Decision Science for Multi-Objective Fuel Management: Integrating Fire Risk Reduction and Biodiversity Conservation

Wildfires threaten human health, economies and the environment. Fuel management is a core activity of land managers to reduce the detrimental impacts of wildfires. Land managers also seek to conserve biodiversity within their fuel management programs. We sought to understand how fuel management could be implemented to achieve fire risk reduction and biodiversity conservation in the same landscape. Specifically, we asked: (1) what vegetation attributes are desirable for wildfire risk reduction and biodiversity conservation, and are they compatible? and (2) what combinations of management actions could achieve both objectives? We used structured decision-making with 23 stakeholders from eight organisations to elicit means objectives and management actions for fire risk reduction and biodiversity conservation in dry eucalypt forests and woodlands. Vegetation attributes identified as desirable to reduce fire risk were often compatible with those desired for biodiversity conservation, suggesting management actions could achieve both objectives in the same landscape. Workshop participants often selected prescribed burning as a management action, and specifically, mixed severity, patchy burns for biodiversity conservation. Predator control, habitat creation and revegetation were coupled with burning and mechanical treatments to improve outcomes for biodiversity. There was uncertainty around the likelihood of success for most management actions, highlighting the need for adaptive management to test and refine management over time. Overall, structured decision-making allowed for integration of a range of stakeholder perspectives into the development of multi-objective fuel management pathways. This approach forms a basis for designing more socially acceptable fuel management programs.