Australia is a very hot and dry place. Fire will always be a threat to human and animal lives and homes. But through careful forest management, we can help to keep this threat as small as possible.

For thousands of years, the Aborigines helped to reduce the effect of fire on their environment by lighting 'low temperature' fires in forests to clear away dry grasses and fallen bark and branches from the forest floor. This meant that if a fire did start burning in the area, there would be less 'fuel' available to feed it.

Today, foresters use methods such as 'prescribed burning' to keep State forests healthy and protect them from uncontrolled bushfires.

Eucalypt seeds sprout easily after fire because:

• forest litter (old leaves and bark) that covers the soil has been burnt away, allowing seeds to reach the soil and germinate (begin to grow)

• fires scorch or burn the crowns of trees, allowing more sunlight and rain to reach the soil.

Many eucalypts have a large swollen root called a lignotuber, which contains a mass of buds. If the tree is burnt, new shoots quickly grow, assuring the tree's survival.

Eucalypts produce seeds in woody fruits which insulate the seeds so they can be released and germinate following the fire.

There are heaps of buds hidden underneath the bark of eucalypts which sprout quickly after a fire has been through. These produce new shoots (called epicormic shoots) which help the tree to survive, even though it has lost its leaves.