of the biggest unburned expanse of native forest in northern central new south wales... but in 2020, as flames ravaged at its fringes, precious pockets of its astonishing biodiversity disappeared in a flash. there were fireballs leaping 50m or maybe 100m above the canopy. the whole mountainside alight. the whole sky glowing. it was like watching a volcano erupt. the type of stuff that you look at, it's like "that could never burn". 0n the dorrigo plateau in the new england tablelands of new south wales, ecologist mark graham has been studying the impacts of the black summer bushfires in a region he's known intimately for more than 30 years.