Two cultural burns at Gunnedah and Terry Hie Hie have sparked important milestones for the ‘Cool Burning for Culture and Ecological Knowledge’ project, according to North West Local Land Services (NWLLS).
The burns focused on benefitting the White Box–Yellow Box–Blakely’s Red Gum Grassy Woodland and Derived Native Grassland critically endangered ecological community.
This project was funded by the Australian Government Natural Heritage Trust and delivered by NWLLS, a member of the Commonwealth Regional Delivery Partners panel.
NWLLS implemented these burns in partnership with the local Aboriginal community and other stakeholders. The project aimed to improve the ecological understanding of the relationship between the ecological community and cultural burning practices while also providing valuable opportunities for people to spend time on Country.
A NWLLS spokesperson said by gaining a better understanding of how the ecological community responds to fire, government agencies, private landholders and Aboriginal communities will be better able to manage and preserve native vegetation across the region.
Aboriginal community members, school students and the wider community joined NWLLS in partnership with Red Chief Local Aboriginal Land Council and Moree Local Aboriginal Land Council to participate in cultural burns at the Gunnedah Resource Centre and Berrigal Reserve at Terry Hie Hie during May and June.
In addition to the ecological importance of the area, the Gunnedah site is also considered culturally significant for the nearby presence of Red Chief cave and Porcupine Lookout – two areas of importance for the indigenous community.
Both burns drew impressive crowds with more than 90 people attending in total, fostering a vital connection to Country and learning about biodiversity. The NSW Rural Fire Service also played a crucial role, with their Aboriginal mitigation crew and broader team assisting on both days and contributing to the careful planning of the burns.
NWLLS land services officer, Angus McIntosh, said, “Our focus is to use the findings to help manage and protect these delicate ecosystems, which will benefit present and future generations.”
NWLLS cultural broker, Wally Hammond, said it was great to see such enthusiasm for the project from the participating Aboriginal organisations. “These organisations already do such important work in protecting cultural sites across the North West so it is fantastic to be able to collaborate on an exciting project like this,” Mr Hammond said.
