National Geographic - UK (2022-05)

Adelaide

River

Gunbalanya

(Oenpelli)

Katherine

Batchelor

Pine Creek

Peppimenarti

Jabiru

Maningrida

Bulman

Weemol

Darwin

Nauiyu

Kabulwarnamyo

Manmoyi

Mamadawerre

Boucaut

Van Diemen Gulf Bay

Beagle Gulf

Da

ly

So

ut

h

Al

lig

at

or

So

ut

h

Al

lig

at

or

Arnhem

Plateau

Deaf Adder

Gorge

LAND

KAKADU

NATIONAL

PARK

NITMILUK

NATIONAL

PARK

LITCHFIELD

NAT.

PARK

MARY

RIVER

N.P.

DJUKBINJ

NAT. PARK

GARIG GUNAK BARLU

NATIONAL PARK

Arn

hem

(^) La
nd (^) tr
opical savanna
Carpentaria tropic
al (^) sava
Kim nna
ber
ley^
tro
pic
al^
sa
va
nn
a
Warddeken
Indigenous
Protected
Area
Djelk
I.P.A.
South East
Arnhem Land
I.P.A.
Bathurst Melville Island
Island
Cobourg (^) P
eninsu
Ti la
wi^
Is
lands
25 km
25 mi
MAP AREA
Canberra
AUSTRALIAAUSTRALIA
NORTHERN
TERR.
NORTHERN
TERR.
INDIGENOUS SUCCESS
Rangers in the Warddeken
IPA take advantage of the
rocky terrain when deciding
where to set prescribed
burns. These burns and
the favorable landscape are
two key factors that have
helped lessen fire prevalence
since 2000.
HARNESSING
THE FLAMES
For tens of thousands of years, Australia’s Aboriginal
people used fire to prevent out-of-control wildfires.
Today, after many returned to their northern Australia
homelands in the 1970s, that practice has been
revived. Setting small, strategically planned blazes
using drip torches and incendiary pellets dropped
from helicopters, Indigenous rangers create patches
of burned savanna that act as firebreaks. Over the
past two decades, the total area burned by fire
in western Arnhem Land has diminished significantly.
WHEN IT BURNS
Lightning-sparked fires are
common between October and
December, before monsoons
set in. Prescribed burns to
prevent wildfires are typically
lit in the cooler, drier months
from April to July.
THE SIX SEASONS
How the Aboriginal people of western
Arnhem Land divide the year, shown
below in the Kundedjnjenghmi language:
0
40
80
120
160
J FMAMJ JASOND
Th
ou
sa
nd
s^ o
f^ s
qu
ar
e^
m
ile
(^) s
Total Burned Area (2000-2020)
Kunumeleng
Humidity, thunderstorms, and lightning
Managed burns
during cooler
seasons
Kudjewk
Hot, wet, and humid with monsoons
Bangkerreng
Last storms of the wet season
Yekke
Cooler, drier period
Wurrkeng
Cool, with winds from the south
Kurrung
Hot and dry period
Fire frequency (2000-2020)
0 5 10 15 20
Monsoon forest