Fire Management Plan Ngarkat District Incorporating Ngarkat, Carcuma and Kelvin Powrie Conservation Parks; Hardings Springs Conservation Reserve; included Crown Lands and participating Heritage Agreements Department for Environment and Heritage Department for Environment and Heritage South Australian Murray-Darling Basin Natural Resources PREPARE. ACT. SURVIVE. Management Board www.environment.sa.gov.auwww.environment.sa.gov.au This plan has been produced by the South Australian Department for Environment and Heritage with the support of the Australian Government through the Natural Heritage Trust (NHT). For further information please contact: Department for Environment and Heritage Phone Information Line (08) 8204 1910, or see SA White Pages for your local Department for Environment and Heritage office. This Fire Management Plan is also available from: Hhttp://www.environment.sa.gov.au/parks/management/fireplanning.html Front Cover: Ngarkat Conservation Park by Brett Stephens Permissive Licence © State of South Australia through the Department for Environment and Heritage. Apart from fair dealings and other uses permitted by the Copyright Act 1968 (Cth), no part of this publication may be reproduced, published, communicated, transmitted, modified or commercialised without the prior written approval of the Department for Environment and Heritage. Written requests for permission should be addressed to: Design and Production Manager Department for Environment and Heritage GPO Box 1047 Adelaide SA 5001 Disclaimer While reasonable efforts have been made to ensure the contents of this publication are factually correct, the Department of Environment and Heritage makes no representations and accepts no responsibility for the accuracy, completeness or fitness for any particular purpose of the contents, and shall not be liable for any loss or damage that may be occasioned directly or indirectly through the use of or reliance on the contents of this publication. Reference to any company, product or service in this publication should not be taken as a Departmental endorsement of the company, product or service. © Department for Environment and Heritage September 2009 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Ngarkat Conservation Park (CP) is the largest protected area of remnant vegetation in settled South Australia. The reserve, along with Carcuma CP, Kelvin Powrie CP, Hardings Springs Conservation Reserve (CR), adjacent unalienated Crown land and Heritage Agreements, represents 300 000 hectares of heath habitat. It contains a diverse range of flora and fauna species, including some threatened species exclusively found within the region. The recognition that inappropriate fire regimes present a threat to biodiversity regardless of land tenure is important in such a fire-prone landscape. As such, the development of this plan has been funded by the South Australian Murray-Darling Basin (SAMDB) Natural Resources Management (NRM) Board. This Draft Fire Management Plan for the Ngarkat district has been developed to provide direction for fire management activities, including bushfire suppression, in the region. The plan emphasises the protection of life and property as well as providing direction for land managers in the protection and enhancement of the natural and cultural heritage of Ngarkat and its surrounds. Implementation of the recommendations and works listed in this plan is subject to available resources as well as regional and statewide priorities. Some degree of flexibility will need to remain for fire suppression in those areas where there has only been partial implementation of works. The Ngarkat district was identified as a priority for fire management planning within Department for Environment and Heritage (DEH) Murraylands Region to address the following issues: • general protection of life, property and environmental values in the plan area • protection of important habitat for many species and communities including those with conservation ratings • the landscape protection of blocks and reserves, to reduce the likelihood of a whole reserve or large portion of a reserve burning in a single fire event. These issues were addressed by: • applying a risk assessment process to identify life, property and environmental values at risk from bushfires • applying DEH Fire Management Zoning Principles to manage fuel in Asset and Buffer Zones • identifying significant ecological assets and applying Ecological Fire Management Guidelines to determine appropriate burning in Conservation Zones • auditing tracks within the DEH reserves using the Government Agencies Fire Liaison Committee’s (GAFLC) “South Australian Guidelines for State Government Agencies: Firebreaks and Fire Access Tracks”. Ngarkat District Fire Management Plan i EXECUTIVE SUMMARY A number of recommendations as result of applying the above processes have been identified. • Prescribed burning to: reduce fuel in Asset and Buffer zones as outlined in the plan (other methods of fuel reduction will also be used, and in some cases is specifically mentioned) reduce fuel in strategic areas within Conservation zones to provide landscape and habitat protection within the plan area and known threatened species populations create mosaics of areas with a range of different fire ages. • Track upgrades (in accordance with GAFLC guidelines). • Identification of suppression considerations that may assist bushfire suppression operations to contribute to improved fire management. The local community and South Australian Country Fire Service (CFS) volunteers have contributed extensive amounts of time, energy and resources to fire suppression in the Ngarkat district and they are to be commended for this contribution. The co-operation of stakeholders such as DEH, CFS, the apiary industry, Heritage Agreement owners, adjacent landholders and the local community will be critical to the success of the plan. The recognition that fire presents a genuine risk to a variety of land tenures within this plan area provides a unique opportunity to manage the landscape with respect to fire through combining the resources and experience of stakeholders. The draft plan will be released for public comment for a period of four weeks. Comments will then be evaluated and incorporated according to the submission criteria. A major review of this plan will occur after ten years of implementation, or earlier if required. Recommended works will be reviewed on an annual basis. ii Ngarkat District Fire Management Plan TABLE OF CONTENTS TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................... I TABLE OF CONTENTS ...................................................................................................................... III List of Figures...................................................................................................................................... v List of Tables....................................................................................................................................... v List of Attached Maps ..................................................................................................................... v 1 RATIONALE AND KEY OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................... 1 1.1 Background............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Key Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 3 2 THE PLANNING FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................... 4 2.1 Legislation ................................................................................................................................4 2.2 DEH Fire Management Policy ............................................................................................... 4 2.3 Zoning Policy ........................................................................................................................... 5 2.4 Local and Regional Environmental Planning / Recovery Planning................................ 6 2.5 Reserve Management Planning .......................................................................................... 6 2.6 Fire Management in Heritage Agreements ....................................................................... 7 2.7 Fire Management and the Apiary Industry ........................................................................ 8 2.8 The Role of the Country Fire Service.................................................................................... 9 3 BUSHFIRE ENVIRONMENT ........................................................................................................ 11 3.1 Location .................................................................................................................................11 3.2 Terrain .....................................................................................................................................11 3.3 Climate, Wind and Weather...............................................................................................11 3.4 Fuel..........................................................................................................................................12 3.5 Fire Behaviour in Mallee-Heath Ecosystems .....................................................................14