The Howitt Society, the Gippsland group whose motto is ‘Healthy and Safe Landscapes’, has produced a new study that tackles critics who challenge fuel reduction burning (FRB) as a way to fight massive bushfires.
Bushfire disasters should be treated in the same way as a disease pandemic such as COVID-19 –prevention is better than the cure, according to The Howitt Society, whose work is inspired by the work of 19th Century Gippsland scientist, Alfred Howitt.
Howitt, who was an anthropologist, botanist, ecologist, geologist and explorer, advocated a holistic science where Aboriginal burning sustained landscapes, ecosystems and human economies through millenia. Howitt Society committee members include a former Victorian Chief Fire Officer, senior fire fighters, forest scientists, land managers, a former meteorologist, an agricultural researcher and graziers.
The study, The Role of Fuel Reduction Burning in Fire Management, maintains that FRB, sometimes known as prescribed burning, is not designed to stop wildfires.

IMAGE: A well managed approach to mild fuel reduction burning with a series of small spot fires. (PS)