Nature’s clock
Before it’s too late, we’re giving two of Tasmania’s lesser-known species the opportunity to thrive - the Tasmanian Bertya (Bertya tasmanica subsp. tasmanica) and the South Esk Pine (Callitris oblonga subsp. oblonga)
“It’s all about doing things together in the spirit of reconciliation – righting some of the wrongs. One in, all in,” says Menang-Goreng Elder Eugene Eades of the culturally led burns being carried out on his people’s Boodja (Country), in the south-west corner of Western Australia.
For Noongar people, fire is essential to life. Yet for many generations, wadjela (white fella) rules and restrictions have prevented Noongar people from giving fire back to Country in their way; the right way.
Karla katitjin (fire knowledge) has laid dormant, Boodja has suffered, and with it, so too have Noongar people. Righting those wrongs, as Eugene puts it, will be a slow process – rebuilding trust, reviving knowledge, listening to Country and forging a new path forward together. But a few years ago, the process was started and now the old ways are returning. In late May, the first burns of the year were lit.
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Elder Eugene Eades leads burning at Nowanup. Photo by Graham Bishop.
The dawn was foggy and full of moisture on Nowanup, a 754-hectare Noongar-managed property halfway between Western Australia’s Fitzgerald River and Stirling Range national parks.
“We’d planned to start burning early but the fog didn’t rise until 11 am,” says Lewi Marr, a Bush Heritage National Fire Officer.
Lewi and other Noongar partners were there to offer support and guidance if needed, but this was a Noongar-led burn. In the days and weeks leading up to it, Noongar Elders, rangers and community members had walked Country, deciding where, when and what to burn, identifying cultural and ecological values that needed protecting, and sharing knowledge.
This year was the third consecutive year of burning on Nowanup and the team stepped up their efforts.
“In the first two years we burnt grass, we were just getting the vibe back – getting a bit of experience and exposure,” Lewi says. “This year the vegetation was heathier, so it had a higher fuel load and a different fire behaviour. It was great to see everyone learning and progressing.”
That May morning, Boodja delivered its teachings through dew drops that clung to the delicate tips of moort, mallet and acacia plants. As hard as they tried, the rangers couldn’t light the heath until after the fog had lifted.
– Lewi Marr, Bush Heritage Fire Officer“That was a good learning for all of us: even if you have a good plan, the weather still has to be conducive to your burn.”
Shortly after the Nowanup burn, a handful of Nowanup Rangers took part in nationally accredited fire training with support from Bush Heritage. They improved their knowledge of how to manage fire in the Western way, and they gained skills and certifications that will help their careers in the future.
Two weeks later, they put those skills into practice and led two more burns on Bush Heritage’s Red Moort Reserve, 15 minutes’ drive from Nowanup.
“Last year [the first year that cultural burns took place on Red Moort], the Elders were standing over the rangers’ shoulders, telling them what to do. This year, they were just like, ‘Nope, you’ve got this, you know what you’re doing’,” says Ursula Rodrigues, a University of Western Australia PhD student who’s been facilitating the burns as part of her research on cross-cultural knowledge exchange.
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Fire training at Red Moort Reserve with Nowanup Rangers. Photo by Lewi Marr.
In spring, Ursula will revisit the Nowanup and Red Moort burn sites with Elders and rangers to monitor the fires’ impacts on vegetation composition and structure. The methods they use have been designed with input from Elders and rangers to be accessible to all collaborators – especially rangers, so they can monitor the impacts of their work going forward.
“Last year, we had a 12-year-old on our data recording team, and a 70-year-old,” Ursula says. The knowledge they glean from their research will help inform the ‘new, old way’ of Noongar fire management, as Eugene puts it.
– Eugene Eades, Menang-Goreng Elder“We want to make the old way become the new by handing this knowledge down to our younger generation. And when I say hand it down, I’m talking about non-Aboriginal people as well as Noongars. That’s a way of walking forward together,” he says.
Many different partners and agencies came together to make these burns possible, including Gondwana Link, the University of Western Australia, the Commonwealth Government, the WA State Emergency Management Committee, the WA Department of Fire and Emergency Services’ Bushfire Centre of Excellence, DBCA Aboriginal Ranger Program, Lotterywest and the Koorabup Trust.
Bushtracks spring 2024
