Communities

Southern Yuin, NSW

The Southern Yuin Firesticks Mentoring Program has supported over 80 First Nations peoples across Djiringanj/Walbunga, and the broader Yuin nation in the revival of fire knowledges and cultural fire management. Throughout 2023, a total of 20 Cultural Fire workshops were delivered within the region across various land tenures, including National Parks. 

Current community priorities involve the revival of the Murrah Advisory Committee and the development of a regional project plan to continue delivering biocultural objectives across the Gulaga and Biamanga cultural landscape. Broadly, this has the potential to change legislative guidelines that currently restrict cultural land management practices. In particular, monitoring and data collection on Country will formulate the evidence required to recognise Gulaga and Biamanga landscapes as significant assets to the community. The Southern Yuin Firesticks Team are striving to certify Indigenous Ranger teams who will then be able to manage these cultural landscapes for generations to come. 

The Southern Yuin Firesticks Team continues to work alongside the NSW Koala Strategy to support cultural monitoring of one of the last-known coastal Koala populations between the NSW and Victorian border. The information gained from this work is crucial to understanding koala movement, seasonality and population variability across Country types. Learn more about this exciting project.