Traditional Owner led burn at Ryans Lagoon

 

In June, a Traditional Owner cultural burn took place at Ryans Lagoon, 20 minutes outside of Wodonga on Duduroa Country.

 

The burn, undertaken by Duduroa Dhargal Aboriginal Corporation (DDAC) and supported by both CFA and Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic), was part of an ongoing project to restore Country at the wetland site.

CFA Cultural Heritage Advisor, Michael Sherwen, oversaw the burn for CFA alongside his Vegetation Management team members.

“The wetland has been quite degraded with weeds and biomass accumulation over time. So, the objective of the burn was to reduce that mass and give opportunities for native species to come through.” Michael said.

The restoration of Ryans Lagoon is part of a bigger body of work being done by CFA through the Safer Together approach, which facilitates greater engagement with Traditional Owners.

“It’s been a great opportunity to work collaboratively with the Fire Management sector. But more importantly, working at that grassroots level and enabling Traditional Owners and custodians to apply fire to Country," Michael said.

“That’s the most important outcome, is having that bottom-up approach.”

Beau Murray, a Water Officer at DDAC, spoke about the impact of the partnership.

“Having the Aunt and Uncles partner with CFA and FFMVic for so long, it’s been a really positive partnership. To have their support with cultural burns, it just works really well.” Beau said.

The recent burn is the third that DDAC have carried out at Ryans Lagoon, and the positive impacts of traditional land management are already prominent.

“It’s been turned from what was previously just a cow paddock into the reserve that it is now. To see that the site is being looked after, after being degraded for so long, it’s really great,” Beau said.

 

Submitted by	Alison Smirnoff