SPRING burn-offs will kick off with a cultural burn near Boort on Wednesday.
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It will be a 12.6 hectare planned burn at Woolshed Swamp seven kilometres south of Boort, done in conjunction with traditional owners, FFMVic Deputy Chief Fire Officer Scott Falconer said.
"The Yung Balug clan, who are part of the Dja Dja Wurrung, are the Traditional Owners of the site which is culturally significant," he said.
"Cultural burns are cooler, slower burns, with fires lit in patches to allow the flames to take their natural paths."
FFMVic and Djandak Wi fire crews will take advantage of favourable weather conditions, walking together through the burn site using spot fires to ignite small areas, slowly allowing the surface fuels over the whole site to be burnt, Mr Falconer said.
"We call this mosaic burning and at Woolshed Swamp it will remove weeds, shrubs, dead grass and other vegetation as well as cleansing and regenerating the land. Crews will patrol the burn area until the flames die out," he said.
"Yung Balug members will return to the site and plant seeds by hand to revegetate the area with the native plants."
Fire has been an integral part of how the Dja Dja Wurrung has managed the land for thousands of years, Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation Chair Trent Nelson said.
"To have our members back on Country and helping to heal the landscape with fire is a significant event," he said.
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