Regeneration

The smell of smoke carried on a summers breeze is burned into every Australian’s memory. If there’s one thing we know, it’s that the Australian landscape gets a new lease on life after fire. The threat of destruction is accompanied by the assurance of regeneration. These images taken in the Royal National Park, south of Sydney, represent regeneration of the Australian bush. During the fires in the summer of 2020, over 11 million hectares of land burnt. Devastation on this scale has rarely been seen before, yet the landscape is recovering – green shoots are sprouting and native plants are regenerating. The cycle of fire, rain and recovery has played out in Australia for millennia, setting the vegetation up for a stable recovery. Fires are a natural part of the Australian weather cycle, and many native species need fire to regenerate, a process which can begin within days of the fire. The immediate impact of a bush fire can be devastating on both the environment and the people who are affected by these fires, but long term it can help replenish and revitalise the Australian bush.