DSE Home > Fire and Other Emergencies > Bushfire Recovery

Fire recovery 2009 - Natural values

• About natural values recovery
• Threatened species
• Activities
• Unique fire images captured by automatic cameras

About natural values recovery

Fire recovery refers to the process of protecting important values at risk following a bushfire. Natural values includes native plants, animals and ecosystems.

Fire is a common natural event in most of the wildlife habitats of south-eastern Australia and most species have adaptations that enable them to recover after fire. Ecological recovery is already underway in the fire areas, as evidenced by new green shoots arising from the trunks and underground stems of plants, and will continue for many years.

Fire is also important in renewing natural cycles that support the health of flora and fauna populations. This is best for most wildlife populations overall, if not for some individuals. Native animals will return when the regenerating habitats are suitable for them.

However, natural values can be placed at risk by fire through:

• ash and sediment runoff into waterways
• predation in the open habitats
• invasive species including weeds and pests
• browsing and grazing of regenerating vegetation
• inappropriate fire regimes (intensity, frequency, season, extent, type)

Of particular concern are species and ecosystems that are not well adapted to fire, including some threatened species and communities.


Threatened species and communities in the fire areas

• 400 000 ha burnt
• 14 major fires
• 27 Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act listed species in the fire area
• 19 Flora and Fauna Guarentee Act listed species in the fire area
• Numerous ecological communities of concern (e.g. Ash eucalypt forests, Cool Temperate Rainforests, sub alpine bog communities) in the fire area

Natural values recovery activities

Urgent ecological recovery activities include:

• Temporary relocation of native fish species (Barred Galaxias, Macquarie Perch) to safe refuges
• Control of predators at key sites (e.g. foxes and cats at Wilsons Promontory, foxes at Kinglake)
• Assessment of threatened species to determine their specific needs (e.g. Endangered Leadbeater's Possum at Lake Mountain and the endangered plant Shiny Nematolepis in the O'Shannassy Catchment)
• Replacement of protective fencing around threatened plants to exclude browsing and grazing animals such as rabbits, deer and kangaroos
• Replacement of nest boxes where they are part of a monitoring or research program (e.g. Leadbeater's Possum at Lake Mountain, Brush-tailed Phascogale at Kinglake)
• Supporting the welfare of fire-affected wildlife.

These will be followed by a program of activities to address other risks.

Media release - Ecological recovery from bushfires underway

Media release - Victoria's wildlife welfare efforts continue


Unique fire images captured by automatic cameras

DSE and Parks Victoria have set up remote cameras to automatically capture images of wildlife to support studies in the Big River catchment. By chance, one camera ended up in the path of the fires on the morning of 10 February 2009; it survived and continued to record still images during and after the passage of the fire.

The sequence of six still images below shows the passage of the fire front across the camera location (images 2 and 3). It also shows the slow burning of the course woody fuels immediately after (images 4 and 5). Many days later a Swamp Wallaby moved in to investigate the new surroundings (image 6).