Section 6 - Indigenous landcare

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have managed their lands for thousands of years. The land and its natural resources provide them with an economic base, underpin their history, innovation and culture - and are fundamental to their spiritual beliefs.

Indigenous land managers, too, face challenges such as weed and feral animal invasions, and achieving economic sustainability.

Indigenous communities are involved in 'caring for country' on their own lands, as well as assisting Australians in general with knowledge about the land and its care.

A national network of Indigenous facilitators funded by the Australian Government and employed through regionally based agencies in each state and territory helps Indigenous people with their land-management needs.

The network also helps Indigenous people contribute to national environmental objectives and obtain funding from the Australian Government for their projects.

Place of healing

Group: Gandangarra Local Aboriginal Land Council Landcare Group
Location: Western Sydney, NSW
Formed: 2003
Focus: Regenerating native bushland and building a cultural memorial

Mt Annan in western Sydney was known as Yandel’ora to its original owners, the D’harawal people. The area was also a meeting place for Aboriginal people from as far away as northern Queensland and southern Victoria.

The Royal Botanic Gardens acquired the land around Mt Annan in 1984. Today, Mt Annan Botanic Gardens display the diversity and beauty of Australian flora, with banksias, acacias, bottlebrushes and many other species. There are also remnants of Cumberland Plain woodland, dominated by red ironbarks, grey box and forest red gums.

One of these remnants was chosen as the site for a Stolen Generations Memorial in 2003.

The Gandangarra people, from the Macarthur region, south-west of Sydney, are creating a pathway through the forest to a peaceful place shaded by tall gums. Here a sculpture by Aboriginal artist Badger Bates depicts the sorrow of the stolen generations.

Carved from a massive piece of Sydney sandstone, the sculpture portrays an Aboriginal family holding one another, but their footprints hint at their impending separation. The rainbow serpent wraps around the sandstone and a wall of tears is carved on one side.

^{Making tracks - Gandangarra Land Council Landcare Group, Mt Annan Botanic Gardens.}

When it is finished, the sculpture will be surrounded by a pond and people will be able to pour water over the tears and symbolically let go of their grief and loss.

‘The idea is that the track is a healing circle,’ said local Aboriginal John Lennis, who is a catchment officer for the Hawkesbury Nepean Catchment Management Authority.

‘People walk in carrying their sorrow and hurt, and then leave them in the middle, walking out to join their family for a picnic’.

Bushcare groups began restoring the remnant around the pathway, and the Gandangarra Landcare Group has continued the work, revegetating disturbed areas with local species, including fragrant healing plants that are important to local Aboriginal people. The remnant’s diversity and health is managed, using mosaic burning.

John has worked alongside Gandangarra ‘kids’ building the pathway with its bridges, boardwalks, seats and balustrades along the way to allow older people to visit the memorial comfortably. John’s ‘kids’ are Aboriginal people of all ages who are working to attain TAFE qualifications in land conservation and management.

Their contribution to the memorial not only gives them pride in the cultural significance of their work, but also promises them a brighter future as they combine the knowledge of Aboriginal elders with qualifications that will help them move on and get employment in natural resource management.

The ever-growing number of people who come to the Sorry Day commemoration at Mt Annan each May is testimony to the value of their work and to the importance of a memorial that is both beautiful and profoundly moving.

^{Pathway to a peaceful place.}

Burning issues

Project: Western Arnhem Land Fire Abatement project
Location: Western Arnhem Land, NT
Focus: Managing landscapes through burning

Western Arnhem Land’s signs of desertion may not be evident to everyone. Most visitors see spectacular escarpment country, distinctive heathlands and vigorous waterfalls. But Lofty Bardayal Nadjamerrek AO knows differently.

He remembers when people lived throughout this landscape, caring for its country, painting its rock shelters, burning its grass, observing its ceremonies. Then white people came with new ideas, new diseases and new gods.

As the number of Aboriginal people in Western Arnhem land dwindled, the weeds started to spread and the fires started to burn out of control.

When people lived across Arnhem Land, fires were part of life. They kept walkways open, provided native animals with fresh food, cleansed spiritual places and assuaged grief.

The system of burned breaks also stopped fires from burning for weeks or months in the late dry season. Native plants and animals were adapted to this patchy fire mosaic.

In recent years, so much of the Northern Territory has burned that landscape fires produce twice the amount of greenhouse gas that comes from energy consumption each year. The worst emissions come from the late dry-season fires, which produce not just carbon dioxide but large amounts of the more damaging methane and nitrous oxide.

Lofty has great stature in his own community and is respected further afield. A renowned artist, honoured by appointment as an officer in the Order of Australia for his efforts to preserve Indigenous culture, he is also a great believer in the future. Lofty believed there must be a way to allow people to return to look after their country.

^{Reducing greenhouse gas emissions through managed burnings. Photo: Peter Cook.}

Darwin Liquefied Natural Gas was looking to offset the greenhouse gases from its liquefied natural gas plant in Darwin Harbour. One way was to reduce the area of Arnhem Land that was burnt by late dry-season fires by employing local Aboriginal people to manage their own land.

The company signed an agreement to pay 30 Indigenous rangers to fire manage a 28 000-square kilometre area of Western Arnhem Land, with the aim of reducing methane and nitrous oxide production from fires by the equivalent of 100 000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year.

The project has been highly successful. Satellite mapping used to track each fire showed that in the first year greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by twice the agreed amount.

Lofty and his team were awarded the 2007 Eureka Prize for Innovative Solutions to Climate Change. But for Lofty, the real prize was to be able to stay on his land and see that his community now has a future—and that his country will be cared for.

This article is based on ‘An ancient solution to a modern problem’ by Gabriel Crowley (www.landmanager.org.au/view/index.aspx?id=442830)

^{Eureka Prize presentation in Arnhem Land. L to R: Peter Biless, Lofty Bardayar Nadjamerrek AO, Lynette Thorstensen and Djawick Nadjongngork. Photo: Peter Jacklyn.}

One story , many voices

Group: South West Catchments Council/Blackwood Basin Group.
Location: Shire of Kojonup, WA
Formed: Project initiated in 2005
Focus: Creating an interpretive visitors centre and walking trail

‘One story, many voices’—this is the philosophy and theme behind Kodja Place, a visitors centre, walking trail and revegetation site along the historic Kojonup railway line.

Initiated in 2005 with funding from the Australian Government and the Western Australian Government, the project is administered by South West Catchments Council and coordinated by the Blackwood Basin Group.

It is a community partnership involving the Kodja Place Visitors Centre, the Restoring Connections project, Kojonup Noongar Community Development Employment Program (CDEP), the Shire of Kojonup, Kojonup Noongar Elders and Kojonup Aboriginal Corporation.

‘Initially there were funds to revegetate the site,’ said Greg Hales, Program Manager of the Blackwood Basin Group.

‘But it was soon apparent that site preparation and other works were needed for successful revegetation—and for the site to have greater meaning for the Kojonup community,

‘The Restoring Connections project, coordinated by South Coast NRM, provided further funding to extend the project to cover weed control, vegetation guards, the installation of a footbridge and signage,’ he said.

The project has now grown to include a community education and recreation site, both for Kojonup locals and tourists visiting Kodja Place.

In August 2006, the Kojonup CDEP, Kojonup District High School students and community volunteers pitched in to plant 4000 seedlings on shire-owned property near the Kodja Place Visitors Centre.

The seedlings were all understorey species native to the district. Many were bush tucker plants that could contribute to local biodiversity and habitat creation.

Later that year the CDEP work team and the council installed a footbridge across the creek running through the site.

In 2007, Kojonup CDEP and local elder Jack Cox teamed up to install seven signs to inform walkers about some of the bush tucker plants and the importance of the area to local Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people.

‘The partnerships were necessary for the project’s success,’ said Greg.

‘But the project simply wouldn’t have been possible without the efforts of the Kojonup Noongar CDEP.

‘Team members worked hard to ensure that the project was properly implemented, and carried out most of the on-ground works.’

Following negotiations with the council, the Kojonup Noongar CDEP is now responsible for managing the Kodja Place Heritage Trail. This involves controlling weeds and removing rubbish, and further revegetation.

‘This responsibility will have environmental, cultural and economic benefits for the district and give the CDEP with a continuing source of employment and pride,’ said Greg.

Reconnecting with the land

Group: Gippsland–East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative
Location: East Gippsland, Vic.
Formed: c.1978
Focus: The impact of salinity and wind erosion on a burial site

Long-term salinity problems had left the Boole Poole Peninsula of the East Gippsland Lakes badly degraded. Trees and shrubs on the foreshore were dying in alarming numbers, and wind erosion was creating major sand blows.

But it wasn’t only the environment suffering. The land near the peninsula was a traditional burial place for the local Aboriginal people. The wind erosion was exposing bones at the site and causing large amounts of sediment to settle in the lake. Swift action was needed to preserve the site from further damage.

Because of the cultural significance of this area to the Tatungoloong Gunai/Kurnai people, the Gippsland–East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative purchased the land to be protected and restored.

In 2005, the cooperative initiated the Tatungoloong Revegetation Project, which involved traditional owners in reclaiming, restoring and reconnecting with the site. The cooperative formed a working party and, with the support of local and state authorities, produced a work plan for the site.

With funding from Natural Heritage Trust, the Tatungoloong Gunai/Kurnai people were able to begin work on the site. They used a strategic sandbagging technique to halt the erosion, securely anchoring five large material bags into the lake bed, and then back-filling with sand pumped from offshore. The bags created a flexible and secure barrier to stop further sediment entering the lake, and the whole area became more stable.

The team then spread brush coast tea-tree branches over the new sandy fore-dunes and replanted native vegetation.

As a result of natural regeneration processes, the site is now covered in new growth. The cooperative has produced a video capturing the importance and progress of the project to promote the site’s significance to the broader community.

The project has enabled the Tatungoloong Gunai/Kurnai people to reconnect with a site of major significance to them. Their ongoing management of the area will ensure a continuous connection with this land for future generations.

^{The results of natural revegetation processes.}

Balancing the traditional with the modern

Group: Wagiman Land Trust
Location: Upper Daly region, Northern Territory
Formed: 2002
Focus: Feral animals, weeds, establishing sustainable grazing

Twelve Aboriginal rangers who graduated with certificates in resource management in 2007 are helping to create a sustainable agriculture venture for the Wagiman people in the Upper Daly region of the Northern Territory.

The rangers graduated with a Certificate II in Resource Management from Charles Darwin University, and the changes that are happening on the Wagiman lands as a result are evident.

For many years the Wagiman sought title to their traditional lands. They now hold title to 4000 square kilometres, and in 2003 established a full-time group of rangers.

The National Landcare Program is supporting the Wagiman ranger project and the development of their pastoral and soap businesses.

Much of the Wagiman Land Trust is inaccessible during the wet season, and even in the dry season it’s a one-and-a-half hour drive from the nearest settlement at Kybrook Farm to the cattle yards.

After many years without management, the lands, which had once been used for cattle, were in poor condition. There is little in the way of infrastructure and a huge area to look after.

‘When we employed our first facilitator, she got us thinking about the country and issues like animals and weeds,’ said Andrew McMah, one of the rangers.

‘One of the hardest things is that with the weather you can only get out there six months of the year. You only get a few months to get in and do what you can.

^{Wagiman rangers conducting fish research at Chilling Hole.}

‘The resource management training was interesting and fun. We looked at water monitoring, cane-toad awareness, feral animal control and fire management. We’ve got neighbouring properties; you can’t just put in a match and burn the countryside out. There’s some classroom work but it was mostly hands-on, out in the bush.’

The male and female rangers are mentored by senior Wagiman traditional owners. They maintain cultural practices by living on the land, traditional burning, harvesting plants and animals, looking after sacred sites and passing on knowledge to younger generations.

The rangers are coming up with a balance of traditional and modern ways of life. They plan to balance self-management with leasing out areas for grazing, with built-in work opportunities for Wagiman people.

‘The Indigenous Pastoral Program has helped us with the leasing and development of the Wagiman cattle enterprise,’ said Des Grainer, Wagiman land management coordinator.

^{Wagiman cattle enterprise}

‘The lease agreements specify that lessees need to look after the country in accordance with what the Wagiman want. There are opportunities for Wagiman people to be employed through those leases and to do contract work such as fencing.

‘The Wagiman are looking after traditional cultural responsibilities, and at the same time they’re looking out for mainstream opportunities. They want to do business and make money off the land and look after their traditional aspirations too.’

^{A Wagiman ranger on country.}

Keeping the tradition

Group: Tasmanian Aboriginal Land and Sea Council
Location: North-west Tas.
Formed: 1989 and incorporated in 1990
Focus: Protecting and managing Tasmanian Aboriginal cultural heritage

Few Aboriginal rock engravings remain in Tasmania, but one area, Preminghana, in the far north-west, has huge panels of culturally significant engravings, thought to have been created between 6000 and 1500 years ago.

Preminghana - formerly Mt Cameron West - stretches along the Southern Ocean. Its beaches and renowned surf breaks and spectacular views are popular with surfers and tourists.

The area is home to several rare and endangered species, including the Marrawah skipper butterfly and the Preminghana bellybutton flower.

Stock grazing and frequent burning-off to encourage pastures, however, have led to dune instability, major sand blows, weeds and loss of vegetation along much of the fragile coastline. Frequent visitors on trail bikes have further destroyed vegetation and damaged Aboriginal sites.

Preminghana has a diverse ecological environment that hosts extremely sensitive Aboriginal cultural heritage, and is always in need of careful management.

In 1996 the property came under the control of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Land and Sea Council, on behalf of the Aboriginal community. The council employed a full-time caretaker to manage the land and, in consultation with local Aboriginal people, developed a detailed plan to protect the area’s rich cultural heritage and restore the damaged environment.

The rock engravings—or petroglyphs—were immediately designated ‘no go’ areas, and off-road vehicle access to them was prohibited. The engravings are now visited only on significant cultural occasions.

The Governing Committee, however, was keen for the Aboriginal community and the general public to appreciate and understand the engravings, so they have been laser copied to provide Aboriginal community access, and eventually to be used in community education projects.

^{Preminghana - the site hosts extremely sensitive Aboriginal cultural heritage. Photo: Tasmanian Aboriginal Land and Sea Council.}

The committee’s priorities include the preservation of wildlife and threatened plants, such as the Preminghana bellybutton, a Tasmanian daisy that grows nowhere else in the world.

Another rare species found in the area is the Tasmanian skipper butterfly. The area is also home to mutton birds, quolls and Tasmanian devils.

After removing gorse, lupins and thistles, the Working on Country land management team revegetated the sites with eucalypts and banksia, restored sandblows with Spinifex hirsutus and manuka thicket, and chose local native plants that could be used for traditional food gathering and medicine.

Young Aboriginal people and Green Corps workers are continuing to work to at Preminghana and return it to its natural state.

The Preminghana management guidelines allow Aboriginal people to continue to use the land in a traditional way—they can hunt native animals, birds and rabbits with traditional spears, waddies and snares, and take shellfish, but only from beaches on the southern end of the property, to keep stocks at a sustainable level.

Preminghana is an important cultural and recreational asset to Tasmania’s Aboriginal people, who visit the site to gather food, share language and engage in the ancient art of story telling.

In restoring the wetlands, coastal grasslands, heathlands and woodlands, the council has found a healthy balance, protecting cultural heritage and the fragile environment, as well as the needs of surfers and tourists.

^{Weed clearing and revegetation and Preminghana. Photo: Tasmanian Aboriginal Land and Sea Council.}

An Indigenous perspective

Group: Aboriginal Lands Trust of South Australia
Location: Flinders Ranges, SA
Formed: 1966
Focus: Overgrazing by stock, feral goats and donkeys

^{Rangelands officer John Chester}

Ten years ago the Nepabunna community in the Flinders Ranges was facing criticism because an area known as Nantawarrina had become degraded from overgrazing by stock, feral goats and donkeys, and because of the depletion of native vegetation.

Despairing of how to deal with the problems, respected Aboriginal leaders from the community met with John Chester, a Rangelands Officer funded through the National Landcare Program.

‘As a result, a meeting of all stakeholders, including Save the Bush and Operation Bounceback, Upper Flinders Soil Conservation Board was set up to tackle the immediate problem,’ said John.

‘It was later proposed that the Nepabunna Community and the Aboriginal Lands Trust, in conjunction with the then Australian Nature Conservation Agency, declare Nantawarrina an Indigenous Protected Area. This meant all parties entering into a voluntary conservation agreement to integrate the protection of cultural, heritage and natural resource management within all maintenance programs,’ he said.

The community established a pilot program, and tourism operators, government agencies and neighbouring pastoralists entered into formal agreements on the future of the land, agreeing that the Aboriginal communities be empowered to manage it in accordance with International Union for Conservation of Nature standards.

‘The land is now thriving, and the Nepabunna community’s self-esteem and pride has improved as a result of what’s been achieved,’ said John.

The community received a Global 500 Environment Achievement award from the Prime Minister for the program. The success at Nantawarrina also led to many other communities around the country - including Yatala, the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara Lands and Mt Willoughby - declaring their lands Indigenous Protected Areas.

John is highly skilled in bringing together groups with differing and often conflicting interests. Several years ago feral animals were overrunning the Witjira National Park because of the drought, stripping the area of vegetation, displacing native wildlife and threatening sensitive cultural sites.

John brought the South Australian Department of Heritage, the Hunting and Conservation Association, National Parks and Wildlife rangers, regional ecologist officers and local Indigenous community rangers together to seek a solution.

‘I encouraged inter-agency participation and made sure all future land-management activities would incorporate an Indigenous perspective - and that groups and other stakeholders work together to eradicate the feral animals, using ethical means,’ he said. The arid landscape is now recovering well.

People from all over the world have sought John’s advice and are incorporating Indigenous perspectives into the culture of landcare. In 2003, the Australian Government invited him to present a paper at the World’s Parks Congress 2003 on Indigenous Protected Areas, in Durban, South Africa.

Wisdom of the elders

Group: Desert Channels Queensland
Location: Longreach, Qld
Formed: 2002
Focus: Restoring Indigenous culture and sound land management

Once there were 14 Indigenous language groups across Queensland’s vast western district, but the communities have now scattered and become culturally disconnected.

Many are members of the stolen generation and have lost knowledge of their culture, and their connection with elders able to pass their culture on. Significant traditional sites on private land also have not been protected.

Steve Wilson, the coordinator of Desert Channels Queensland—the regional body charged by the community and government with ensuring a sustainable social, economic and environmental future for the Queensland section of the Lake Eyre Basin—set out to find elders and traditional owners in an effort to restore and maintain Indigenous culture in the region, and to promote sound land management.

After meeting David Thomson Senior, an Iningai elder living in Barcaldine, they developed a plan to involve the Indigenous community in landcare and cultural projects. Since 2004 David has been implementing those projects.

The first was to bring home the remains of several Iningai people who had been taken to museums around Australia, and place them in a specially built ‘keeping place’ at Longreach Cemetery. A major smoking ceremony will take place once all the remains are back on country.

Another project involved Stratford Station, 60 kilometres south of Barcaldine. The area is rich in cave-art sites, native wells, burial sites and scar trees.

The landowners were concerned about native title and what protecting cultural sites meant for the everyday running of their farms. David worked with them and the traditional owners to alleviate fears, and succeeded in protecting the site for future generations.

Thirty Iningai people with little Indigenous cultural exposure had a community field day at the site, met the owners and planned for its future management.

Preparatory to an Indigenous land-use agreement being drawn up, Desert Channels arranged a full archaeological survey of the area, and for its assets to be photographed. It also organised on-ground projects to protect the sensitive area.

The strong bridges built between the landowners and the Iningai people will become a template for protecting significant traditional sites.

Desert Channels is protecting many other sites, including eight-hectares near Stonehenge, which features ceremonial stone formations. It’s also developing an Indigenous trail at Birdsville, with signs explaining the region’s Indigenous history, bush tucker and local plants and wildlife.

Indigenous locals are employed on the trail, and the many visitors will enjoy a new appreciation of the region.

Previous page | Contents | Next page