Models of engagement: developing a fire management plan - Participatory and consultative principles
As you already know, fires do not stop at tenure boundaries and fire management in a vast landscape is the responsibility of a number of different groups of people. For this reason, any processes designed to develop effective fire management planning and implementation on the ground must be consultative and inclusive.
Activity: Working together
How is effective fire management achieved?
There is a growing literature on effective consultative practices in natural resource management. Many research organisations, for example the Aboriginal Health CRC (Henry et al. 2004) and Tropical Savannas CRC (Myers et al. 2004) have prepared their own guidelines for participatory research and natural resource management planning.
The report by Myers et al. (2004) was prepared to inform future fire management planning in the rangelands. Included is a protocol for fire management planning, which aims to ensure that the process starts with the inclusion of everyone with a stake in the fire plan being developed.
Henry et al. (2004) focus on organisational issues that prevent researchers from framing research questions that serve the needs of people. Although addressing issues associated with health research in Aboriginal communities, this document provides a useful (and state-of-the-art) critique of ways in which researchers can improve methodologies by making them more inclusive, resulting in improved outcomes on the ground.
Nic Gambold (2001) has years of experience working in natural resource management projects with constituents of the Central Land Council. In his chapter, Nic outlines practical ways to ensure that planning is genuinely participatory.
As people who work in cross-cultural settings commonly say, ‘skilful cross-cultural communication shares much with good communication in general’.
Using the readings below, identify principles and practices that you could incorporate into your professional practice to ensure participatory, and therefore effective, fire management planning.
Readings:
Myers, B., Allan, G., Bradstock, R., Dias, L., Duff, G., Jacklyn, P., Landsberg, J., Morrison, J., Russell-Smith, J. & Williams, R. (2004) Fire Management in the Rangelands, pp. 69-75. Tropical Savannas Management CRC, Darwin.
Henry, J., Dunbar, T., Arnott, A., Scrimgeour, M., Murakami-Gold, L. & Chamberlain, A. (2004) Rethinking research methodologies. CRC Aboriginal & Tropical Health Publications, Darwin. Accessed July 2005.
Gambold, N. (2001) Participatory land assessment: integrating perceptions of country through mapping. In: Working on country: contemporary Indigenous management of Australia’s lands and coastal regions, (R. Baker, J. Davies & E. Young eds), pp. 171-186. Oxford University Press, Melbourne.
