Smoke sweeps through the treetops as a fire consumes the dense undergrowth of the Australian winter bush. To the uninitiated, this fire might appear to be dangerous, but it is actually a controlled, ‘cultural fire’, preparing the vegetation ahead of a looming bushfire season. The burn is part of a project in northern New South Wales showing how to use fire techniques that have been passed down by First Nations people over generations to manage land, plants and animals.