Making choices: prioritising the protection of biodiversity in wildfires

Biodiversity is in chronic decline, and extreme events - such as wildfires - can add further episodes of acute losses. Fires of increasing magnitude will often overwhelm response capacity, and decision-makers need to make choices about what to protect. Conventionally, such choices prioritise human life then infrastructure then biodiversity. Based on shortcomings revealed in the 2019-20 Australian wildfires, we propose a series of linked steps that can be used to identify and prioritise biodiversity assets (including their priority relative to other types of assets), enhance and implement their protection through planning and practice, and strengthen legislation to safeguard them.

Automated summary

Biodiversity is declining and extreme events like wildfires worsen the losses. Decision-makers need to prioritize what to protect, traditionally prioritizing human life, infrastructure, and then biodiversity. Based on the 2019-20 Australian wildfires, a series of steps are proposed to identify and prioritize biodiversity assets, enhance their protection through planning and practice, and strengthen legislation to safeguard them.