Two passionate local carbon drawdown champions, fire ecologist Dr Andy Baker and Bundjalung cultural fire practitioner Oliver Costello, encourage us to befriend fire and use it as a regenerative force rather than allow it to be an uncontrolled destructive one.
They share their knowledge of the multiple benefits of reinstating cool mosaic burning in open forest ecosystems and while it may seem counterintuitive, good fire actually plays a crucial role in the global carbon cycle.
The CO2 drawn down by a forests vigorous regrowth after a fire is equivalent to the smoke emissions created during the fire. The charcoal created by good fire, which is almost pure carbon, is additional and is then locked away long-term in our soils, rivers, wetlands and oceanic sinks.
If you are a landholder in the Byron Shire interested implementing good fire on your land please Register here with Byron Shire Council . Council will then be able to aggregate properties and apply for future funding opportunities.
SCIENTIFIC PAPER links
- Widespread phytoplankton blooms triggered by the 2019-2020 Australian Bushfires
- Vast CO2 release from Australia's bushfires in 2019-2020 constrained by satellite.]
- https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2021-09-16/black-summer-bushfires-smoke-iron-algae-bloom-phytoplankton/100460218
- Rainforest expansion reduces understory plant diversity
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