The Aboriginal custodians of the Shoalhaven landscape are using their knowledge of culture and country to rehabilitate glossy black cockatoos and their habitat following the 2019-20 bushfires.
Working with the Department of Planning and Environment (DPE) on the Healthy Country for Glossy Black Cockatoos program, an Aboriginal advisory group is surveying habitat and nesting sites to determine the impact of the fire and work out how best to regenerate the environment.
From there, the group hopes to use methods such as cultural burning to help protect the species from future disasters.
Jason Groves said the program meant a lot to his community, partly because it was the first time there had been this level of consultation with Aboriginal people about decisions relating to the land.
"For us to be out on country doing that, we're following a culturally appropriate path for us as people," he said.
"All credit to DPE for engaging with us. It's pretty much the first time on a project like this that this has happened."
'Bringing it together'
The 2019-20 bushfires destroyed many of the region's casuarina trees, the main feeding tree for the bird.
The species is listed as vulnerable in New South Wales.
Wandi-Wandandian man Jared Brown is on the advisory committee for the project and said he hoped it would lead to maintaining the country in a culturally appropriate way using a combination of Aboriginal knowledge and practices and western science.
"We are doing a bit of work with regards to creating a plan with our knowledge of black fellas and western science and bringing it together," he said.
"We're doing a lot of survey work at the moment and what we're finding is a lot of the casuarina trees are young and don't have the seeds they eat on them yet.
"At the end of this we're hoping to create a cultural knowledge base and, with help from the rangers, care for country together."
'Cultural obligation'
The Department of Planning and Environment is supporting the Aboriginal Advisory Group and, once monitoring is complete, will incorporate the data into a Healthy Country Plan.
This will include cultural and intergenerational knowledge exchange in story, language, and lore.
It will also incorporate on-country learning, healing, and training to reconnect and understand the glossy black cockatoo.
Advisory group member Natalie Nye said she felt compelled to participate.
"It's a cultural obligation for us as a people to make sure we are out there and on the ground," Ms Nye said.
"That's where you need to be — on the ground, so you can see what's happening with their environment."
Recommendations to land managers and the identification of priority actions to help conserve the species and rehabilitate the environment will be incorporated into the plan.
