Fire Country

Delving deep into the Australian landscape and its alarming state of devastation, fire country is a powerful account from Indigenous land management expert Victor Steffensen on how the revival of Indigenous fire practices, including what’s called ‘cool burns’, could restore our country. Fire country offers practical solutions for better ‘reading country’ and knowing when is the right time to undertake cool burns, considering current climate conditions and each landscape’s specific ecosystem.

From the age of 18, Victor has spent time on country learning traditional cultural and ecological knowledge from elders. Having been developed over many generations of his people living on the land, this knowledge shows clearly that Australia actually needs fire – with burning done in a controlled manner – for land care and healing.

Victor’s writing is unassuming and honest, written in a manner that reflects the nature of yarning. And while much of the knowledge shared in his book is still unknown to western science, there is much evidence that, if adopted, it will benefit all Australians.