DJAARA launch forest gardening strategy outlining cultural practices of healing country

Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation (DJAARA) has launched its Forest Gardening Strategy, known as Galk-Galk Dhelkunya which means to care for and heal many trees.

It outlines DJAARA's philosophy when it comes to managing landscapes and cultural practices of caring for country, or Djandak, such as cultural fire and restoration of water.

DJAARA group chief executive Rodney Carter said it was the organisation's response to top threats such as land clearing, climate change, biodiversity loss and species extinction.

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"Unfortunately, since Dja Dja Wurrung people have been prevented from tending Djandak over the last 200 years, its health continues to decline, which continues to impact negatively on he health of Dja Dja Wurrung people," he said.

"Today, we cannot keep doing the same things anymore. You take a look at country at the moment, and you think, it's not well, there's something we've got to do.

"Let us be what our ancestors expected us to be. They expected their children, their descendants, to be back at country and to health country because it is unwell - it is sick - and at the same time heal ourselves.

"Let all people now participate in good leadership that we believe we'll bring."

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An example of forest gardening is DJAARA's work with VicForests at the Wombat State Forest, Mr Carter said.

Storms in June and October last year resulted in trees being thrown to the ground.

According to Mr Carter the forest had to be reduced to allow biodiversity and regeneration, while limiting fuel loads during fire season.

The work by DJAARA and VicForests was controversial at the time, however Mr Carter said he stood by the organisations' procedures.

"It's been quite traumatising to hear others in disagreement with us," he said.

"What's warming is the majority support us; democratically and what we're doing, we believe in ourselves and our vision. For us, sensibly there's no going back. We've got to keep going forward and doing the right stuff."

Launching the new strategy, Mr Carter said a five-year business case was being prepared and DJAARA was looking to establish more relationships with land management practitioners.

He said DJAARA could not afford to go it alone and the state government should change regulations around forestry to be more inclusive of Traditional Owner practices.

"The government's got to change the regulatory framework so it's empowering and enabling," he said.

"If they don't do that, the great things the state's doing and says, what they inadvertently do, they're actually discriminating against us and suppressing our inherent right."

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The strategy includes a forest gardening toolkit for healing country, which outlines practices such as cultural thinning, revegetation and rehabilitation, fire, and restoring and healing waterways.

Mr Carter said there were inherent economic benefits of cultural forestry such as using timber to create products.

"We've got a unique opportunity to contribute differently through forest produce, those that mill, cart and craft, those that even have tourism [businesses]," he said.

"I think this as a form of product is quite unique and out of the box from forestry of the old. It has an unmeasured benefit to regional economy."

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