Fire application in the QMDB has limited research in the context of biodiversity and production and there are knowledge gaps regarding the use or exclusion of fire for different outcomes.  This is against the backdrop of community perceptions that all fires are bad, and limited to adversarial institutional and cultural positions for active fire management influencing private land managers’ application of fire.  For graziers in SIQ, these social complexities have added pressure to the decision making process surrounding their active use of fire as a land management tool. Reduced application of planned burning positions areas at increasing risk of catastrophic unplanned fire events but simultaneously contributes to the loss of the collective cultural knowledge and experience of land managers regarding appropriateness of fire practices for production and biodiversity outcomes in an increasingly variable climate.  

Landscape Fire Planning in Poplar Box Grassy Woodlands in the QMDB project funded by the Australian Government is a 5 year project partnership with multiple landholder, fire, environmental, government and research agencies in the Maranoa.

Three years into the project, through demonstration sites and information sharing field days with land managers and industry, it is engaging and supporting land managers to develop property and landscape fire plans that are reflective of management needs in extensive grazing landscapes. 

This project is assisting landholders make more informed decisions about their current use of fire, supporting local knowledge with existing regionally relevant research, pinpointing knowledge gaps whilst facilitating intergenerational sharing of experience, building networks and resilience.