Ngadju fire management for the Great Western Woodlands

Filming a documentary for Caring for Our Country in an area of the Great Western Woodlands which has been burnt. Photo: Wayne O'Sullivan

The Ngadju people whose lands cover a significant portion of the Great Western Woodlands, are looking to reinstate traditional burning methods. Proper management will safeguard biodiversity and protect and preserve the cultural value of their homelands.

Ngadju Traditional Owners want to put in place a program which aims to develop and enrich the Indigenous fire practises of the region and provide land and fire management for the safety and benefit of the wider community.

In September 2011 a number of them met in Norseman to conduct a fire management assessment on their country, supported by a grant from Caring for Our Country.

Altered fire regimes have been identified as a major threat to the landscape and biodiversity conservation values of the Great Western Woodlands. This is reflected in the allocation of more than $2 million towards fire management from the WA state government’s $3.8 million budget for Biodiversity and Cultural Conservation of the Great Western Woodlands.

We consider some current approaches to fire management in this region are damaging and inadequate,  and more science and knowledge is required urgently. Involving Traditional Owners in management could be an important step towards smarter fire management. It is also vital for protection of cultural heritage and could provide a unique opportunity for traditional owners to be directly involved in enhanced management of the woodlands.

CSIRO are supporting the Ngadju people, and have put forward a funding proposal to the government for a project to investigate traditional Aboriginal burning regimes in the Great Western Woodlands and their application to contemporary fire management.

They propose to work with the Ngadju, surveying areas before and after trial burns, monitoring the impact of the fire, and then scaling up the results to determine what the approach might mean at a landscape scale. This proposal is currently under consideration by the state government’s Community Reference Group for funding from the current budget allocation.

More information on Ngadju fire management in the Great Western Woodlands will be available soon.

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