As Australia braces for bushfire season, Indigenous 'cultural burning' makes a comeback

Residents of Billen Cliffs observe Cultural fire taught by Jagun Alliance Aboriginal Corporation, in Billen Cliffs, Australia, August 1, 2023. REUTERS/Jill Gralow

BILLEN CLIFFS VILLAGE, Australia (Reuters) - Smoke sweeps through the treetops as a fire consumes the dense undergrowth of the Australian winter bush.

To the uninitiated, the fire might appear to be dangerous, but it is a controlled cool burn or "cultural fire", ridding the land of dangerous underbrush using Indigenous techniques passed down over thousands of years.