❓ Hon Lynn MacLaren questions the basis for fuel load management targets in WA's forested estate, specifically the 'less than six years' timeframe and the area to which it applies. The Minister provides clarification based on scientific research and the Forest Management Plan.
AnsweredQoN 4117Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
(1) I refer to question without notice No. 547, which states that 45 percent of forested estate is to carry fuel loads that are less that six years old, and ask: (a) on what basis was the time "less than six years" for fuel loads chosen; and (b) does the 45 percent apply to the present extent of ecosystems within the Forest Management Plan 2014-2023 area or the present extent of ecosystems on all lands vested in the Conservation Commission? (2) Will the Minister please state the area of each of the vegetation types that make up the "approximately 2.6 million hectares of forested estate under departmental management in the south-west"? (3) To which of these vegetation types does the 45 percent of fuel loads that are less that six years old apply to?
AnswerView source ↗
Answered
28 June 2016
Responded by
Minister for Planning representing the Minister for Environment
Response time
49 days
The Minister for Environment has provided the following response.
(1)(a) The basis for the “less than six years” referred to in question without notice no. 547 centres around the accumulation of fuel in the landscape across that timescale. This has been supported by research published by Dr Matthias Boer et al . in 2009 which described the changes in fuel accumulation and the associated probability of bushfire spread. Boer et al . state that “from six to seven years onwards, fuel loads accumulate to levels that make high-intensity fire increasingly probable and suppression increasingly difficult.”
(1)(b) The figure of 45 per cent incorporates the full range of vegetation types in the three Department of Parks and Wildlife south-west forest regions (Swan, South West and Warren), on land tenures managed by Parks and Wildlife. This includes the present extent of those ecosystems described in the Forest Management Plan 2014-2023 .
(2) Appendices in the Forest Management Plan 2014-2023 summarise the area statistics, as at 2014, for the broad range of vegetation types on land tenures vested in the then Conservation Commission and managed by the Department. A further 17,200 hectares of plantation and native forest lands are managed by the Department as freehold land held in the name of the Conservation and Land Management Executive Body.
(3) The measure applies to the most flammable, fire resilient vegetation types but excludes vegetation that contains fire sensitive species such as certain riparian zones, rock outcrops, some wetlands, young regrowth forests and some mining rehabilitation sites which would be treated with prescribed fire at longer intervals.
(1)(a) The basis for the “less than six years” referred to in question without notice no. 547 centres around the accumulation of fuel in the landscape across that timescale. This has been supported by research published by Dr Matthias Boer et al . in 2009 which described the changes in fuel accumulation and the associated probability of bushfire spread. Boer et al . state that “from six to seven years onwards, fuel loads accumulate to levels that make high-intensity fire increasingly probable and suppression increasingly difficult.”
(1)(b) The figure of 45 per cent incorporates the full range of vegetation types in the three Department of Parks and Wildlife south-west forest regions (Swan, South West and Warren), on land tenures managed by Parks and Wildlife. This includes the present extent of those ecosystems described in the Forest Management Plan 2014-2023 .
(2) Appendices in the Forest Management Plan 2014-2023 summarise the area statistics, as at 2014, for the broad range of vegetation types on land tenures vested in the then Conservation Commission and managed by the Department. A further 17,200 hectares of plantation and native forest lands are managed by the Department as freehold land held in the name of the Conservation and Land Management Executive Body.
(3) The measure applies to the most flammable, fire resilient vegetation types but excludes vegetation that contains fire sensitive species such as certain riparian zones, rock outcrops, some wetlands, young regrowth forests and some mining rehabilitation sites which would be treated with prescribed fire at longer intervals.
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