Australia's 'black summer' bushfires showed the impact of human-wrought change | Tim Flannery

Non-native predators and pests, forestry and farming mean our recovery is faltering. Here's what we need to do

• Read more stories from our After the Bushfires series

Australia's black summer" megafires were a severe blow to ecosystems already reeling from decades of adverse impacts. Feral predators and grazers, weeds and unsustainable land and water use have reduced the resilience of nature in Australia. So when the unprecedented fires came, they were able to push species to the brink.

Walking the fire grounds it was impossible to miss the immediate impacts: charred bodies of snakes lying among rocks, and dead wallabies floating in waterholes. But some astonishing survivors were also to be seen: small lizards that had waited it out in burrows, and birds that had fled to safety then returned. And with rain, the trees and grasses swiftly resprouted.