Cultural burning, sometimes referred to as Traditional Owner burning or Cultural Fire, is performed by First Nations communities as part of their cultural responsibilities and obligations to care for Country.
It is the traditional ecological knowledge of Australia’s first people.
The connection Traditional Owners have to Country and their role in fire and land management in Victoria is recognised and acknowledged by CFA and partner agencies. Many First Nations communities now have dedicated staff delivering cultural burning for cultural purposes including:
- caring for Country
- promoting biodiversity
- protecting cultural and natural assets
- fuel reduction
- regeneration of flora and fauna
- maintaining spiritual connection to land and Country.
It’s guided by traditional ecological knowledge and is deeply rooted in Aboriginal lore and responsibilities. Acknowledgment of this knowledge and intellectual property rights is practised across Victoria.
Traditional Owners and Victorian land and fire management agencies are working together to reintroduce cultural burning across Victoria, allowing for healing and caring for Country, and working towards the Victorian Traditional Owner Cultural Fire Strategy.
CFA has supported many cultural burns across Victoria led by Traditional Owner groups to provide operational assistance, build capacity through training and funding, and promote cultural safety and inclusion.
For CFA this means working with three key principles:
- Cultural burning is a practice performed by Aboriginal people for cultural purposes.
- Cultural burning knowledge belongs to the Traditional knowledge holders.
- Cultural burning partnerships with CFA must be led by Aboriginal people.
Cultural burning is carried out on both private and public land with the involvement of the landowner and/or manager. Forest Fire Management Victoria (FFMVic) and CFA support Traditional Owners develop objectives and outcomes that assist in the planning and delivery of burns on public and private land. FFMVic and CFA tailor support to each Traditional Owner group’s cultural fire aspirations and capacity.
CFA staff and volunteers also attend and support cultural burning workshops to deepen their understanding and respect for Aboriginal fire practices.
Retired CFA Vegetation Officer Ian Morrison has been involved with cultural burning for the past 10 years.
“Aboriginal cultural heritage is the property of the Traditional Owners, and CFA can help preserve and protect it for future generations,” Ian said.
“Cultural burning has a large part to play in restoring and healing Country. By reintroducing their traditional burning practices, they will be able to improve the native fauna and flora and hand down their knowledge to the next generation.
“CFA can still learn from this practice while also helping them improve their burning practices.”
CFA Cultural Heritage Adviser Michael Sherwen oversaw the burn for CFA at Ryans Lagoon.
“The wetland had been degraded with weeds and biomass accumulation over time, so the objective of the burn was to reduce that mass and give opportunities for native species to come through,” Michael said.
“It’s been a great opportunity to work at that grassroots level to enable Traditional Owners apply fire to Country.”
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