Australian biologists spent decades last century trying to figure out how bushfires led to the regeneration of native flora, before the pieces fell into place for a Perth academic on a trip to Africa in the 1990's Kingsley Dixon said he barely slept on the flight home once he had realised he might have made a significant discovery in the field, one which many years later helped him earn the WA Scientist of the Year award (2016)...
"I stumbled across some work done by colleagues in South Africa where they had found puffing smoke on seeds of South African species made a difference (to germination)," said Professor Dixon, who is the director of the Curtin University-based Training Centre for Mining Restoration...
The mining industry was an early supporter of the program, as companies recognised the potential it offered for them to meet their biodiversity obligations for rehabilitation.
For more information check the full article on Business News webpage https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Miners-mastering-rehab-magic