Related: Working to give wildlife a chance
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A SHORT drive out of Wedderburn there lies 1200 hectares of land set aside for the restoration of the natural landscape.
But this conservation work has had positive effects in more than one field: it has also led to the discovery and subsequent protection of historically and culturally significant Aboriginal artifacts.
The land in question is owned by Bush Heritage Australia, a non-government organisation that works to conserve the natural environment in areas across Australia.
The organisation partners with Aboriginal communities to tap into their knowledge and connection to country.
“At Bush Heritage we know, we understand that our Aboriginal predecessors, as caretakers of blocks we own, managed to achieve a balance in the landscape that supported life, so we want to achieve that balance to support life so we don’t see a decline in species,” Victorian reserves manager Jeroen van Veen said.
It was through partnering with the Dja Dja Wurrung community that cultural heritage surveys conducted on Bush Heritage’s Nardoo Hills Reserves have uncovered several scar trees.
These are trees whose bark has been removed by Aboriginal people to make tools and shelters, and they date back decades, possibly 100 years or more.
One of the trees bears a scar that is quite large, leading the man who discovered it about six months ago, Dja Dja Wurrung Enterprises ranger Ron ‘Thunder’ Kerr, to believe the tree’s bark was used to make canoes.
On the other side of the tree is another scar that stretches to the ground, which suggests that bark from that side was used for shelters.
The tree was most likely a grey box gum and Mr van Veen said it had died prior to 1990, although the age of the tree itself and its scars was not known.
Other scar trees on the reserve were likely used to make coolamons, which are vessels that have traditionally used by women to carry food and water, and cradle babies.
Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation chairman Trent Nelson said scar trees were important remnants of Aboriginal history.
It’s something that connects us to our ancestors... it’s tangible cultural heritage, we can touch it, we can feel it.
- Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation chairman Trent Nelson
“It’s something that connects us to our ancestors... it’s tangible cultural heritage, we can touch it, we can feel it,” Mr Nelson said.
He said the scar trees were also valuable in helping Aboriginal people tell their stories and their history, to both the younger generations and the wider community.
There were several hundred scar trees across the region, Mr Nelson said, but as they aged and fell or were damaged, they became increasingly rare.
He said that was why it was important they were found and documented.
Mr van Veen said the cultural heritage sites found on the Nardoo Hills Reserves were included in Bush Heritage’s management plans to ensure they would remain protected and intact.
Bush Heritage also hopes to incorporate traditional Aboriginal land management techniques in its conservation work in the Wedderburn area.
Mr van Veen said the organisation was talking to agencies including the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation and the CFA to introduce fire back into the landscape.
He said many plant species used fire to maintain themselves, including some grass species that could live for 10 times as long as they would without burning.
Mr Nelson said the partnership between the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation and Bush Heritage had been positive, with the two bodies having similar goals and approaches to the land.
Bush Heritage has identified the Wedderburn area as a priority in Victoria because it contains some of the most intact, salvageable plots of what is known as inland slope grassy woodland, which lies on the inland side of the Great Dividing Range.
Mr van Veen said 82 per cent of this landscape had been cleared throughout Victoria and New South Wales, and of the remaining 18 per cent, much had been degraded.
Nardoo Hills Reserves were formerly used for sheep grazing.
Mr van Veen said land that had been ploughed would be prohibitively expensive and labour-intensive to restore, so Bush Heritage focused its resources on bringing grazed land back to health.
The grassland had become simplified through agriculture, he said, but would be restored with time.
He said once invasive weeds and pests such as rabbits were taken out of the landscape, some “really interesting” ground plants re-emerged.
Bush Heritage worked closely with other like-minded organisations, he said, including Parks Victoria, local Catchment Management Authorities and Trust for Nature.
He said nearby landowners also recognised and appreciated the conservation work under way, and had become increasingly enthusiastic to do their bit on their own properties.
Volunteers have been integral to the organisation’s work in the area, which dates back to 2004 when the first 400 hectares were purchased.
Despite biodiversity values falling across Australia, Mr van Veen said there had been no extinctions in the Wedderburn area and they were seeing improvements in the ecosystem, including increasing activity from some animal species.
“We are making quite a big landscape change here,” Mr van Veen said.