The goal of rightway winthali is to create a patchwork mosaic of burnt and long-unburnt areas across the landscape, thus ensuring diversity of habitat for animals and plants.
Matches, drip torches, helicopters and traditional burning methods are all used to create this mosaic effect. High resolution images and mapping from Sentinel satellites allow rangers to identify patches of country that have previously been burnt and other areas that need to be protected from fire.
“We look at the fire history over at least 10 years and we really want to try and protect some of the areas that haven’t burnt for three years or more,” explains Bush Heritage’s National Fire Program Manager, Richard Geddes, who works closely with the Bunuba rangers to plan and implement burns on their country.
“We want to protect the fire-sensitive areas like rainforest patches, sandstone heaths and spinifex, so we’ll burn small breaks around them to try and stop the large bushfires from spreading into those areas later in the year.
“Long unburnt spinifex is a really critical food source for threatened Gouldian Finches and other granivorous (seed-eating) birds, so that’s another area we try to identify and protect.” By creating regular and welcome opportunities for Bunuba people to go out on and care for their country, often for the first time in many decades, it is clear that the benefits of right-way winthali far surpass simply the ecological.
For the first time, female Bunuba rangers like Monique are undertaking the fire training required for them to take part in fire work, while a new Healthy Country Camp focussing on fire is in the planning phase.
“It’ll be a great improvement this year to have more female rangers on the ground and working on fire,” says Richard. “We’re planning to do a fire camp so we’ll hopefully get some older Traditional Custodians out with some of the younger generations and they can show them how to use the fire sticks.”
The rangers, who are leading these plans, couldn’t be happier.
“I like that I get to go places, places that you’ve never been before,” says Kendo.
“Going out on country, it’s healing,” agrees Monique.