Priority order
Everything in this guide, in the order it is worth doing. The logic is simple: cheap and effective first, expensive and irreversible last, and nothing bought before the data says it is needed.
| # | Do this | When | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Protect what survived | Immediately, and permanently | 4.5, 2.1 |
| 2 | Control weeds and pest animals | First two years, hardest | 4.1–4.4 |
| 3 | Set up monitoring and record what returns | Now, then ongoing | Part 3 |
| 4 | Add habitat where it is genuinely missing | Once the data says so | 4.6, 4.7 |
| 5 | Thin regrowth, if it needs it | Several years on | 4.8 |
| 6 | Replant what has not returned | After two growing seasons | 4.9 |
Why this order
Protection is free and irreplaceable. An unburnt patch, a hollow-bearing tree, a fallen log — none of these can be bought back once lost.
Invasives are the one thing that reliably changes the outcome. The research after Black Saturday and Black Summer is consistent on this (4.1): the rapid assessments following the 2019–20 megafires both concluded that controlling introduced predators and herbivores was the most valuable intervention for native species recovery.12 The window is the first couple of years.
Monitoring comes before intervention, not after. Nest boxes, thinning and replanting are all decisions that need evidence. Without it you are guessing, and the guesses cost money.
Replanting is last because most of it is unnecessary. That is not a counsel of despair — it is the most useful thing in this guide. Money not spent on tubestock is money available for weed control, which will do more.
Now cited to Legge and others and to Geary and others. Worth a read of both before publication to check we are representing their conclusions fairly rather than borrowing the headline.