National Geographic Traveller UK April 2020

(Dana P.) #1
IS AUSTRALIA ON FIRE?
Parts of it are, yes. And the 2019-
2020 bush ire season has been
the most catastrophic on record.
At time of writing, 46 million
acres of land had burned in the
ires. For comparison, the entire
UK covers just under 60 million
acres. More than 30 lives had
been lost, and in excess of 6,000
buildings destroyed. However,
Sally Cope, Tourism Australia’s
regional general manager for the
UK and northern Europe, said:
“Fortunately, the majority of
destinations popular with overseas
tourists remain unafected.”

SO, WHICH BITS HAVE BEEN HIT?
There have been ires in all states,
but southern New South Wales
and eastern Victoria have been
worst hit. This includes many
beach and country towns that are
popular with domestic tourists,
but don’t usually feature on the
itineraries of visitors from the UK.
Key areas that have been
afected include Kangaroo Island
and the Adelaide Hills in South
Australia, plus parts of the Blue
Mountains in New South Wales.
The capital, Canberra, has also
been under threat.
However, lots of ire means
IMAGE: GETTYlots of smoke, which has led


SHOULD I TRAVEL TO AUSTRALIA?


THE TOURISM INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA IS FEELING THE WEIGHT FOLLOWING THE
CATASTROPHIC BUSHFIRES THAT STARTED LAST YEAR, BUT SHOULD TOURISTS BE
VISITING THE COUNTRY RIGHT NOW? WORDS: DAVID WHITLEY

HOT TOPIC

to key highways being closed,
dangerously poor air quality in
big cities and grey-black blankets
replacing bright blue skies.
Heavy rain in January has
helped curb the worst of
December’s horrors, but several
ires are still cropping up.

WHY HAS THIS HAPPENED?
Professor Ian Wright from
Macquarie University’s
Department of Biological
Sciences, says: “For many
millions of years, ire has been
an important and regular feature
of the environment in Australia,
especially in areas dominated by
eucalypts. Many species are highly
adapted to ire.
“When dry, eucalypt forests
produce substantial fuel loads
that are easily ignited by lightning.
The resulting ires, fanned by
strong winds during hot weather,
are very diicult to contain.” And
the perfect storm of extended
drought, plus very warm spring
and summer weather, has struck.

HOW CAN IT BE MANAGED?
Indigenous Australian groups have
always used controlled burns to
manage woods and forests, and
staf in national and state parks do
much the same thing.

Wright explains this can only go
so far, though. “Hazard-reduction
burning reduces fuel loads,
particularly in the understory of
forests. These burns may serve
to reduce the spread and severity
of low-intensity ires, but under
extreme ire conditions — as
experienced this summer — they
make little diference.”

WHAT ABOUT THE WILDLIFE?
There’s no doubt the ires have
had a devastating efect on the
wildlife. The total toll will take a
long time to work out, but ignore
any hyperbolic nonsense about
the ires making koalas extinct.

SHOULD I CANCEL MY TRIP?
In most of the drawcard
destinations — Sydney,
Melbourne, Perth, Kakadu,
the Red Centre, Queensland’s
beaches, Tasmania’s mountain
walks, the wine regions and the
Great Barrier Reef — you’re not
going to be anywhere near a
bushire. Special ire management
eforts have also been put in place
to protect key attractions in the
areas that have been afected.
Tourism Australia has created a
helpful, frequently updated map
of the afected areas: australia.
com/en-gb/travel-alerts.html

KEY SITES:
WHERE’S STILL OPEN?

KANGAROO ISLAND
Travel to and from
Kangaroo Island is
unrestricted, and the
ires have largely been
contained in the western
half of the island, which
includes Flinders Chase
National Park. At the end
of January, travel here
wasn’t recommended
except for access. Some
accommodation options
in the west are closed
until further notice, but
the South Australian
Tourism Commission
says the east is open
for business.

CANBERRA
It’s the national and
state parks around
Canberra that have
been worst hit. The
city’s airport was briely
closed, but most of the
key attractions are in
unaffected central areas.

BLUE MOUNTAINS
Though some alarmist
assessments have said
up to 80% of the Blue
Mountains region has
been lost to bushires,
the actual igure is more
like 20%. Thankfully,
natural regeneration
will replenish most of
the damaged sections.
The most-visited area
— Katoomba and the
Jamison Valley — got off
very lightly. The Scenic
Railway into the valley was
temporarily closed while
ireighters used it, but
reopened in December.

View from Echo Point
lookout, Blue Mountains,
New South Wales

TRAVEL GEEKS


April 2020 159
Free download pdf