Culture

For the Aboriginal people of the region, culture, landscape, environment and people are inextricably linked. The Cultural Heritage theme has focussed on developing the capacity of Aboriginal people to protect priority Cultural Heritage sites and to provide cultural awareness opportunities to groups. This has been achieved by the integration of the Cultural Heritage theme with other NRM Themes.

A range of projects in partnership with the Aboriginal community to protect and restore sites of cultural significance has been delivered by the Cultural Team through the two programs of Cultural Connections and Restoring Connections. The Aboriginal Work Team continued to assist with the on ground activities across these projects.

Cultural Connections Program

The Cultural Connections Program delivered the following projects in partnership with the Aboriginal community through Caring for our Country and State NRM funding.

Cultural Awareness: All projects within Cultural Connections include components of cultural awareness raising for community groups, adapted to their needs. An example of is the work that has been done at Lake Pleasant View. The Lake Pleasant View project included a Cultural Awareness Field Day to compliment the revegetation works. Participants were told the creation story and learnt about Aboriginal culture while interacting with local Elders and undertaking on-ground works. The Great Southern TAFE was also involved in this project and this led to a Cultural Awareness package being delivered at a later stage to students.

Two specific Cultural school education programs have also been developed and delivered to complement the Birds Australia, Carnaby's Cockatoo Recovery Project and the management of vertebrate pests and the native animals we protect by doing the management.

Future Direction Setting: Two forums were held in Esperance and Albany to evaluate partnerships with the Aboriginal community and to identify priority areas for further monitoring and maintenance and new sites for future projects. The forums considered community issues and the best way for South Coast NRM to support them in future through the delivery of the Cultural Heritage Program Logic. These forums have identified a need to develop a regional management plan for Cultural Heritage.

Weed Control: Cultural Implementation Officers and the Aboriginal Work team identified and assisted in controlling weeds of national significance on Indigenous heritage sites. Elders and Traditional Owners were engaged to share and incorporate Traditional Ecological Knowledge.  Box thorn plants at Moir Homestead and castor oil plants at Israelite bay were located and removed. Blackberry treated on the Denmark and Kalgan rivers, control of invasive weeds (Watsonia, poplars, Victorian tea tree) in Lake Warden wetlands and gorse was control in the Albany Hinterland and Demark Shire. Indigenous farmers through the Southern Agricultural Indigenous Lands Service (SAILS) program were assisted to control bridal creeper through the spread of biological rust on five properties. Further weed monitoring and control at Mount Many Peaks included the removal of pampas grass and Sydney golden wattle and spreading of rust for bridal creeper.

Vertebrate Pests: Cultural Project Officers assisted with wild dog baiting in Esperance area.

Coastal Community Engagement: Cultural Project Officers, Traditional Owners and Elders have been engaged in several coastal projects.  The Culham Inlet Traditional Owner Workshop was conducted to integrate Cultural heritage into Culham Inlet Foreshore Management Plan prepared by the Culham Inlet Management Group. This involved traditional owner family representatives meeting at Culham Inlet to discuss points of access and recommendations for future protection or use. Coordinated the cultural mapping at Cape Vancouver Peninsula working in partnership with the Albany Heritage Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation though a Coastwest grant and heritage survey with on ground works managing invasive species also conducted at Fanny Cove. The Cultural Project Officer and Aboriginal work team were also involved in a coastal project to control Victorian tea tree.

Restoring Connections

Restoring Connections is a community driven project working with Aboriginal Communities across the Region to identify, protect and restore Cultural places at risk of degradation. This project engages Aboriginal communities in the NRM work throughout the Region by linking Elders to Youth, and by recognising Traditional connection to country and the knowledge of NRM.

Restoring Connections projects are delivered through alternative sources of funding and driven the Aboriginal communities priorities. The Paddy Coyne Project was delivered to protect and restore Paddy Coyne Complex which contains a significant registered site. The Cultural Team with the assistance of the Aboriginal Work Team delivered this project in partnership with Albany Aboriginal Corporation, Department of Housing and Works, DIA and Skillhire. A management plan was developed, Sydney Golden Wattle removed with ongoing monitoring, control and revegetation works planned.

Southern Prospects 2004-09 Review 

The Aboriginal Reference Group was involved in the review of the Cultural Heritage components of the Southern Prospects 2004-2009 and the development of the newly released South Prospects 20011-16.  The reference group provided much direction to ensure that through the Cultural Heritage theme all NRM actions in the South Coast Region recognise and respect natural cultural heritage values. Also that Aboriginal practices, spiritual and cultural values are considered across all NRM themes and support conservation and protection of our natural environment.