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Ed Hatherley, The Kimberley's Regional Fire Coordinator, looks at the role of indigenous people in the role of fire management. |
| The planning and implementation process of fire management involves extensive consultation with traditional owners and other stakeholders.
The Kimberley Land Council (KLC) facilitates the coordination of the right Aboriginal people to engage.
For these meetings, the KLC brings together all of the senior traditional owners and rangers they have identified from their community who speak for country.
Ed's team brings maps of fire scar history, land system and vegetation data sets.
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This information is combined with local cultural knowledge, providing a tool for future fire management decisions. The Working On Country (WOC) rangers have been identified by their own communities and are the main conduit for the planning process. They also nominate areas to be worked on and what can be achieved in fire management, as well as participating in any prescribed burning activities that occur.
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| The WOC rangers are undertaking a Certificate 2 in Conservation and Land Management, this training and development program covers a wide variety of land management activities which includes fire, The longer term outcome is for traditional owners to facilitate fire management activities on Indigenous lands using a combination of traditional and contemporary fire practices. DEC is assisting with the KLC in the development and delivery of the training program.
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At present there are some six rangers at Kalumburu, another six based at Derby and a further six at Kununurra with others scattered elsewhere in the Region making between 20 and 30 all up. The program has generated interest in the indigenous communities as it grows and evolves. Other states across Australia's north offer indigenous fire management; the Northern Territory is well advanced in their aboriginal burning program which is important as that state has large tracts of Aboriginal owned land. The training and development offers skills and indigenous people long term employment opportunities. There are a number of indigenous people employed with Ed's team under the auspices of the Western Australia Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC). There are trainee rangers, indigenous national park rangers, along with seasonal casual workers. It bodes well for the future that the engagement with indigenous communities is reflected in the organisation and that the capacity for involvement continues to grow.
Text: V.B. October 2009
Images from Ed Hatherley
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