It was a map that could guide you through the country and, if you understood it, take you directly into a place that is ready to burn."For Webster, assessing the land involves him "literally digging and going underground," he says."We're looking at the subsurface level and then everything from that up beyond the canopy."Yebra said there was a "remarkable agreement" between Webster's local knowledge and the satellite data, demonstrating the combined value of Indigenous expertise and Western science.Her team now hopes to get more funding for the project, and work with Indigenous communities to co-design plans to protect the land and manage fires.For Webster, it's about "allowing our mother – the planet Earth – a voice again". mer fires in 2019-20 were Australia's most severe fire season on recordFire as friend, not just foeAnother example of ancient wisdom influencing modern techniques can be found in the way Australia fights fire with fire.Cultural burning refers to a longstanding practice by Indigenous Australians to manage the environment while also maintaining a deep, spiritual connection to the land.Part of it is lighting "cool fires": small, controlled blazes that create a patchy landscape, so fuel does not build up in one area."In Europe, there is no such cultural aspect to this kind of landscape planning," Yebra says.Wildfire scientists in Spain have blamed a massive build-up of fuel for the blazes currently devastating the country."It is difficult to watch what is happening in Spain, but it is not surprising," Yebra says. "Particularly as climate change is increasing the frequency of extreme fire weather across southern Europe."She believes Europe, facing its worst wildfires in decades, could benefit from Australia's firefighting experience."We have decades of experience living with large and high-intensity bushfires," she says. "One of the biggest changes we are seeing in bushfire management is a shift from simply reacting to fires towards anticipating risk and acting earlier."The earlier we can identify risk or detect an ignition, the more options firefighters have." ds a team developing technology to prevent large bushfiresWebster says a key lesson the world could learn from Australia is "don't sit back and wait"."The longer you leave it, the more fuel there is to burn, so the fire is naturally going to be bigger and harder to extinguish," he says."Indigenous people always knew that, so we burnt continuously all the time.
That way there was no fuel for big fires."The practice of lighting cool fires dates back 60,000 years. Part of Webster's role is to assess the area before one is lit, looking for natural signs of oil and water in the landscape so that the blaze remains under control."All the answers are in the environment," he says. "There's a sweet spot in the middle where there's enough water to slow that fire down but there's enough oil to push that fire on."A more modern tactic used across Australia is a prescribed burn, also known as a hazard reduction burn.
These carefully planned, often large-scale fires are usually carried out during cooler months, and are increasingly being adopted in parts of Europe.It's an approach that has become especially vital in the "urban fringes", says superinte
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