Aboriginal Cultural Burning in Wingecarribee Bushland Reserves
Acknowledgement
Wingecarribee Shire Council acknowledges the Gundungurra and Tharawal (Dharawal) people as the Traditional Custodians of the lands where we work and live.
We pay our respects to Elders past, present and emerging, and recognise and celebrate the diversity of Aboriginal peoples and their ongoing cultures and connections to the lands and waters of Australia.
Project Background
Aboriginal people have been using fire on Country for thousands of years. It is important to recognise and respect the deep connection Aboriginal people have to Country and their expertise in caring for Country. Cultural burning provides a spiritual connection to Country, brings community together and reinstates traditional practices.
The benefits of Cultural Burning are significant, not only for First Nations people, but also for biodiversity and the general health of the landscape. The type of fire used is generally of a low intensity, and has a positive, long-term impact on the flora and fauna of an area. Cool burns also help to protect forest canopies and the hollows that are so important for an array of native wildlife.
The catalyst for the Aboriginal Cultural Burning in Wingecarribee Bushland Reserves Project followed the 2019-2020 Black Summer bushfires and the Final Report of the NSW Bushfire Inquiry (2020). There were 76 recommendations including Recommendation 26: “That, in order to increase the respectful, collaborative and effective use of Aboriginal land management practices in planning and preparing for bush fire, Government commit to pursuing greater application of Aboriginal land management, including cultural burning….”
The awarding of the Bushfire Local Economic Recovery Funding to Wingecarribee Shire Council has enabled the reintroduction of Cultural Burning, led by members of the Aboriginal Community, to our bushland reserves which helps to protect Country from the negative impacts of catastrophic wildfires.
Project Development and Governance
The project was co-designed and developed with Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council (ILALC), Gundungurra Aboriginal Heritage Association Incorporated (GAHAI), other members of the Local Aboriginal Community and Wingecarribee Shire Council (WSC). The project commenced in early 2022 with the Pilot Cultural Burn occurring in August 2023.
Wingecarribee Shire Council set up a steering committee, meeting every six weeks, to guide the implementation of the project. The steering committee included staff and community members from WSC, ILALC, Gundungurra Aboriginal Heritage Association Incorporated (GAHAI) and NSW RFS.
What has been achieved so far?
A draft Aboriginal Cultural Burning Strategy for Wingecarribee Bushland Reserves and a draft communications plan have been prepared.
These drafts will have further input from the Aboriginal community in the coming months.
Three Cultural burns have been completed within Gibbergunyah Reserve, as shown in the figure below. The reference code for each burn relates to fire management units (6, 8 and 9) that are mapped within the Gibbergunyah Reserve Fire Management Plan (Gun=Gibbergunyah Reserve). These include:
- Gun09 - 26-27 August 2023 (5ha)
- Gun06 - 13 April 2024 (5ha)
- Gun08 - 14 April 2024 (7ha)
All three cultural burns have been led by Den Barber and his team from Yarrabin Cultural Connections, with participation from Aboriginal community members, ILALC staff, NSW RFS Volunteers and WSC staff. Further Cultural burns are proposed for Gibbergunyah and Mount Alexandra along with a community workshop and tour of the sites during winter and spring.
Biodiversity Monitoring
Council staff have undertaken periodic spotlighting surveys within Gibbergunyah Reserve and reported sightings to BioNet during the past two and a half years. Threatened species sighted include Greater Gliders, Powerful Owls, Scarlet Robins and Glossy Black Cockatoo’s.
Recently, Council engaged two consultants to undertake a bat survey and small mammal survey. This is the first bat survey undertaken in a Council managed bushland reserve.
Three recorder types were used for the duration of this survey and spent a total of 16 nights surveying the reserve. The devices were located within 10 of the 17 Fire Management Units (FMU) which contain various vegetation types and aspects of the reserve. The decision to collect data from the FMU’s provides insight into bat occupancy after recent Cultural and Hazard Reduction burns.
The results of the bat survey are attached in the document library. Thirteen species of bats including four threatened species were detected, including:
- Eastern False Pipistrelle (Falsistrellus tasmaniensis) – Vulnerable
- Large Bent-winged Bat (Miniopterus orianae oceanensis) – Vulnerable
- Yellow-bellied Sheath-tailed Bat (Saccolaimus flaviventris) – Vulnerable
- Greater Broad-nosed Bat (Scoteanax rueppellii) – Vulnerable
The Large Bent-winged Bat and Yellow-bellied Sheath-tailed Bat are both summer visitors to the Southern Highlands, while Eastern False Pipistrelle and Greater Broad-nosed Bat may be resident within the reserve year-round. All four threatened species were recorded in at least three separate monitoring locations one of which is within a recent cultural burn site.
IMAGE: Greater Broad-nosed Bat (Scoteanax Rueppellii)
Gibbergunyah Reserve is largely a dry sclerophyll forest and majority of the bats were recorded in this vegetation. Large Forest Bats were recorded across all ten monitoring sites with the Gould’s Wattled Bat and Long-eared Bat recorded at nine sites.
The wet gully forest within the middle of the reserve had the least number of species, recording five species over the survey period and bat diversity was slightly lower on the hazard reduction burn location compared with the cultural burn site. No statistical analyses were completed, and further work is needed to measure trends.
Overall, this is a fantastic result for biodiversity and cultural burning within Gibbergunyah Reserve and further surveys are to be conducted in the future.
Gibbergunyah Reserve Cultural Burn Film
Project Partners and Collaborators:
Acknowledgements:This Local Economic Recovery Project is jointly funded by the Commonwealth and New South Wales Government under the Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements.
