Responses to protect life and property in preparation for, and during, wildfires have improved greatly in recent decades, but there has been far less progress made for the protection of threatened species and ecological communities before, during and after wildfire. The catastrophic fires of 2019–20 tested the capacity of people and systems to conserve biodiversity, including threatened species and ecological communities. The aim of this project was to learn from the practices and experience of conservation managers and fire operations staff during the 2019–20 fire season, to identify what is required to improve outcomes for biodiversity during future large fire events.