Bushfire management, prescribed burning, and a right to fire?

Bushfires across the globe account for enormous biodiversity loss. Uncontrolled fire destroys human and more‐than‐human habitat without exception. Significant efforts are made to prevent and overcome bushfire events and associated losses. However, fire is also needed at times. For species and ecosystems that rely on fire for regeneration, fire itself is necessary for survival. As part of a larger narrative about diminishing the extinction crisis there is a need to recognise and grapple with the role of fire, not as a force of destruction, but as a force of renewal and regeneration. Accordingly, the complex role of fire as a protector of more‐than‐human interests requires further investigation. In this paper we argue that the ‘right to fire’ is not adequately conceived in contemporary fire management regulations and policies, including prescribed (controlled) burning. Instead, the protection of human life and property dominates prescribed burning policy. We find that fire should not be simplified as a wholesale threat in regulatory settings, but that greater nuance is needed to enable habitat renewal and ensure species survival. Given prescribed burning has become a widespread global fire management strategy, it is critical that a voice is given to those more‐than‐humans who rely on fire to survive.