A Review of the State of Research on Cultural Burning and Threatened Species in Australia

Indigenous lands and land stewardship are increasingly recognized as crucial in terms of the persistence of threatened species, even in cases where Indigenous values with regard to species do not align with Western species concepts. Thus, knowledge about the interactions of Indigenous cultural burning practices and threated species would be crucial to conservation measures. Here, we review five case studies from Australia in order to better understand the effects of cultural burning on threatened species. What these reveal is a serious lack of research on cultural burning and threatened species. Such a paucity of knowledge must impact on the ability of fire practitioners to undertake cultural burning and the efforts of conservation agencies to protect threatened species. We recommend that institutions and government agencies partner in Indigenous-led research projects on the effects of cultural burning on threatened species to better understand the benefits that would accrue from cultural burning programs in terms of species protections and empowerment of Indigenous communities.