Cultural knowledge for Otways burns

TRADITIONAL owners and state fire authorities will merge their Otways fire knowledge under a pilot training program.

Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) has partnered with the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation for the program, which aims to eventually reintroduce traditional burning into bushfire management activities.

Wadawurrung People are the Traditional Owners of land that takes in Geelong and the eastern Otways, and 12 members began training under the new plan at Anglesea this month.

Participants will share their cultural burning knowledge with state officers and will get accreditation for planned burns at the end of the program, paving the way to lead their own cultural burns in the future.

Wadawurrung cultural fire officer Blair Gibson said Aboriginal people had an important role to play in managing fire-prone landscapes.

“Traditional Owners carry out cultural burning for reasons associated with caring for Country, including keeping the land safe from extreme fires, promoting revegetation and maintaining connection with Country,” he said.

“This training will help ensure that Indigenous culture and knowledge continues to influence the way that land is cared for across the Otways.”

FFMVic Otway District manager David Roberts said the program was a further step towards collaborative land management with Traditional Owners.

“We know that fire has always been a part of the Victorian landscape. As such, we value the wealth of cultural fire knowledge held by Traditional Owners – and this opportunity to exchange insights around fire,” he said.