The tourism industry is vulnerable to crises and disasters and increasingly government and industry stakeholders are turning their attention to how to prevent, manage and recover from shock events. In the last decade there has been increasing interest in tourism research on crises and disasters, prompted in part by recognition of the tourism industry's vulnerabilities and what appear to be more frequent shock events. The beginning of this century has been marked by a series of crises and disasters including the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak in the United Kingdom, the 2001 terrorist hijackings in the USA, the 2002 and 2005 Bali bombings, the 2003 SARS epidemic in southeast Asia and Canada, the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami and Hurricane Katrina in the southern USA in 2005 (Henderson, 2007). The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007a) has also predicted that the extreme weather events associated with climate change will lead to more natural disasters. Crises and disaster have local, regional and global repercussions on the tourism industry at business/corporate, industry and destination levels and the need for more attention to preparation, response and recovery is acknowledged. Much of the initial tourism research in this field focused on descriptions of crises and disasters and their impacts on tourism with some reflection on their management. This foundation and the comprehensive crisis and disaster literature from disciplines such as psychology, sociology, economics, geography and environmental science led to development of crisis and disaster management frameworks specifically designed for the tourism industry. These frameworks have achieved varying degrees of acceptance amongst tourism researchers with Faulkner and Vikulov's (2001) Tourism Disaster Management Framework (TDMF) being the most well known and often cited. The more recent Crisis and Disaster Management Framework (CDMF) developed by Ritchie (2004) is a useful destination-level framework based on a strategic management approach. Despite the development of these frameworks, relatively little tourism research effort has focused on destination recovery and very little on medium and long term recovery. In addition, there is little research on wildfires as a type of natural disaster. The extensive bushfires in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) in 2003 (often referred to as the Canberra fires) provided an opportunity to investigate in a longitudinal study the short, medium and long term actions undertaken by the government and tourism industry to assist destination recovery and then compare them with Ritchie's prescriptive CDMF. Being longer term research this study is able to consider almost the entire recovery stage whereas other research has focused on short or medium term recovery (for example Faulkner & Vikulov, 2001). This research centred on a case study which is defined by Yin (1989 quoted in Wimmer & Dominick, 1997, p. 102) as an 'empirical inquiry that uses multiple sources of evidence to investigate a contemporary phenomenon within its real-life context'. This case study used interviewing, the documentary method and participant observation as the key methods. Representatives of government and the tourism industry were interviewed in-depth about the actions taken by their organisations or businesses. The interviews were semi-structured with mostly open-ended questions and some participants undertook multiple interviews over a three year period. Extensive secondary data and documentation about the bushfire and subsequent response and recovery was generated by the ACT government, industry and community and publicly available sources included reports and reviews, media releases, newspaper articles, newsletters, brochures, websites and legal and coronial enquiries. These were critical for gaining a comprehensive understanding of recovery. Participant observation was also important and, as a resident of the ACT, the author participated in relevant events and observed the public face of community recovery. The three methods resulted in a large data set that was distilled into a 'response and recovery story' structured according to Ritchie's CDMF. Upon comparing the findings with the framework, it was found that many elements were evident in the 'real life' case study including crisis communication, resource management, stakeholder communication, destination restoration and disasters as agents for change. There were also new findings that could be integrated into a redeveloped framework including the establishment of a recovery team, training for crisis and disaster management, tourist/visitor management, recovery planning, human resource management issues, business recovery tools, partnerships and memorialisation and commemoration. The resulting Tourism Industry Crisis and Disaster Management Framework (TICDMF) is a practical and comprehensive tool for Destination Management Organisations (DMOs) that both describes what occurred in a real life case study but also prescribes recommended management actions. In addition to specific recommendations for the ACT tourism industry, this research also resulted in general recommendations to the tourism industry, government and educators. These focused on (i) the importance of crisis and disaster management planning, (ii) the need to evaluate and document response and recovery and devote adequate resources to organisational learning, (iii) potential use of tools like the TICDMF and the plethora of resources to manage crises and disasters, (iv) educating staff, academics and tertiary tourism and hospitality students about crisis and disaster management and (v) accepting the chaos of recovery and devoting adequate resources to address the resulting complexity. The tourism industry is vulnerable to external shocks whether they be local crises or national disasters. The preparedness of the industry and its ability to effectively respond and recover is of critical importance for destinations and the community in which they function. Case studies of crises and disaster and development of a body of theoretical and practical knowledge will ensure that government and industry continue to play an important role in caring for the safety and security of tourists while maintaining a viable and sustainable industry for all stakeholders.

Master of Science / Department of Agricultural Economics / Andrew Barkley / This study examines the effect of extreme climatic conditions (drought, flood, and bushfires) on the livelihood of households in the Bawku West district of Ghana. The research identified the mechanisms with which households cope in such situations, and analyzed factors influencing the adoption of coping strategies for flood, coping strategies for drought, and coping strategies for bushfires. Data for the study were collected in selected villages across the district in the aftermath of the 2007/2008 extreme climatic events (a prolonged drought period followed by an erratic rainfall). A binary logit regression (BLR) model was then specified to estimate factors that influence the adoption of a given coping mechanisms. Results from the BLR model indicate that literacy level, membership with an FBO, household income, and location of households had positive and significant impacts on adaptation to drought. Similarly, source of seeds for planting, membership with an FBO, household income, and farm size had positive significant influence on adaptation to flood. Adaption to bushfire was positively influenced by radio ownership, seed source and income. The main effect of these climatic extreme events on households included destruction of crops, livestock and buildings; food and water shortage; poor yield or harvest and limited fields for livestock grazing. Therefore, government policies should be geared towards creating revenue generating channels and in strengthening institutions that provide access to farm credit, readily available improve seeds and extension. Additionally, policies that expedite information dissemination through radio and other public media will enhance households’ adaptive capacity.

The vegetation of the Sydney Basin, Australia, is highly flammable and subject to a wide range of fire regimes. Sclerophyllous shrubs and sedges are common and in some vegetation types up to 70 % of fuel consumed during a fire can be live. Research into fire behaviour and fuel dynamics has been minimal. To address this issue this thesis investigated the principal factor affecting the ease of ignition and rate of combustion of individual fuel particles and fuel beds in bushfires: dead fine fuel moisture (FFM). Two common Sydney Basin vegetation types, eucalypt woodland and heathland, each with a history of problematic fire management, were measured in the field for diurnal fluctuations in FFM following rain, under conditions similar to when prescribed burns are conducted. The FFM components of current operational fire behaviour models were found to be inadequate for predictions of FFM and fire behaviour under these conditions. The equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of five fuel types from the field site was investigated in a laboratory study. An existing function describing EMC as a function of temperature and relative humidity was evaluated and found to be very accurate for these fuels. Two FFM predictive models incorporating this function were evaluated on the field data and the laboratory results were shown to be applicable to the estimation of FFM in the field. One model gave very accurate predictions of FFM below fibre saturation point, but its accuracy was reduced when screen level conditions were used instead of those measured at fuel level. A recent process-based model that accounts for rainfall showed promise for predicting when fuel is < 25 % FFM. Systematic problems with the radiation budget of this model reduced the accuracy of predictions and further refinement is required. Live fine fuel moisture content (LFMC) of common heathland shrubs and sedge was investigated over two years and found to be both seasonal and influenced by phenology. LFMC minima occurred in late winter and spring (August to October), and maxima were in summer (December to February) when new growth was recorded. The dominant near-surface fuel in mature heath was sedge. It was found to have little seasonal variation in its??? percentage dead but the percentage dead maxima occured at the same time as the LFMC minima of shrubs and sedge in both years. Simple instantaneous models for duff moisture content in woodland and heathland and LFMC and the percentage dead sedge in heathland were developed. The information gained by this study will form the basis for future development of fuel moisture models for prescribed burning guidelines and fire spread models specific to the vegetation communities of the Sydney Basin.

The vegetation of the Sydney Basin, Australia, is highly flammable and subject to a wide range of fire regimes. Sclerophyllous shrubs and sedges are common and in some vegetation types up to 70 % of fuel consumed during a fire can be live. Research into fire behaviour and fuel dynamics has been minimal. To address this issue this thesis investigated the principal factor affecting the ease of ignition and rate of combustion of individual fuel particles and fuel beds in bushfires: dead fine fuel moisture (FFM). Two common Sydney Basin vegetation types, eucalypt woodland and heathland, each with a history of problematic fire management, were measured in the field for diurnal fluctuations in FFM following rain, under conditions similar to when prescribed burns are conducted. The FFM components of current operational fire behaviour models were found to be inadequate for predictions of FFM and fire behaviour under these conditions. The equilibrium moisture content (EMC) of five fuel types from the field site was investigated in a laboratory study. An existing function describing EMC as a function of temperature and relative humidity was evaluated and found to be very accurate for these fuels. Two FFM predictive models incorporating this function were evaluated on the field data and the laboratory results were shown to be applicable to the estimation of FFM in the field. One model gave very accurate predictions of FFM below fibre saturation point, but its accuracy was reduced when screen level conditions were used instead of those measured at fuel level. A recent process-based model that accounts for rainfall showed promise for predicting when fuel is < 25 % FFM. Systematic problems with the radiation budget of this model reduced the accuracy of predictions and further refinement is required. Live fine fuel moisture content (LFMC) of common heathland shrubs and sedge was investigated over two years and found to be both seasonal and influenced by phenology. LFMC minima occurred in late winter and spring (August to October), and maxima were in summer (December to February) when new growth was recorded. The dominant near-surface fuel in mature heath was sedge. It was found to have little seasonal variation in its??? percentage dead but the percentage dead maxima occured at the same time as the LFMC minima of shrubs and sedge in both years. Simple instantaneous models for duff moisture content in woodland and heathland and LFMC and the percentage dead sedge in heathland were developed. The information gained by this study will form the basis for future development of fuel moisture models for prescribed burning guidelines and fire spread models specific to the vegetation communities of the Sydney Basin.

Depending on their nature and severity, disasters can create large volumes of debris and waste. Waste volumes from a single event can be the equivalent of many times the annual waste generation rate of the affected community. These volumes can overwhelm existing solid waste management facilities and personnel. Mismanagement of disaster waste can affect both the response and long term recovery of a disaster affected area. Previous research into disaster waste management has been either context specific or event specific, making it difficult to transfer lessons from one disaster event to another. The aim of this research is to develop a systems understanding of disaster waste management and in turn develop context- and disaster-transferrable decision-making guidance for emergency and waste managers. To research this complex and multi-disciplinary problem, a multi-hazard, multi-context, multi-case study approach was adopted. The research focussed on five major disaster events: 2011 Christchurch earthquake, 2009 Victorian Bushfires, 2009 Samoan tsunami, 2009 L’Aquila earthquake and 2005 Hurricane Katrina. The first stage of the analysis involved the development of a set of ‘disaster & disaster waste’ impact indicators. The indicators demonstrate a method by which disaster managers, planners and researchers can simplify the very large spectra of possible disaster impacts, into some key decision-drivers which will likely influence post-disaster management requirements. The second stage of the research was to develop a set of criteria to represent the desirable environmental, economic, social and recovery effects of a successful disaster waste management system. These criteria were used to assess the effectiveness of the disaster waste management approaches for the case studies. The third stage of the research was the cross-case analysis. Six main elements of disaster waste management systems were identified and analysed. These were: strategic management, funding mechanisms, operational management, environmental and human health risk management, and legislation and regulation. Within each of these system elements, key decision-making guidance (linked to the ‘disaster & disaster waste’ indicators) and management principles were developed. The ‘disaster & disaster waste’ impact indicators, the effects assessment criteria and management principles have all been developed so that they can be practically applied to disaster waste management planning and response in the future.

Heathlands typically experience regimes consisting of frequent and intense fires. These fire regimes play important roles in the lifecycles and population dynamics of all species in these communities. Prescribed fire is commonly applied to heathlands to minimise the risk of wildfires as well as to promote biodiversity. Ignitions in heathlands tend to either be unsustainable, or quickly develop into rapidly spreading intense fires. This presents a major problem for the application of prescribed fire and is the primary focus of this thesis. Heathland ignition has been investigated in three sections; litter ignition; vertical development of fire into the shrub layer; and horizontal spread through the shrub layer. These were studied in laboratory experiments using miniature versions of field fuels. Ignition success in litter layers was related to the dead fuel moisture content. Litter type, ignition source, and presence of wind were found to affect the range of ignitable fuel moisture contents of a litter bed. The effect of litter type was best explained by density. Dense litter beds required drier conditions for ignition than low density litter beds. The vertical development of fire into shrubs was mostly dependent on live fuel moisture content, but crown base height, presence of wind, ignition source, shrub height and the percentage of dead elevated fuel were also important. Horizontal spread of fires through shrub layers was most affected by the presence of a litter layer, with nearly all ignitions successful when there was an underlying litter fire. Fire spread would only occur in shrubs without a litter layer when the shrub layer was dense and dry, or had a substantial dead fuel component. Spread was more likely to be sustained when there was wind. Models predicting the moisture content of dead fuels were tested in heathlands, and as would be expected those that can be calibrated for different fuel types were found to have the best performance. Fuel moisture content and fuel load models were reviewed for heathlands, and a number of recommendations for future research were made.