Teaching sequence

Work through this resource material in the following sequence:

10 minutes

Tune In: Bushfire impacts

20 minutes

Find Out: Reducing the impact of bushfires with cultural burning

25 minutes

Take Action: Cost-benefit analysis of cultural burning

5 minutes

Reflection

Learning intentions and success criteria

Students will:

investigate the economics of fire management and risk reduction practices, and how implementing First Nations peoples’ knowledge impacts these outcomes.

Students can:

explain how First Nations peoples’ fire management and risk reduction practices create economic, environmental and social benefits
conduct a cost-benefit analysis of First Nations peoples’ fire management and risk reduction practices.

Tune In: Bushfire impacts

Ensuring psychological safety and inclusivity:

This lesson contains references to bushfires. Discussions of these topics may be triggering for students who have been impacted by and/or experienced this type of hazard.

Before beginning this lesson, it is essential to account for the experiences of any First Nations students in your class. It is important not to isolate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in how the material is taught. Some First Nations students may have important insights or contributions which should be welcomed. However, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students should not be expected to contribute any more than other students.

Step 1

On the whiteboard (or as a projection), list these points:

loss of lives
homes, businesses and cultural heritage sites destroyed
displacement from home or Country
livestock and wildlife perished
forests and natural environment destroyed
assets and resources lost cannot be replaced due to insufficient insurance
significant local infrastructure destroyed, including roads, energy, telecommunications and community assets
tourism and agricultural industries disrupted, causing employment and income losses
severe impact on people’s mental health
insurance and the rising cost for high-risk areas/increases in premiums to do with hazards.

Then, ask students to guess what picture is described here. What caused this situation? Elicit bushfires (otherwise referred to globally as ‘wildfires’).

Explain to students that we’re going to look at the challenges, solutions and opportunities related to Australia’s fire management and risk reduction.

Bushfires have many impacts across many different areas. Because of this, significant scientific and financial investments are made in understanding bushfires and exploring different ways of managing them and preventing them. Some of these strategies involve:

on-ground practices, such as managing forests to remove fuel load
reducing the number of houses being built in bushfire-prone areas
long-term strategies, such as taking action to slow climate change, which is increasing conditions that favour fires.

You may also want to draw students' attention to the glossary of disaster-related vocabulary accompanying this Unit.

Step 2

Ask students what they estimate is the economic impact of catastrophic bushfires in Australia over the past 20 years.

Once students have had an opportunity to speculate, inform them that the economic impact of the 2019-2020 ‘Black Summer’ Fires is estimated at $100 Billion AUD. (Source: Lessons from the 2019/20 ‘Black Summer’ Bushfires in Australia). Do they need to revisit their guess?

Outline that the cumulative economic impact of bushfires over the past 20 years highlights the critical need for effective fire management strategies and preventive measures.

Then ask students what they think is the social impact of catastrophic bushfires in Australia. E.g. lost connections to place and Country, damage to/loss of cultural sites, intangible effects, etc.

Find Out: Reducing the impact of bushfires with cultural burning

Step 1

Organise the class into small groups to brainstorm a list of ideas that they think/know would help prevent bushfires or reduce their impact. E.g. education programs about bushfire preparedness, apps alerting local residents to the level of bushfire risk, hazard reduction burning, etc. Allow about 5 minutes and invite students to share their suggestions.

Step 2

Next, lead a class discussion, asking students which part of Australia and the population they think live in the most bushfires-prone areas.

Show students a map of the state they live in and ask them what it shows (scroll down to find your state). Then, ask students to consider this situation: if you were affected by, or most likely to be affected by, a natural hazard i.e. a bushfire, and you had knowledge and expertise that had been used in your culture for thousands of years about practices for managing land to reduce fire risk, would you want to be consulted? Highlight that the ANU Centre for Aboriginal Economic Research (2020) has recommended Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should inform processes, structures and approaches to bushfire responses.

Step 3

If students didn’t suggest cultural burning from their brainstorm, ask them what they know about First Nations peoples’ fire management and risk reduction practices.

Before you explain cultural burning to students, invite them to predict where they think it occurs and what its benefits are. Ask if they know of any cultural burning in their local community, if they have been involved in one, or if they know someone who has. Then, read through the Cultural Burning Factsheet with students.

Note: Traditional fire management practices have various names, such as ‘cultural burning’, ‘cool burning’, or ‘traditional fire knowledge’. It is important to note that none of these names captures the complexity or richness of the knowledge and connection to Country behind this knowledge and these practices.

Extension opportunity: If time allows, you can learn more from this article (smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/what-is-cultural-burning-20200228-p545e2.html), drawing attention to this quote and eliciting from students what they think it means:

Indigenous land management was critical to preventing catastrophic bushfires, the Royal Commission into National Natural Disaster Arrangements was told in 2020, but Aboriginal voices had been ignored. "Cultural land management is not an add-on or an enhancement, it’s not a practice that can simply be grafted onto the regime of non-Indigenous land managers," Euahlayi man and Australian National University researcher Bhiamie Eckford-Williamson told the commission
Perkins, 2020

Step 4

Outline to students that they’re going to watch a video about cultural burning and its benefits - to see it in action, how it is approached and the effects.

Indigenous fire methods protect land before and after the Tathra bushfire | ABC Australia - (youtu.be/RM72NtXxyLs - 11 minutes).

Before playing the video, show students the table on their Student Worksheet. Explain that while students are watching the video, they are going to fill in the table with information or ideas about cultural burning and how this compares to the Western approach to hazard reduction. Highlight that Western approaches to fire prevention and management generally means the use of ‘prescribed’ or ‘hazard-reduction burning’ and is the process of applying fire to a predetermined area to achieve a desired outcome - usually to reduce the presence of, or severity of bushfires. If time allows, students could have a few minutes to fill in the table with any prior knowledge.

Western approach to fire management and risk reduction	Cultural burning approach to fire management and risk reduction

If students need some further scaffolding, you could ask them to:

Identify the benefits of a cultural burn for the plants, animals, landscape and people.
Describe the differences they see in the vegetation after a cultural burn versus a hazard reduction burn.

Step 5

After watching the video, invite students to compare their responses with the person sitting next to them. Then, discuss as a class or invite students to share their responses on a projected table on the whiteboard or in a shared document.

Further information can be provided about contemporary approaches to fire management and risk reduction:

Monitoring and early detection systems of fires are used through satellite imagery, drones and remote sensing technology to catch fires before they spread widely.
Community education and preparedness programs are used to educate residents about fire safety and how to respond in an emergency, emergency preparedness and strategies for property maintenance to reduce fire risks.
Building design and construction can use fire-resistant materials and incorporate firebreaks in community planning to slow the spread of fires and protect structures.
Investment in research is used to develop new firefighting technologies and strategies, as well as to study fire behaviour under different environmental conditions to better predict and control fires.
Collaboration between agencies among local, state and federal agencies, as well as private landowners and First Nations groups, can ensure a coordinated and effective response to fire risks and emergencies.

Take Action: Cost-benefit analysis of cultural burning

Step 1

Explain to students that they will draw on the information gathered in the previous activity and conduct some research to complete a cost-benefit analysis of cultural burning for fire management and risk reduction.

Step 2

Before students start, recap and go through what a cost-benefit analysis is:

the benefits and costs of a project or decision are determined and evaluated. The evaluation includes monetary and non-monetary effects.

Elicit from students how to do one and clarify/add/explain any key information or steps where required.

Explain to students that the aim is to determine the most effective course of action to address Australia suffering from catastrophic bushfires. They are going to conduct a cost-benefit analysis to see if cultural burning is an effective and sustainable approach to implement as part of Australia’s fire management and risk reduction strategy, instead of only continuing to use Western approaches i.e. prescribed burning.

If necessary, recap how to conduct a cost-benefit analysis. Ensure students understand the relevant vocabulary used in the context of doing a cost-benefit analysis:

Monetary: used to refer to things measured with a financial/dollar value i.e. related to money.
Non-monetary: used to refer to things that don’t necessarily have a clear financial/dollar value.
Opportunity cost: used to refer to the value of the option given up when one thing is chosen over another.
Direct (sometimes referred to as ‘immediate’) cost: used to refer to any expense that is directly linked to the goods produced or services provided e.g. labour, raw materials, etc.
Indirect cost: used to refer to costs that cannot be directly tied to a product or service e.g. the cost of maintenance or utility expenses.
Direct benefit: used to refer to a tangible positive outcome.
Indirect benefit: used to refer to flow-on effects or intangible impacts that are not caused immediately and obviously by a thing or person but happen because of something else that has been done.
Tradeoff: used to refer to a compromise that involves giving up something in return for getting something else.

Step 3

To begin with, use the table of information gathered from watching the video in the previous activity to categorise the benefits of cultural burning as monetary and non-monetary. Then, organise these into social, environmental, and economic categories. Encourage students to consider the flow-on effects too (indirect benefits) and remind them that ‘social’ includes cultural factors.

Step 4

It is likely students will need to do some more research to gather further evidence and information for their cost-benefit analysis. Encourage students to add their research findings to the table or make notes identifying the costs and benefits. Students can work together in small groups and use some of these resources:

Websites, reports and organisations

Firesticks
Country Needs People
The Cultural Burning Knowledge Hub
Australian Institute for Disaster Resilience
- A groundswell of caring for country
- Indigenous fire knowledge and land management practices
- Long term solutions to improve emergency management services in remote communities in Northern Australia
- Measuring environmental losses from natural disasters a case study of costing bushfires in the northern territory

The Victorian Traditional Owner Cultural Fire Strategy

HSAT
- Wildfires: The Economic Aftermath of Australia’s Black Summer
Prevention Web
- New research in Arnhem Land reveals why institutional fire management is inferior to cultural burning
Landcare Australia
- Traditional Aboriginal burning in modern day land management
CSIRO
- What is the intersection between hazard reduction burning and cultural burning carried out by Indigenous people?
Australian Museum
- The differences between hazard reduction burning and Cultural Fire practices
WWF-Australia
- Cultural Burning

Example (Coranderrk Station, Victoria)

Aboriginal cultural burning returns to regional Victoria | The Point | NITV

Media articles

Right fire for right future: how cultural burning can protect Australia from catastrophic blazes | Bushfires | The Guardian
Black Summer bushfire season cost farmers up to $5 billion - The University of Sydney
Australia, you have unfinished business. It’s time to let our ‘fire people’ care for this land
Indigenous expertise is reducing bushfires in northern Australia. It’s time to consider similar approaches for other disasters
More cultural burns needed ahead of bushfire season, Indigenous practitioner warns - ABC News
Severe bushfire risk increased by hazard reduction burns, report finds - ABC News

Step 4

When students have gathered enough information, instruct them to complete a cost-benefit analysis of cultural burning for fire management and risk reduction. Students can use the Cost-Benefit-Analysis Template, filling it out with the information they have gathered from their table and research.

Remind students that once they have identified all the relevant types of costs and benefits, they need to consider this information to decide whether cultural burning should be implemented as part of Australia’s fire management and risk prevention strategy. Highlight that the decision they come to may not be a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ and could require further investigation.

Literacy support: If students need a simplified analogy to further understand this task, you could use this:

If a small business realises they have a gap in their employees' skill set and expertise (the problem), they need to conduct a cost-benefit analysis to determine the most effective course of action (aim). Therefore, the business owners conduct a cost-benefit analysis of employing more staff instead of upskilling existing staff to improve productivity (evaluation). They can make an informed decision based on their cost-benefit analysis of these courses of action (decision).

So, if we apply the same principles to the activity students have been given, you can explain it as follows: Australia continues to suffer from catastrophic bushfires, and the social, economic and environmental costs are unsustainable (the problem). A cost-benefit analysis needs to be conducted to determine the most effective course of action to address this problem (aim). Therefore, you are going to conduct a cost-benefit analysis to see if cultural burning is an effective and sustainable approach to implement as part of Australia’s fire management and risk reduction strategy, instead of only continuing to use Western approaches i.e. hazard reduction (evaluation). You can make an informed decision based on the cost-benefit analysis of this course of action (decision).

Extension opportunities:

An alternative approach to using the template is for students to create their own list of criteria for conducting a cost-benefit analysis of cultural burning for fire management and risk reduction.
Students could use their cost-benefit analysis to write to their state body outlining the benefits of implementing First Nations’ cultural burning practices as part of their local fire management and risk reduction strategy.

Reflection

What did students find the most surprising about cultural burning?
Why do they think cultural burns have not been more widely implemented and valued in Australia's standard practice of fire management and risk reduction?

The Economics of First Nations Fire Management

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