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.