Problem Statement

The 2019-20 Australian bushfire reason, so-called the “black summer”, was fueled drastically by the
radical climate change effects, in the form of record-breaking temperatures and severe draught. Millions
of hectares of forest land remained on fire for months, destroying not only assets but also human and
animal lives at a greater extent. This study analyses several aspects of the Australian bushfire with the
help of data provided by the Department of Agriculture, Water & the Environment, Government of
Australia. We attempt to understand the effect and the extent of damages, in order to take substantial
measures to mitigate similar possible events in future.

Background
Australia has 134 million hectares of forest, covering 17% of Australia's land area and around 3% of the
world's forests. This makes Australia with the seventh largest forest area in the world [1]. These forests
are diverse, extensive, and highly regarded for their ecological, economic, and social values. They provide
a range of benefits including wood and non-wood forest products and ecosystem services. The range of
services covers:
• Water protection and supply
• Soil protection
• Carbon storage and sequestration
• Habitat for flora and fauna species
• Tourism and recreation
• Cultural values for both non-Indigenous and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Beginning in June 2019 and ending in May 2020, bushfires burnt across eastern and southern
Australia, affecting large areas of both native forests and commercial plantations. The recorded loss of
human life (apart from uncountable loss of wildlife) was 34 direct and 445 indirect, respectively; over 9300
infrastructures were destroyed, approximately 18 million land burnt into ashes [2].
To mitigate future calamitous events, it is of great significant to understand what data says about
2019-20 Australian bushfires. This particular study dives deeper into the data and performs analysis from
several aspects. We utilize different data science methods to derive meaningful conclusions from the data.
Characteristics of Data
Dataset consists of three (3) tables, named Table1, Table2 and Table3. All the tables contain a total of 27
columns and 44 rows. Detail of each table is given below:
• Table1 contains data about the fire extent area during 2019–20 summer bushfire season in
southern and eastern Australia as of 23 March 2020, and the area of forest in this extent, by
jurisdiction.
• Table2 contains data about the area of Australia's forests, and the area and proportion in the fire
extent area during the 2019–20 summer bushfire season in southern and eastern Australia as of
23 March 2020, by forest category and jurisdiction.
• Table3 contains the area of Australia's native forest, and the area and proportion in the fire extent
area during the 2019-20 summer bushfire season in southern and eastern Australia as of 23 March
2020, by forest tenure and jurisdiction.

Data Source
We take data from an open-source repository Kaggle 1 . The data is provided by the Department of
Agriculture, Water & the Environment, Government of Australia. The data can be accessed using following
URL:
https://www.kaggle.com/kkhandekar/australian-forest-fire-area-20192020

Software and Tools

• Anaconda 3
• Python
• Pandas
• Matploitlib
• MS Excel

Research Questions
In this research, following questions will be answered:
1. How much native forest area was affected?
2. What is are forests categories in Australia?
3. How much and proportion of total native forest area was burnt?

1
https://www.kaggle.com/
 4. What is the proportion of area in forest area that is burnt?
5. How much forest with different categories (native forest, private forest, commercial forest, other
forest) in different Australian territories was affected?

Business / Application Area

Department of Agriculture, Water & the Environment – Australian Government

Python Libraries
• Pandas
• Matplotlib

References
1. https://www.agriculture.gov.au/forestry, Last Reviewed on 28.09.2021, Department of
agriculture, Water, and the Environment
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bushfires_in_Australia, Last Reviewed on 28.09.2021, Wikipedia