03/05/2025
Burning to Heal
Caught a pretty epic sight during a recent multi-day hike through Victoria’s High Country.
Controlled (or prescribed) burns are intentionally lit fires used to reduce dry vegetation and promote biodiversity. By clearing out dense underbrush, they lower the risk and intensity of future wildfires and encourage native species to return and thrive.
When my mate Koen and I started our hike in the morning, we could make out a single line of smoke from where the burn started. By sunset, it was a full fledged fire, making for some beautiful visuals from the summit of Mount Feathertop.
It was my first time seeing a controlled burn in action, and it gave me a sense of awe at our capacity to guide the fate of landscapes. Aboriginal people have been practicing this kind of land care for tens of thousands of years in the form of Cultural (or Cool) Burning, and it’s good to see these methods still playing a role in an increasingly wildfire-prone world.
I wonder how common this sight will become in the coming years, as we reckon with a hotter planet and lean more into the wisdom of traditional land management?
In the end, it’s the people that know the land who’ll endure whatever it throws at us.
