Talaroo Fire Forum focuses on threatened speies

Words Juliana Foxlee | Photo James Donaldson

Cape York NRM is partnering with Northern Gulf Resource Management Group to facilitate opportunities for Australian Indigenous people to showcase and share their cultural fire knowledge, establish a network of Indigenous fire practitioners and protect the habitat of threatened species.

In May, Northern Gulf RMG coordinated an on- country fire workshop at Talaroo Station in the northern Gulf area. The three - day event was hosted by the Ewamian Aboriginal Corporation.

Around 40 people attended the workshop including Traditional Owner groups, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service, James Cook University, and the Department of Environment and Science.

Participants spent time on country learning about cultural burning and how it helps protect threatened species including endangered golden- shouldered parrots.

Attendees also spent time discussing the idea of a North Queensland Indigenous Fire Practitioners Network which would enable Traditional Owners to share knowledge and experiences on how cultural fire management delivers outcomes for carbon, improved soil and water quality and ecological conservation.

Northern Gulf RMG Biodiversity Officer James Donaldson said the workshop and the North Queensland Indigenous Fire Practitioners Network meeting were part of a broader strategy to protect the endangered golden-shouldered parrot.

‘Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Rangers and other land managers on the appropriate use of fire will increase knowledge, skills and capacity and increase people’s capacity to address key threats to golden-shouldered parrots across their country.’

This project is supported by Cape York NRM and Northern Gulf RMG through funding from the Australian Government’s National Landcare Program