Bringing Traditional Fire to Merriwa

MERRIWA farmers interested in working with local Aboriginal communities to bring traditional burning practices back to country are encouraged to contact Hunter Local Land Services.

They are particularly keen to have demonstrations on sites with Box Gum Grassy Woodlands, which are typical on the Merriwa plateau, to understand how fire can benefit the native vegetation, suppress weeds and encourage native ground-cover and tree regeneration.

Aboriginal students learning about traditional burning in the Upper Hunter. Photo: Hunter Local Land Services.

Last week Aboriginal students met in the Upper Hunter to learn skills on site monitoring, land assessments and developing cultural burn plans with local elders and practitioners as part of their training in the Cultural Burn Mentoring Program.

Jess Wegener, Aboriginal community officer for Hunter Local Land Services said the training will increase community understanding of cultural burn practices and connection to the land.

“It is such an amazing opportunity to be able to build confidence in using Traditional Aboriginal practices to reconnect with culture,” said Ms Wegener.

“Hunter Local Land Services has been working with communities over recent years to develop this unique program and reinvigorate cultural burning practices locally, she said.

“This new module and expanded program builds on our previous smaller cultural burns and training opportunities, and we are looking forward to working with the participants on this new expanded program by offering them each a small training scholarship,” Jess Wegener said.

Farmers in the Merriwa district who may be interested in establishing cultural burning demonstration sites should contact Adam Bush by email on adam.bush@lls.nsw.gov.au or phone the LLS Scone office: (02) 6540 2400.