What hampers Indigenous fire management?

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In the previous episode As wildfires increase, experts say Indigenous people can help, CGTN talked to experts from Canada and Australia about how Indigenous people's cultural burns reduce wildfires. Indigenous people have conducted cultural burns for thousands of years for cultural purposes and land management. With low intensity and small scale, the fires set by them are low risk.

However, Indigenous people said that they face both political and financial barriers when trying to conduct their own fire practice. Victor Steffensen, an Australian cultural burn practitioner, said governments have not recognized the practice, which was reflected in the long and complex process of applying for burning permission from governments. Also, Amy Cardinal Christianson, an Indigenous fire specialist, said that governments have spent a lot of money on fire fighting and suppression costs, while a portion of that should be provided for cultural burns.

Check out the one-minute video to learn more.

About 'One Minute With' series

CGTN Nature talks to experts from across the world about life-changing environmental issues, such as climate change, plastic pollution and biodiversity loss, and learns about possible solutions. "One Minute With" condenses the interview highlights into short videos to quickly get to the heart of the argument. For an in-depth discussions on each topic, stay tuned for our Environment Buzzword series!

For more:

Prescribed burns could reduce wildfires, but risks remain

Wildfires are rampaging. Some are calling for prescribed burns to help

Environment Buzzword: Start fires to fight fires Part 1

Environment Buzzword: Start fires to fight fires Part 2

(Cover image designed by CGTN's Zhu Shangfan; video edited by CGTN's Yang Yiren)

(If you want to contribute and have specific expertise, please contact us at nature@cgtn.com.)