Queensland’s recent mild weather has provided the perfect conditions for controlled burns. Photo: Queensland Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation.
The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service (QPWS) has broken its annual planned burns record.
Between 1 July, 2024, and 30 June, 2025, QPWS performed 637 planned burns across 964,884 hectares of land.
The State Government has invested in additional staff dedicated to fire management, with more equipment, better training and improved community engagement, all in an effort to conserve the environment.
The Black Summer bushfires, which primarily impacted NSW, followed a cut in the state’s park service and a reduction in fire management officers.
“It is fantastic to see rangers prepare our protected areas for the months and years ahead through the strategic use of fire,” Minister for the Environment Andrew Powell said.
“What they have achieved this year is astounding – bolstered by good weather, strong investment in the QPWS fire program and an increased use of aerial burning techniques to deliver broadscale burning across multiple parts of Queensland when conditions are right.”
Planned burns are vital to ecological health, biodiversity and the conservation of species and habitats by reducing the risk and ferocity of bushfires. Communities, infrastructure, ecosystems and parks are all at risk of large fires as bushfire season looms.
David Crisafulli’s LNP Government said people living near national parks across Queensland had “voiced frustration” at the lack of fire preparedness by the previous government.
The government has committed to ensuring the care of national parks, including by restoring funding for 40 specialist fire rangers.
Renewed efforts have resulted in planned burns that exceeded the 2024-25 target of 637,210 by 52 per cent.
QPWS fire services director Troy Spinks said: “Rangers have done an exceptional job this year, but people can still expect to see smoke on the horizon as crews make the most of these cooler, milder conditions to undertake even more burns within national parks and state forests.
“These planned burns not only provide a picture-perfect sunset but prepare us for the upcoming bushfire season.”
