Words and photo: Andrew Hartwig
Bonny Glen Station is a 146,000-hectare pastoral grazing lease on Cape York held by Traditional Owners, Gummi Junga Aboriginal Corporation.
The Regional Landcare Facilitator assisted Gummi Junga and Cape York Weeds and Feral Animals Inc. with a successful Indigenous Land and Sea Grant project.
The project has included fire plans, ground and aerial burning over two seasons, a Property Pest Management Plan including weed surveys, weed control work and feral animal management, identifying threats and areas prone to soil erosion, threatened species, and fencing and protection of cultural sites.
Mining leases also occur across the landscape and it is hoped to improve communication and cooperative management between grazing, cultural and mining interests.
The project has incorporated traditional knowledge in the planning process to help with succession planning for the next generation of land managers.
This project has increased Indigenous participation in natural resource management and sustainable agriculture, and increased skills and capacity of Indigenous land managers.
Gummi Junga has also formed valuable partnerships with other organisations including Cape York Weeds and Feral Animals Inc, Cape York NRM, Cook Shire Council and neighbouring stations.
“Caring for Country is an important job. Bonny Glen is our Traditional Country and looking after it means a lot to us. Working with all the different groups has been great to form and strengthen networks so we can learn new things and work better together. Putting together plans for the country are good to do because we can prioritise areas of cultural significance and places we want to look after in the future.” Barb Rosendale-Collie
Gummi Junga and Cape York Weeds and Feral Animals Inc. would like to acknowledge and thank Department of Environment and Heritage Protection (EHP) for the grant funds and assistance, and the knowledge gained from the project to continue looking after their Country.
