Climate change, wildfires and wetland ecosystem services: governing transformation

Australia’s 2019–20 fire season has been described as the ‘Black Summer’. Vast swathes of the continent burned, including areas that have not been fire-prone in the past, such as wet rainforest and alpine wetlands. This article considers the implications of more frequent and intense wildfires for wetland ecosystems and the extremely valuable ecosystem services that they provide. The article investigates what Australia’s laws have to say about restoring ecosystem services after extreme events such as fire. In particular, the article considers the extent to which existing laws anticipate the possibility of ecosystem transformation, asking: what do our laws require if restoration is not possible?