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How can Indigenous fire practices help our climate?

Science Gallery Melbourne

Cultural burning is the practice of using fire to prevent catastrophic wildfires or bushfires. Aboriginal people in Australia have been managing Country for millennia using these and other methodologies that are in harmony with the environment. These are the Flames of Opportunity that Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher spoke about with NITV’s Science and Technology reporter Rae Johnston at the Science Gallery Melbourne Annual Hugh Williamson Lecture. Professor Fletcher’s research joins the dots between Indigenous knowledges of Country and Western sciences, gathering evidence that there are other more effective methods to care for our planet. This work feels more urgent than ever in the wake of last summer’s bushfires.

This conversation with Rae Johnston was recorded in 2020 for the Annual Hugh Williamson Lecture at Science Gallery Melbourne