Strategic Bushfire Management Planning

About Strategic Bushfire Management Planning

Strategic bushfire management planning is about bringing together land and fire managers, communities and stakeholders to develop a common understanding of bushfire risk and determine strategies and actions to reduce that risk.

This planning is informed by world-leading, bushfire behaviour modelling and research into community values that can be affected by bushfires. It brings together multiple perspectives to set agreed objectives for regional bushfire management.

Strategic bushfire management planning is jointly delivered by Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic), Country Fire Authority (CFA), Emergency Management Victoria (EMV), and local government in consultation with communities.

The key output of strategic planning is six Bushfire Management Strategies aligned to the Victorian Government Regions:

• Barwon South West
• Gippsland
• Grampians
• Hume
• Loddon Mallee
• Metropolitan (a joint strategy for Eastern, Northern and Western, and Southern Metropolitan Regions)

The 2020 Bushfire Management Strategies focus on fuel management options which involve the removal of bushfire fuels such as leaves, bark, twigs and shrubs from the landscape. It can include activities such as planned burning - and mechanical treatments — mowing, slashing, mulching and using herbicides. For the first time, each regional Bushfire Management Strategy includes a Bushfire Risk Engagement Areas (BREA) strategy which covers both public and private land.

Other bushfire management actions have also been trialled in this cycle of strategic planning. A pilot in Gippsland and Loddon Mallee regions includes risk-based strategies for ignition prevention programs, such as patrolling and bushfire awareness, and responding to suppress bushfires. Regional specific strategies for public land fire ecology and roading have also been developed in the Metropolitan region.

Strategic bushfire management planning enables agencies and communities to set clear objectives and devise strategies to achieve them. It results in a common understanding of risk, and a common strategy for reducing it. Strategic bushfire management planning informs more detailed operational-level planning, including municipal fire prevention planning, CFA and FFMVic joint fuel management program, and readiness and response planning. We will be able to target our actions effectively and efficiently to reduce risk to the things Victorians value.

Page last updated: 23/08/24