Fire as Medicine: Reviving Ancient Indigenous Land Stewardship Techniques

Prescribed burns have been practiced for tens of thousands of years by Indigenous peoples across almost all continents.

         Studies show that landscapes stewarded with traditional fire regimens are more biodiverse, more resilient to megafires, and even sequester more carbon over time. (Aka, they absorb one of the most harmful greenhouse gasses and make it available for plants to eat and turn it into pure, clean oxygen).

     In California alone, Indigenous-led prescribed burns have been shown to reduce wildfire risk by up to 60%. So for ecologists and anyone that knows how long it's taken for "modern civ" to realize. It's thrilling to see land management institutions starting to hire Prescribed Fire Practitioners. This is the kind of regenerative renaissance that we need.

     While prescribed burns are powerful tools in certain ecosystems, they're not universally beneficial. Ie., slash-and-burn agriculture in a jungle or a rainforest. Not beneficial.

Fire is medicine, and like all medicines, it has to be applied in the right place, in the right dose, at the right time. Fire in peatlands can start to burn underground, smoldering for weeks and devastating entire wetland ecologies. It's better for the ecosystems that evolved with fire like savannas, chaparral, and oak woodlands.

     As the world reckons with climate chaos, we’re not necessarily looking for new solutions. If we focus on remembering and bringing awareness to help everyone recognize the ones that have worked for millennia still work, we can have a much smoother time in the transition to a regenerative paradigm.

What you can do:

Advocate for policy that centers Indigenous land rights and Indigenous-led ecological solutions. The land is calling for right relationship. And sometimes that means lighting it up and watching it burn. It's time to recognize: Indigenous science is leading the climate future.

Let's let it. The path has been lit!