Key points:

- Indigenous Desert Alliance welcomes the WA government's $5.3million commitment to securing the future of its Southern Deserts Indigenous‑led fire management program

- The fire management program delivers environmental, cultural and economic benefits

- The Alliance manages an area six times the size of the United Kingdom

The Indigenous Desert Alliance has welcomed the Western Australian government's $5.3million commitment to securing the future of its Southern Deserts Indigenous‑led fire management program in the WA desert - one of the largest programs of its kind in the world.

The IDA represents more than 80 desert‑based ranger groups operating across Australia's desert regions including many across WA. The funded program will continue to support large‑scale, strategic fire management across arid spinifex grasslands, reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires, protecting Indigenous Protected Areas, and safeguarding regional and remote communities.

Over the past two years, the IDA's South West Desert fire management program has delivered environmental, cultural and economic outcomes as a result of the initial grant from the WA Aboriginal Ranger Program.

Indigenous Desert Alliance Chief Executive Officer Sam Murray said fire in the desert "is a cycle that our old people have always managed".

"This funding recognises the strength of that knowledge and ensures our rangers can continue this work at a scale that is unmatched anywhere in the world," she said.

"Indigenous desert rangers are looking after the largest connected conservation corridor on Earth. This landscape is globally significant, on the scale of the Amazon and the Great Barrier Reef, so this investment reflects that importance.

"Long‑term funding certainty gives ranger groups the stability they need to plan, train and respond to the growing pressures of climate change, extreme weather and invasive species."

Ms Murray noted the Alliance is managing an area six times the size of the United Kingdom.

"Delivering safe, effective fire management across a landscape of this scale requires serious infrastructure, logistics and expertise, and this funding ensures those systems remain in place," she said.

"The rangers are trained, the systems work, and back‑to‑back fire seasons have shown clear benefits for communities, biodiversity and the national interest.

"This investment reduces the risk of large‑scale wildfires that no Western Australian wants to see. It's good for the desert, good for our regional and remote communities, and good for State as a whole."

Contemporary Indigenous fire practices have reduced fire frequency and intensity across vast desert landscapes, while creating long‑term Indigenous employment, supporting skills development, and strengthening cultural knowledge transfer between generations.

Peer‑reviewed research published in 2025 found that in desert areas with a decade of sustained, large‑scale fire management, fire regimes are changing for the better. The research also demonstrated that continued investment is essential to maintain and expand these benefits; a need now being met through the WA government's funding commitment, IDA noted.

The program has trained more than 135 Indigenous rangers to and Traditional Owners to date. Across consecutive fire seasons, rangers have undertaken strategic burns to protect communities, cultural heritage and vital wildlife habitat, including threatened species such as the bilby, night parrot and great desert skink.

IDA said that with confirmed funding, ranger groups can continue fire management at the landscape scale required to mitigate the growing impacts of climate change, extreme weather and increasing fire risk across Western Australia's desert regions.

"The desert is our home, but this work benefits all Australians," Ms Murray said.

"We welcome the WA Government's leadership in recognising the importance of Indigenous fire management as a key tool for looking after country the right way."