Congratulations to Kiewa Catchment Landcare for the well deserved recognition of their innovative Fire project at the 2015 Fire Awareness Awards.

Their Indigenous Fire Knowledge Project was awarded the highly competetive RACV Insurance Award for Excellence, alongside the Black Hill Reserve Fire Recovery Initiative, this week in Melbourne. Minister for Environment, Climate Change and Water, Lisa Neville, said “Our judges have had a very difficult task selecting this year’s winners, given all of the great work that goes into improving fire prevention and awareness in this state.”

The Fire Awareness Awards have been running for more than 30 years. It is coordinated by Victoria’s three firefighting agencies – MFB, CFA and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP). More than 80 nominations were received, with 31 shortlisted as finalists.

Kiewa Catchment Landcare launched the Indigenous Fire Knowledge project in 2013 in partnership with the Indigenous engagement unit at North East CMA. The project established native pasture trial sites where strategic burns were undertaken. The differences between controls and treatments were then measured. Allan Murray and Brendan Kennedy have been keen partners in the project, and are very pleased by the recognition this award brings to the research.

Further information on the Awards can be found here.