and sustainable outcomes.

Reply
John Stafford
26/10/2024 03:44:37 pm

I can really Identify with the frustrations expressed on this blog site, with over 25 years spent on voluntary weed control in a conservation park and no ebb in sight of the constant reinvasion of weeds.
Added to this are the annual "control" burns that because of their high temperature are stimulating excessive regrowth of the woody understory.
A third issue is tree dieback that is slowly but surely reducing the tree population.
However on my own property I have discovered a solution to all of the above. With initial attempts to reduce a grassy understory fuel load, by mowing perennial grass under a woodland of dieback affected Pink Gum, I now have green grass growing right through summer, No dry fuel load, no weeds and better still, all of the trees have recovered from dieback.
According to a very helpful advisor, I achieved this by feeding saprophytic fungi (SF) when I mowed my green grass. The SF being in a symbiotic relationship with mychorrhizal fungi (MR) join together in the summer to lift moisture from the subsoil to the topsoil to biologically irrigate the wooded landscape.
In a further exploration to determine if cool burning had some connection with my understory mulching, I discovered that a cool burn conducted in an open paddock in autumn, produced an abundance of SF and MR fruiting bodies (mushrooms) everywhere.
Did our First Nation people get it right? Of course they did.



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