State of the Environment

2006

Indicator: BD-11 Area burnt by frequency, intensity and season of burning

Data

Approximate fire-affected areas across Australia, 1997 to 2003
Calendar year Area (million hectares) Percentage of total land area fire affected Percentage of fire affected area that is tropical savanna1
1997 48.3 6.3 86
1998 26.3 3.4 92
1999 60.0 7.8 86
2000 71.5 9.3 65
2001 80.1 10.4 84
2002 63.8 8.3 63
2003 31.6 4.1 85

1 Defined by the Department of Land Information, for the purposes of monitoring fire-affected areas, as being the area north of 21S
and east of 120E.

Source: Ellis, S, Kanowski, P & Whelan, R 2004, National Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, viewed 3 May 2006, http://www.coagbushfireenquiry.gov.au/findings.htm#response.

Estimated area of unplanned fires in Australia, 2002-2003
NT Qld NSW ACT Vic Tas SA WA Total
Number of unplanned grass and forest fires 2 886 2 778 2 500 94 3 000 1 500 1 311 11 515 25 584
Estimated area burnt (ha) 38 400 000 8 000 000 1 464 000 157 000 1 300 000 58 000 2 610 000 15 545 000 67 534 000

Source: Ellis, S, Kanowski, P & Whelan, R 2004, National Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, viewed 3 May 2006, http://www.coagbushfireenquiry.gov.au/findings.htm#response.

Extent of 2002-03 bushfires
State or Territory Hectares burnt
ACT and NSW 1 595 000
Victoria 1 324 000
Queensland 115 000
Tasmania 41 000
Western Australia 31 000
Total 3 106 000

Source: Australias National Association of Forest Industries 2004, Facts & Figures, viewed 4 Oct 2004, http://www.nafi.com.au/faq/index.php3?fact=10.htm

Victorian alpine fires 2003 Fire Area (ha) by land tenure and fire severity class
Tenure
Fire Severity Class Parks and Reserves State Forest Freehold Other Total - fire severity class
Forest - Crown Burnt 55 800 29 500 2 700 0 88 000
Forest - Severe Crown Scorch 217 200 202 700 19 200 0 439 100
Forest - Moderate Crown Scorch 75 000 107 000 8 200 0 190 200
Forest - Light Crown Scorch 114 500 165 800 11 400 200 291 900
Treeless - Burnt 4 200 800 21 900 0 26 900
Treeless - Unclassified 2 400 500 26 300 0 29 200
Unclassified 1 100 800 300 0 22 00
Total - Tenure Type 470 200 507 100 90 000 200 1 067 500

Source: Department of Sustainability and Environment 2004, The Victorian Alpine Fires - Maps, viewed 4 Oct 2004, http://www.dse.vic.gov.au/forests/maps&facts/
statewide/maps/alpinefires2003.htm#fire severity

Comparison of recent serious bushfire seasons (NSW)
1994 1997 2001–02 2002–03
Number of fires 800 250 454 459
Duration (days) 17 16 30 151
Area burnt (hectares) 800 000 500 000 754 000 1 456 000
Perimeter (kilometres) nd nd 4 360 10 350
Number of Local Government Areas affected 35 20 44 81
Statewide total fire bans (days) 9 3 12 13

Source: Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW) 2003, State of the Environment, Chapter 6, Department of Environment and Conservation, Sydney, viewed N/A, http://www.epa.nsw.gov.au/soe/soe2003/chapter6/. Table 6.7

Suggested fire intervals for vegetation types in Southeast Queensland
Vegetation type Fire intervals in years
Rainforest Fire exclusion
Wet sclerophyll forest 20-100+
Grassy dry sclerophyll forest and woodlands 3-6
Shrubby dry sclerophyll forest and woodlands 7-25
Coastal heathlands 7-20
Inland (rocky) heathlands 15-50
Paperbark (Melaleuca quinquenervia) woodlands 15-30

Source: David Francis, David McFarland, Sue McIntyre, Jeremy Thompson, Kristen Williams and Peter Young, Environmental Protection Agency; and Maria Van der Gragt, World Wide Fund for Nature 2004, State of the Environment Queensland 2003, Chapter 7, Queensland Government, Brisbane, viewed N/A, http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/register/p01258bw.pdf. Table 7.5

Area of forest burnt due to prescribed (fuel reduction) burns, 1995-2004 (hectares)
NSW Tas WA SA Vic Qld NT ACT Australia
1995 131 600 6 700 260 900 140 141 000 101 000 0 20 641 400
1996 169 400 9 100 363 200 300 131 000 61 100 0 200 734 300
1997 160 000 8 600 449 200 170 131 000 103 700 0 200 852 900
1998 173 600 20 700 205 500 0 30 300 95 300 0 100 525 500
1999 119 900 18 600 192 900 0 104 600 67 100 0 100 503 200
2000 38 000 30 700 195 000 0 105 700 81 000 0 300 450 700
2001 111 000 14 600 138 400 0 65 800 136 700 0 0 466 500
2002 166 500 11 600 96 900 0 81 100 138 100 0 0 494 200
2003 244 800 13 000 255 500 0 30 500 126 100 0 0 669 900
2004 69 600 8 200 231 900 0 7 200 94 400 0 0 411 300

Source: Australian Greenhouse Office 2003, National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra, viewed N/A, http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/inventory/2003/index.html, Part B, Appendix table 4, Land use change and forestry (2005)

Area of forest burnt due to wildfires, 1995-2004 (hectares)
NSW Tas WA SA Vic Qld NT ACT Australia
1995 23 700 52 600 101 700 10 19 000 90 300 0 180 287 500
1996 32 800 51 600 400 900 10 14 200 20 800 0 500 520 800
1997 30 200 47 600 168 200 150 25 600 47 800 0 200 319 800
1998 341 900 31 100 268 800 40 57 500 37 700 0 100 737 000
1999 18 800 5 400 45 000 70 60 700 1 500 0 300 131 800
2000 7 300 17 800 74 300 40 18 000 24 700 0 100 142 200
2001 218 000 43 200 392 900 60 32 600 25 500 0 0 712 300
2002 934 600 4 800 218 500 0 56 400 47 200 0 2 000 1 263 500
2003 1 575 000 29 300 1 513 900 340 1 346 700 46 900 0 170 000 4 682 100
2004 89 000 79 600 51 200 24 200 120 400 0 364 400

Source: Australian Greenhouse Office 2003, National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra, viewed N/A, http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/inventory/2003/index.html, Part B, Appendix table 4, Land use change and forestry

Prescribed burning of savanna and temperate grassland, 1995-2004: Area of land burnt (hectares)
NSW Tas WA SA Vic Qld NT ACT Australia
1995 89 100 28 100 17 536 700 88 300 17 500 6 300 000 23 710 900 0 47 770 600
1996 90 500 18 700 15 417 600 3 700 7 600 7 500 000 14 420 500 0 37 458 600
1997 131 100 7 300 13 424 700 191 700 15 100 3 802 000 11 474 000 0 29 045 900
1998 5 000 22 089 100 26 000 8 000 4 619 900 18 374 400 0 45 122 400
1999 16 400 1 400 10 518 100 24 600 19 000 4 386 800 15 494 800 0 30 461 100
2000 5 500 14 200 21 403 300 441 200 11 900 8 665 300 20 962 100 0 51 503 500
2001 9 200 41 957 100 18 700 35 400 7 269 400 35 087 000 0 84 376 800
2002 7 600 17 064 000 13 000 15 900 13 896 500 38 107 700 0 69 104 700
2003 7 600 14 452 800 48 700 101 800 6 910 300 26 556 700 0 48 077 900
2004 81 900 25 800 6 416 500 14 700 17 800 7 623 000 11 350 400 0 25 530 100

Source: Australian Greenhouse Office 2003, National Greenhouse Gas Inventory, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra, viewed N/A, http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/inventory/2003/index.html, Part B, Appendix table 3, Agriculture

Area of forest burnt in Australia due to wildfire and fuel reduction burns, 1995- 2004

Area of forest burnt in Australia due to wildfire and fuel reduction burns, 1995- 2004

Source: Australian Greenhouse Office 2005, National Greenhouse Gas Inventory 2003, Part B, Appendix table 4, Land use change and forestry, Department of the Environment and Heritage, Canberra, viewed 1 May 2006, http://www.greenhouse.gov.au/inventory/2003/index.html.

Fire interval guidelines to guide ecologically sustainable fire management: NSW ecosystems
Vegetation formation Minimum interval Maximum interval Notes
Rainforest .. .. Fire should be avoided
Alpine complex .. .. Fire should be avoided
Estuarine and saline wetland .. .. Fire should be avoided
Wet sclerophyll forest 25 60 Crown fires should be avoided in the lower end of the interval range
Semi-mesic grassy forest 10 50 Occasional intervals greater than 15 years may be desirable. Crown fires should be avoided in the lower end of the interval range
Swamp sclerophyll forest 7 35 Some intervals greater than 20 years may be desirable.
Sclerophyll grassy woodland 5 40 Minimum interval of 10 years should apply in the Southern Tablelands area. Occasional intervals greater than 15 years may be desirable
Dry sclerophyll shrub–grass forest 5 50 Occasional intervals greater than 25 years may be desirable
Dry sclerophyll shrub forest 7 30 Occasional intervals greater than 25 years may be desirable
Semi-arid woodland 6 a 40 a Available data indicate minimum intervals should be at least 5–10 years and maximum intervals approximately 40 years
Arid and semi-arid shrubland 6 a 40 a Available data indicate minimum intervals should be at least 5–6 years and maximum intervals approximately 40 years. A minimum of 10–15 years should apply to communities containing Callitris. Fire should be avoided in chenopod shrublands
Heathland 7 30 Occasional intervals greater than 20 years may be desirable
Grassland 2 10 a Occasional intervals greater than 7 years should be included in coastal areas. Available
evidence indicates maximum intervals should
be approximately 10 years.
Freshwater wetland 6 35 Occasional intervals greater than 30 years may be desirable.

.. Not applicable.
a . Insufficient data to give definite interval.

Source: Ellis, S, Kanowski, P & Whelan, R 2004, National Inquiry on Bushfire Mitigation and Management, Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, viewed 3 May 2006, http://www.coagbushfireenquiry.gov.au/findings.htm#response.

What the data mean

Over 67 million hectares of Australia burnt in 2002-03 due to unplanned grass and forest fires. Significant amounts of prescribed burning also occur each year.

Data Limitations

Extent of bushfires in 2002-03 has not been verified. There are large variations in estimates given.

With the AGO data, locations of prescribed burns may not correspond with locations of wildfires.

Areas burnt does not show changes in timing, temperature or frequency of fires, or the range of other variables which could affect the impacts of fire on biodiversity.

Issues for which this is an indicator and why

Biodiversity - Pressures on biodiversity - Fire 

The 2001 State of the Environment (SoE) report indicated that large areas are burnt each year in northern Australia. In southern Australia, fires deliberately lit for fuel reduction purposes are common. Changes in area showing up as burnt at various points in time is a direct indicator of changes in the extent of fire occurence. It does not show changes in timing, temperature or frequency of fires, or the range of other variables which could affect the impacts of fire on biodiversity.

Other indicators for this issue:

Land - Contributions and pressures between the land and the atmosphere - Climate 

Changes in area showing up as burnt at various points in time is a direct indicator of changes in the extent of fire occurrence, and provides essential data for determining any correlation between climate change and changing fire regimes.

Other indicators for this issue:

Further Information

CRC Tropical Savannas / Northern Australia Fire Information

CSIRO in northern Australia

National Association of Forest Industries

Key

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