GoKawiilStudy links Australia's fiercer bushfires to end of Indigenous burning after colonization
A Nature study reconstructing 1,000 years of fire history in southeastern Australia found that British colonization halted Indigenous burning practices, allowing open, grassy landscapes to turn into dense, flammable forests. Researchers analysed a sediment core from Croajingolong National Park, land traditionally managed by the Gunaikurnai people, who were forcibly removed in the mid-1800s.
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The findings suggest climate change is not the only driver of Australia's increasingly destructive bushfires, such as the 2019-20 Black Summer fires that burned over 8 million hectares. Lead researcher Michael-Shawn Fletcher argues that reviving Indigenous land management could offer an additional tool for reducing fire risk, though this would require policy and cultural shifts in how forests are managed.
- Sediment core analysis spans 1,000 years of fire and vegetation history in southeastern Australia
- Suppression of Indigenous burning after colonization likely increased woody fuel loads
- Researchers propose restoring Indigenous fire management as a complementary strategy to climate action
Source: nature.com — Dinneen, 2026-10-07
Published there as: “Australia’s bush fires got worse after British colonization — this is why”
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