Australia's Megafires

The Australian wildfires of 2019–20 (Black Summer) were devastating and unprecedented. These megafires burnt more than 10 million hectares, mostly of forests in southern and eastern Australia. Many of the fires were uncontrollable. These megafires affected many of Australia’s most important conservation areas and severely impacted threatened species and ecological communities. They were a consequence of climate change — and offered a glimpse of how this is likely to continue to affect our future.

Australia’s Megafires includes contributions by more than 200 researchers and managers with direct involvement in the management and conservation of the biodiversity affected by the Black Summer wildfires. It provides a comprehensive review of the impacts of these fires on all components of biodiversity, and on Indigenous cultural values.

These fires also triggered an extraordinary and highly collaborative response by governments, NGOs, Indigenous groups, scientists, landholders and others, seeking to recover the fire-affected species and environments — to restore Country. This book documents that response. It draws lessons that should be heeded to sustain that recovery and to be better prepared for the inevitable future comparable catastrophes. Such lessons are of global relevance, for wildfires increasingly threaten biodiversity and livelihoods across the globe.

About the Editors

Stephen van Leeuwen is a Wardandi Noongar with a profound respect for Country, a professor and Australia's first Indigenous Chair of Biodiversity and Environmental Science, based at Curtin University. He is a botanical ecologist with diverse research interests.

Brendan A. Wintle is a Professor in Conservation Ecology and a Principal Investigator in the Quantitative and Applied Ecology group (QAECO) at The University of Melbourne. He is passionate about the conservation of Australia's unique flora and fauna. He was a co-editor of Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities (CSIRO Publishing, 2018).

John C. Z. Woinarski is a Professor of Conservation Biology at Charles Darwin University. He has been engaged in research, management and policy relating to Australian biodiversity for over 40 years. He was the author of A Bat's End (CSIRO Publishing, 2018), a co-author of Cats in Australia (CSIRO Publishing, 2019) and The Action Plan for Australian Lizards and Snakes 2017 (CSIRO Publishing, 2019), and co-editor of Recovering Australian Threatened Species (CSIRO Publishing, 2018).

Libby Rumpff is a Senior Research Fellow and a Principal Investigator in the Quantitative and Applied Ecology group (QAECO) at The University of Melbourne. She is a woodland ecologist and environmental decision analyst.

Sarah M. Legge is an Honorary Professor at The Australian National University, and a Professorial Fellow at Charles Darwin University. Sarah is a wildlife ecologist with 30 years of research and conservation management experience. She was a co-author of Cats in Australia (CSIRO Publishing, 2019) and co-editor of Monitoring Threatened Species and Ecological Communities (CSIRO Publishing, 2018).