Community Resilience to Climate Change: Theory, Research and Practice

182 scale fires, there is little opportunity to implement any plans for the protection of natural assets that might have been formulated in prevention and preparation phases. There are a limited number of NRM-focused activities that landholders engage in during the Respond phase due to the brief period between a warning and the arrival of an event. Landholders reported making small sources of water available for wildlife during hot weather and fires. However, personal household and rural property fire plans are not currently required to focus on aspects of natural resource management. 2.3.3. Recovery The Recover phase attracts considerable external resources and mobilises support within the affected area, which can be local or regional in scale. After a bushfire, NGOs provide initial support with government funding, as well as the immediate physical needs (such as food, emergency shelter, and clothing) and social needs (such as psychological and financial counselling) of the community. Funding is channeled toward replacement of essential public assets, and reconstruction of private assets, such as housing, using insurance payouts where available. Government funding is generally withdrawn before the recovery phase is complete. This is critical for natural resource-dependent businesses. Agricultural landholders in particular are often socially isolated and have slower rates of economic recovery than urban communities because rural livelihoods are closely tied to rates of recovery in the landscape. The demarcation of the Respond and Recover phases is blurred. Participants, particularly those involved in the RFS, generally acknowledged that there can be an extended “make-safe” period after a fire-front has passed. During this time, the risks of fires may continue for long periods (up to weeks) resulting in a need for on-going vigilance placing a heavy physical and psychological burden on communities. When people return to their properties, lives can still be significantly at risk due to falling trees and unsafe buildings. For landholders, natural resource-based livelihoods damaged by fire can take an extended time to recover. Natural resources identified as being degraded by fire include: soil health, water quality, vegetation cover (including sown pasture) and native animal populations. Efforts in the recovery phase focus on the need to rehabilitate areas “opened up” by fire and attempts to control it (such as fire breaks), which involve re-establishment of vegetation and control of erosion. The success of these actions is often dependent upon prevailing weather conditions that can limit plant growth (heat, lack of soil moisture) or exacerbate soil loss and weed invasion (rainfall). Other recovery efforts focus on managing water quality, weeds and attending to injured animals. Loss of livestock has a direct economic impact on agricultural industries, and this is often exacerbated by a lack of adequate insurance cover. Native animals that survive fires can become disoriented; they may have difficulty finding habitat and food, and may be exposed to predators or struck by cars in attempting to relocate to unburnt areas. Communities often need to rehabilitate or euthanise animals (native fauna, livestock and domestic pets) burnt or injured by fire with assistance from wildlife recovery groups and local vets, which adds to the psychological burden of adjusting to the aftermath of disaster. All of these actions incur a cost to the community and the burden often falls inequitably on rural landholders because there is a lack of specific funding for remediation. Concerns were expressed by these communities that an increase in fire frequency and intensity may result in permanent changes to ecosystems, exacerbate the loss of biodiversity and fundamentally change communities in these regions. 2.3.4. Prevent Because bushfires rely on a combination of specific weather conditions and fuel load, a fire event generally lowers the risk of a subsequent event, providing a period of respite in which prevention measures can be implemented. However, severe fires that cause major socio-economic disruption to communities can result in significant delay and “blurring” in the transition fromRespond to Prevent. Individual social groups, businesses (particularly natural resource dependent-businesses) and aspects of community well-being (such as mental health) may recover at vastly slower rates. These factors are currently unaccounted for during the Prevent phase, which is defined as a return to “normal” following an event. El Nino forecasts were identified as one trigger for action in the prevention phase because they raise expectations of warmer and drier weather periods. However, some rural landholders disagreed, suggesting that they paid little attention to these types of announcements as “they make that prediction every year”. Participants outlined a number of preventative actions that can reduce their exposure to bushfire risk whilst contributing to NRM such as soil, water and vegetation management and planting layout. In common with the Prepare phase, some actions are contentious within the community such as hazard reduction burning and clearing native vegetation from around properties. NRM activities that are more sensitive to the local environment were identified as planting less-flammable native species (e.g., Allocasuarina verticillata was suggested) in clumps, in a line or to create a wind-break to interrupt the path of the fire. In addition, removal of fuel such as fire prone invasive grasses (e.g., Eragrostis curvula, African lovegrass) was seen as a priority. The management of water focused on the collection, storage and pumping of water close to dwellings for firefighting, as well as encouraging moisture retention generally in the landscape and reducing evaporation. The prevention phase is most important for NRM but much of the community is disengaged from the awareness-raising efforts of