ABC reveals WA’s trees in the ‘valley of the giants’ lost in a managed fire aimed at protecting lives and property

ABC NEWS (Australia)

Scientists are warning more of WA's rare tingle forest is at risk of being destroyed unless the government urgently changes fire management practices. Internal documents obtained by the ABC have revealed more than 100 trees in the 'valley of the giants' were lost in a managed fire aimed at protecting lives and property.

Transcript

00:00This forest on Western Australia's south coast is home to some of the most unique animal and

00:07plant life on the planet. As part of the state's bushfire mitigation program, it's being set alight.

00:13We have seen a lot of demise of flora and fauna and we're very concerned about that.

00:19In December, a burn by the Department of Biodiversity Conservation and Attractions

00:23felled hundreds of trees in the Walpole tourism hotspot, the Valley of the Giants.

00:28So this is the map of the tingle distribution. That is all the tingle on the whole planet.

00:36At the time, the department said it was aware of one large tree felled in the fire.

00:40Internal DBCA documents obtained by the ABC five months later put that number at 114 trees.

00:46Documents also show the fire burned 99% of the prescribed area with greater severity than

00:51mitigation burns in the same block three decades ago.

00:54Over the last six years, I think the majority have been too hot.

00:59DBCA, which initially declined to release the documents, said the burn was a success despite

01:03the damage it caused. 19 neighbouring parcels of nearby forests have been earmarked for burns

01:08over the next three years, including four with stands of rare red tingle trees.

01:13But a group of WA's top environmental scientists want urgent change to the burn program to avoid

01:18another mass felling. What we're recommending is that they don't burn wholesale blocks in the stuff

01:25that's well removed from life and property assets. WA's new Environment Minister Matthew Swinburne

01:31declined multiple requests for an interview. A statement from the Minister's office highlighted

01:35a legislated responsibility to protect the environment and the community from the effects

01:39of bushfires. It said the department's burn program was based on 60 years of scientific

01:43evidence and best practice, with additional research underway. Scientists have described

01:49that claim as a diversionary tactic.

01:50The Minister's solution has been to park it for 10 years, and he's given the department

01:56a bit of money for new research to be done. We think the scientific evidence is already compelling.

02:04Ecologists studying the rare trees claim historical data is being ignored.

02:09We're looking at a concern that was raised in the 90s, and it's still a concern today.

02:15And if we don't address that, then it's only going to get worse.

02:19A drying climate adding to the urgency.

02:21In the next five decades, we're looking at the entirety of red tingle forest becoming

02:25drier than the driest portion of red tingle is now. But I think that needs to be an open

02:30acknowledgement that this is a fire-sensitive ecosystem, and then we can move forward with

02:34that with discussions from ecology, from fire practitioners, from fire science within the

02:39department as well.

02:40A push for compromise ahead of the coming fire season.

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