Cultural Fire returns to the Koonyum Range
Ngalii-ngaa wala-wala guuriilaa wuuyun-girr
Ngalii-ngaa nyaagii gaany ba-aarn nguubuugan
We share old ways into the new
We need these ways now and for our future
Restoring cultural fire back into landscapes where it has been excluded is crucial to help build back resilience into Country here in the Northern Rivers. Zero Emissions Byron came together with Wildsite Ecological Services and Jagun Alliance Aboriginal Corporation to run a workshop for local landholders and mob on the importance of cultural fire. The weather conditions on the day also allowed for a small demonstration burn and was thought to be the first time cultural fire was returned to the Koonyum Range in almost a century.
Attendees were welcomed to Country by Laryssa Smith on behalf of the Minjungbal-Bundjalung people. From here some informative discussion and conversation began around cultural fire from fire ecologist Dr Andy Baker and Indigenous fire custodian Oliver Costello. Jagun Alliance’s Cultural Advisor Marcus Ferguson then led a cultural walk to discuss the traditional grassy pathways that weave across Bundjalung Country and were used by the Old People to travel between important cultural areas.
What is cultural fire?
Cultural fire is cool and controlled when applied to the right vegetation type, during the right season and under suitable weather conditions. Australian flora and fauna have evolved with fire and many species are dependent on it for regeneration, succession, habitat maintenance and food production. Dr Andy Baker, who has been a fire and vegetation ecologist in Byron Shire for 27 years, explains that “fire-dependent vegetation types in Byron Shire include Eucalypt, Brush Box and Paperbark forests and also heathlands. When maintained with cultural fire these ecosystems provide important habitat for numerous threatened flora and fauna that depend on open canopy ecosystems to survive.”
Executive Director of Jagun Alliance Oliver Costello echoes these thoughts and expands on the issue by noting that many in our community have a fear-based relationship with fire, particularly after the Black Summer fires of 2019/20. “One of the intentions of Jagun Alliance is to help people reimagine fire as something that can be positive to help care for Country and support landholders to understand its significant cultural value.”
With support from the Ingrained Foundation, Zero Emissions Byron & Jagun Alliance hope to promote a vital pathway to help restore and conserve biodiversity, renew Aboriginal cultural connection and practice, build resilience back into Country and reduce bushfire risk.