How Australia combines modern tech and Indigenous knowledge to fight fire

The wildfires currently ravaging Europe feel close to home for Professor Marta Yebra, despite being on the other side of the world. Originally from Spain, the Canberra-based bushfire expert has spent years developing ways for Australia - home to some of the most fire-prone landscapes in the world - to battle its own blazes. She heads up the Bushfire Research Centre of Excellence, which was set up in the aftermath of Australia's worst fire season on record: the Black Summer fires of 2019-20, which razed a combined area about the size of the UK. Her team looks at how technology such as satellites, drones and AI can be used to better detect fires, alongside the knowledge of experienced firefighters. Equally important, though, is the knowledge and experience that has accrued in Australia over thousands of years, and has been passed down through generations. This is where Australia has an advantage. The use of fire has been part of the country's Indigenous culture since long before Europeans arrived in the 18th century - but the value of this ingrained knowledge has only been truly realised in recent years. Yebra has spearheaded an innovative project, bringing together millennia-old kno