Queanbeyan
Indicator: Fire
Results for this indicator are also available for [an error occurred while processing this directive]
What the results tell us for Queanbeyan
Available data indicate that 1.24 hectares. of land was burnt in Queanbeyan City Council area during the current reporting period during prescribed burn activities. No information was available on the effects of fire on fire sensitive vegetation communities that occur in the City Council area.
The New South Wales (NSW) Rural Fire Service considers there should no prescribed fire in habitat for populations of two threatened animal species that occur within the council area; high fire frequency is considered a threat to these species. Additionally, inappropriate fire frequencies are considered a threat to three threatened species (one rodent, one bat and one plant) and may put other threatened plant and animal species at risk (DECC, 2008c).
Queanbeyan City Council area may have occurrences of four threatened communities listed nationally or in NSW (DECC, 2008a; DECC, 2008b, DEWHA, 2008a) (Note: threatened ecological community lists are generated based on Bioregions not LGAs). All of these communities are at risk from fire or inappropriate fire regimes (DECC, 2008b; DEWHA, 2008b). No information was available to assess the impact of fire on these communities during the current reporting period.
A bushfire risk management plan was prepared for the City Council area during the previous reporting period to guide fire management strategies and measures there.
Occurrence of fires
Rural Fire Service data indicates that about 1.24 hectares of land were reported to have been subject to hazard reduction burns in 2004–2008. No wildfires occurred during the current reporting period.
Impacts of fires on native species and communities
Native animals and plants respond differently to fire. Some can persist under a range of fire regimes. However, in many cases, too frequent fire may harm species directly, or preventing them from spreading, depleting the soil seed bank, or modifying their habitat. Planning for threatened species recovery in relation to fire may mean implementing variable fire regimes and excluding those that are detrimental. Fire management may involve managing hazard reduction activities such as slashing and mowing.
The impact of fires on native plant and animal species and ecological communities varies with factors such as fire type, intensity and frequency, season of occurrence, and scale and patchiness of the burn. The effects and rate of recovery of plant communities exposed to the impacts of fire may also be affected by broader ecological pressures such as infestation by weeds, grazing pressure, drought, changed hydrology and invasive species.
No information is available on the effects of wildfires and hazard reduction burns on vegetation communities within the Queanbeyan City Council area over the reporting period. The bushfire characteristics of major vegetation types in the council area are outlined in the Yarrowlumla / Queanbeyan Bush Fire Management Plan (Y/QBFMC 2002, Section 2.2.3).
Impacts on fire sensitive species and communities
No information is available on whether fire sensitive species or communities that occur in Queanbeyan City Council area were impacted by fires during the current reporting period.
Potential impacts on threatened species and communities
High frequency fire resulting in the disruption of life cycle processes in plants and animals and loss of vegetation structure and composition is listed as a key threatening process on Schedule 3 of the Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995. The NSW Rural Fire Service (2003) recommends that there be no prescribed fire in populations of two threatened species recorded in Queanbeyan Council Area—the endangered/critically endangered Golden Sun Moth (Synemon plana) and the vulnerable Australasian Bittern (Botaurus poiciloptilus).
Of the other endangered and vulnerable species occurring in the City Council area, high frequency fire is considered to be a threatening process for two endangered or vulnerable species—the Spotted-tailed Quoll (Dasyurus maculatus) and the Glossy Black Cockatoo (Calyptorhynchus lathami) (NSW Scientific Committee 2008). However threatened plant species present in the area may also be at risk if subject to fires at an inappropriate frequency.
| Order | Common name | Scientific name |
|---|---|---|
| Mammals | Spotted-tailed Quoll | Dasyurus maculatus |
| Birds | Glossy Black Cockatoo | Calyptorhynchus lathami |
Source: NSW Scientific Committee 2008
There are two priority actions under the habitat management: fire recovery strategy in the Queanbeyan City Council. These actions apply to one threatened species. A priority action for the Eastern Bentwing-bat (Miniopterus schreibersii oceanensis) is to exclude prescription burns from 100m from cave entrance, and ensure smoke/flames of fires do not enter caves/roosts in artificial structures.
Queanbeyan City Council area may contain four threatened ecological communities listed as endangered or critically endangered within NSW or nationally (see Ecological communities) (DECC, 2008a; DECC, 2008b; DEWHA, 2008a) (Note: threatened ecological community lists are generated based on Bioregions LGAs). Two threatened ecological communities are listed under the NSW Threatened Species Conservation Act 1995, two are listed under the Commonwealth's Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.
Inappropriate fire regimes are considered a threat to all of these threatened ecological communities (DECC 2008b; DEWHA, 2008b). Inappropriate and high intensity fires are a threat to Montane Peatlands and Swamps of the New England Tableland, NSW North Coast, Sydney Basin, South East Corner, South Eastern Highlands and Australian Alps bioregion. No information is available on the effects of fire within this community during the current reporting period.
Inappropriate fire regimes are considered a threat to Natural Temperate Grassland of the Southern Tablelands of NSW and the Australian Capital Territory, and White Box Yellow Box Blakely's Red Gum woodland and White Box Yellow Box Blakely's Red Gum Grassy Woodlands and Derived Native Grasslands (DECC 2008b; DEWHA 2008b), although the extent to which they may have been affected by fire during the reporting period is not known.
Potential impacts on other species and communities
Important remnants of native vegetation may occur in travelling stock reserves, cemeteries and crown reserves. No information was located on the extent to which such communities occur in the City Council area and may have been threatened and/or affected by fire.
Remnant vegetation plays an important role in safeguarding biodiversity in terms of providing habitat requirements for a diverse range of fauna and flora once widespread in Australia. Many of the species they support have become increasingly rare across broad areas of their former distribution due to extensive habitat destruction and modification for agriculture and pastoralism. Remnant vegetation, including roadside remnants, is an important refuge for fauna and flora, some of which may be affected by inappropriate fire regimes and/or high frequency fire. The resilience of remnant vegetation and associated fauna assemblages to the effects of fire may also be undermined by cumulative effects of other ecological factors including grazing pressure, invasive species, drought and changed hydrology (salinity and/or drainage).
Fire management
Laws and policies
The Rural Fires Act 1997 is the main state government mechanism relating to fire management in NSW, although the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 also contain clauses relating to fire and fire management. For more information on these laws, see government laws and policies.
The NSW Rural Fire Service has developed several policy documents and guidelines relating to fire management, including the Bush Fire Environmental Assessment Code (RFS 2003) and Planning for Bushfire Protection (RFS and Planning NSW 2001). The former lists threatened species, threatened populations and endangered ecological communities to be addressed when undertaking hazard reduction burns, and specifies conditions relating to the use of fire and mechanical forms of hazard reduction for each species, population or community. The planning document outlines planning considerations to be taken into account for developments in bushfire prone areas.
Yarrowlumla/Queanbeyan Bushfire Management Committee
The Yarrowlumla/Queanbeyan Bush Fire Management Committee developed a Bushfire Risk Management Plan during the previous reporting period (Y/QBFMC 2002). This document maps bushfire risk across the previous Yarrowlumla and Queanbeyan Council Areas (now mostly part of Queanbeyan City Council Area) and outlines strategies that land managers will undertake to manage identified bushfire risks. The plan addresses protection of natural and cultural values and protection of life and property, and also provides information relating to threatened species, populations, communities and critical habitat. It refers to approved Recovery Plans and the specific fire management requirements for each species or community.
Council and other land management agencies are required to develop their own programs for implementing the strategies outlined in the bushfire risk management plan. Queanbeyan Council has sole responsibility to communicate the plan's objectives and strategies to private land managers and to ensure the strategy is implemented in the city council area.
Queanbeyan City Council
No information was reported in this RSoER on specific fire management measures within the City Council area during the current reporting period.
Other agencies
Travelling Stock Reserve (TSR) management plans may incorporate fire management, and detail all works for fire management to be undertaken on reserves. The Braidwood Rural Lands Protection Board, whose administrative area covers Queanbeyan City Council Area, has a TSR Management Plan in place which includes fire management. The Board is represented on the local Bushfire Management Committees and has protocols in place to organise hazard reduction activities with the Rural Fire Service in consultation with neighbouring property owners, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service and Council. Actions within the Braidwood Travelling Stock Reserve Management Plan relating to fire include (Braidwood RLPB 2002):
- monitor fuel levels on reserves
- develop strategies for controlled burns with the local Rural Fire Service
- where possible use grazing to minimise bushfire fuel levels
- reduce threat of fire to reserves and adjoining lands.
References
Braidwood Rural Lands Protection Board (2002) Braidwood Rural Lands Protection Board TSR Management Plan 2002–2007, Braidwood Rural Lands Protection Board, viewed 29 May 2006, http://www.rlpb.org.au/southern_tablelands/braidwood/local/ management_plans/man_plan_tsr_2_7.pdf.
DECC – see Department of Environment and Climate Change
Department of Environment and Climate Change (2008a) list of Endangered Populations, Endangered Ecological Communities, Critical Habitat and Key Threatening Processes that may potentially occur within the BOOROWA Lga. shp, provided by ACT Commissioner for the Sustainability and the Environment from Threatened Species Data Officer, Spatial Data Programs, Department of Environment and Climate Change.
Department of Environment and Climate Change (2008b), Threatened Species – species, populations and ecological communities in NSW, search on endangered ecological community, viewed 13 October 2008, http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/home_species.aspx
Department of Environment and Climate Change (2008c) Threatened Species – species, populations and ecological communities in NSW; Recovery and threat abatement, Queanbeyan City Council area Council viewed 13 October 2008, http://www.threatenedspecies.environment.nsw.gov.au/tsprofile/pas_lga_recovery_details.aspx?lga= Queanbeyani%20Council&type=habitat+management:+fire
Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Commonwealth) (2008a) Environmental Reporting Tool, Database Report, viewed October 2008, http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/erin/ert/ert_dispatch.pl?loc_type=lga&search=Search&report=ert
Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (Commonwealth) (2008b), Biodiversity, search on endangered ecological community, viewed October 2008, http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/index.html
NSW Scientific Committee (2008) Ecological consequences of high frequency fires - key threatening process declaration, final determination, accessed 9 October 2008, http://www.environment.nsw.gov.au/threatenedspecies/EcologicalConsequencesFiresKTPListing.htm
NSW Rural Fire Service (2003) Bush Fire Environmental Assessment Code for Asset Protection and Strategic Fire Advantage Zones, NSW Rural Fire Service.
NSW Rural Fire Service and Planning NSW (2001) Planning for Bushfire Protection: a guide for Councils, planners, fire authorities, developers and home owners, Planning NSW, viewed 26 August 2005,
Yarrowlumla/Queanbeyan Bush Fire Management Committee (2002) Bush Fire Risk Management Plan, Yarrowlumla Shire Council and Queanbeyan City Council.
