While we have the privilege of being The Quoin’s custodians, we are using ecological burns to manage these grassland ecosystems. Credit: The Quoin team.
We're excited to be welcoming Tasmanian Aboriginal people to engage in cultural burning later this year. Credit: The Quoin team.
We prioritise grassland sites that have a high fire risk and are highly visited by animals. Credit: The Quoin team.
Wallabies lead us straight to these spots, heading to feeding grasslands at dusk and dawn. Credit: The Quoin team.
Burning away dead and decaying plant matter catalyses a new growth cycle, and it’s good for the soil too. Credit: The Quoin team.
Location
Property-wide
Season
Autumn
Ecosystem
Grassland
Sedgeland
Aim
To provide nutritious feed to native animals by keeping grasslands youthful and open, and reduce unplanned fires.
Context
Tasmanian Aboriginal people have been managing the land for tens of thousands of years, partly through the use of fire to promote soil fertility and vegetation regrowth.
In Tasmania, a grassland will naturally become a sedgeland, then a woodland, and then a forest. To prevent this ecosystem shift, you need to burn the Lomandra (traywuna) when it gets to a certain density. Sedges are critical habitat for small mammals, as well as providing a sheltered location for tree seedlings, but they aren’t edible by grazers or browsers and will take over grasslands if left to their own devices.
While we have the privilege of being The Quoin’s custodians, we are using ecological burns to manage these grassland ecosystems. In addition, we're excited to be welcoming Tasmanian Aboriginal people to the property later this year, to engage in cultural burning across the landscape.
Approach
We use fire-beaters to shape the fire, guiding it in the direction of our choosing, using wallaby paths as natural fire breaks.
We prioritise grassland sites that have a high fire risk and are highly visited by animals. Wallabies lead us straight to these spots: at dusk and dawn, they leave the forest for their main feeding grasslands, leaving animal pathways in their wake.
Outcomes
Fire has ecological benefits (hence the name ecological burns). As dead and decaying plant matter builds up, it can choke the growth of small or new plants, and block animals from accessing the soil. Burning away this material catalyses a new growth cycle. It’s good for the soil too. Nutrients released from the burned material return more quickly into the soil than if they had slowly decayed over time.
What’s more, small, intentional ecological burns also prevent uncontrollable future fires, by establishing a firebreak of young, rejuvenated growth between the road and the forest.