Project Leader Mark Adams, UNSW

Research in the USA, equally applicable in Australia, provides a simple economic analysis that explains much of the social and biophysical context for bushfire impacts at the urban rural interface. Models of this type can be populated and parameterised for Australia. Nearly all recent inquiries into bushfires emphasise growing unrest in rural areas as a result of the politics of capital cities. This unrest is well founded in declines in the resources for and experience of rural fire issues.

This project seeks to establish the social, political and economic context of the biophysical sciences involved in prescribed burning (or ecological burning). It is apparent to all practitioners of prescribed burning that the science frequently plays a secondary role when decisions are made about the timing, location and scale of such fires. The project aims to synthesise and interpret existing data and knowledge with the explicit purpose of influencing policy.

Project Leader: Prof Mark Adams, University of New South Wales (02) 9385-1604