A rally will be held in Margaret River at the weekend to call on the state government to fund rapid bushfire suppression equipment and scale back βfailingβ prescribed burns in the South West.
Globally there has been a shift towards adopting new early detection and rapid suppression equipment to quickly identify and extinguish bushfires.
The technology, including smoke detection cameras, satellite monitoring, AI software and drones to give a birdβs-eye view to spot developing fires, is already operational in Canada and California.
It is being rolled out in European countries and along the east coast of Australia.
WA Forest Alliance senior campaigner Jason Fowler said the WA government and Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions were lagging and reliant on βoutdated and dangerousβ policy.
βThe prescribed burning program is no longer effective at protecting South West communities in a drying and warming climate,β he said.
βOnly half of prescribed burns close to communities have been completed last year because they are too risky.
βForests are also suffering with an increasing number of high-intensity burns causing severe damage.β
Good ideas in this article.
We need to change our practices after the experience of last summer alone, The Big Dry, Joe Fontaine, et al , contijuing what weβre doing can only increase more risk for forrest and homes, or environmental collapses followed by increased agricultural hardship.
