The 2019–2020 Australian bushfire season was unprecedented in scale and ferocity. Over 18.6 million hectares burned — an area larger than the entire country of Syria. More than 3,000 homes were destroyed, 33 people died directly from the fires, and an estimated 3 billion animals were killed or displaced.
The ecological impact was staggering. Entire populations of already-threatened species were lost or severely reduced. The smoke blanketed cities for weeks, creating a public health emergency. And the fires catalysed a global conversation about climate change, land management, and Australia’s environmental future.
The Road to Recovery
Ecological recovery from catastrophic fire is a slow process measured in decades, not months. But Australia’s natural world — adapted to fire over millions of years — is remarkably resilient when given the chance to recover.
Vegetation Regrowth
Many Australian plants are not just fire-tolerant but fire-dependent. Banksias, grass trees, and many eucalypts require fire to open seed pods or trigger germination. Within weeks of the 2020 fires, green shoots were appearing from seemingly dead trees. Within years, dense regrowth was underway across much of the affected landscape.
Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation
Wildlife rescue organisations mobilised thousands of volunteers across the affected regions during and after the fires. Injured animals — from koalas with burnt paws to kangaroos with singed fur — received emergency veterinary care. Rehabilitation centres were overwhelmed but operational.
WIRES (Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service) handled over 20,000 calls in the weeks following the peak of the fires.
Supplementary Feeding Programs
State and federal governments deployed supplementary feeding programs — dropping root vegetables and grain from aircraft into burnt areas — to support wallabies, wombats, and other ground-dwelling animals while vegetation regrew.
What Needs to Happen
- Long-term habitat protection: Preventing clearing of unburnt vegetation adjacent to burnt areas to allow wildlife corridors to remain intact
- Invasive species control: Feral cats and foxes exploit post-fire landscapes — populations must be managed to allow native species to recover
- Climate policy: Without addressing the underlying drivers of more frequent and intense fires, recovery efforts face diminishing returns
- Indigenous land management: Traditional Aboriginal burning practices create mosaic landscapes that are more resilient to catastrophic fire — this knowledge must be properly valued and integrated
How to Support Recovery
- Donate to WIRES Wildlife Rescue
- Support WWF Australia’s habitat restoration programs
- Volunteer with your local Landcare group for revegetation planting days
- Advocate for stronger climate action through your elected representatives