We could be facing another Black Summer in 30 years, says Aboriginal Land Council ranger

Batemans Bay Local Aboriginal Land Council (BBLALC) ranger coordinator Andrew White has spent more than 20 years caring for and regenerating country through Indigenous land management practices such as cultural burning.

"Fire can be dangerous," he said. "We've seen that. But if utilised properly, it can be a tool."

BBLALC cares for land from NSW's Shoalhaven along the south coast to Tilba, and as far west as Braidwood.

They help private property owners, councils and businesses to manage and regenerate their land, with a focus on Indigenous land management practices - particularly cultural burning.

Cultural burning is regularly setting vegetation alight as a method of bush regeneration and rejuvenation.

Indigenous people read the bush for signs and cycles as to when different areas should be burnt.

"We ask questions like 'what is fruiting?, Why is it not fruiting?, Why are plants growing outside areas they are meant to be in? What animal breeding cycles are happening?'" Mr White said.

"Fire is just one part [of Indigenous land care] - it's just healing the land and looking after what we have got."

Mr White has seen the effects of fires replenishing ecosystems.

Burning land helps with weed eradication, land regeneration, reducing fuel load and helping endemic species reproduce, according to Mr White. But the benefits are far more complex.

"Fires play an important role in putting everything back in the right position," he said. "Bringing the right ecosystems back, the right vegetation back, the right animals back."

BBLALC cares for almost 1000 hectares of land near Nelligen, which they re-inherited from Forestry as "a big matchbox," according to Mr White.

He said the land was unhealthy, mismanaged and worn out. There were hardly any native species to be found on the land.

With burning, gradually, Mr White has seen spotted tail quolls, greater gliders, powerful owls, squirrel gliders, glossy black cockatoos, gang gang cockatoos and yellowbelly gliders all return to the land.

Mr White said the Black Summer bushfires sparked a greater interest in Indigenous methods of caring for country.

Community support for the work of BBLALC swelled after the catastrophe of the fires.

"The fires were a kick in the ass for Indigenous land management," Mr White said.

"People began asking why there wasn't Indigenous input into how the land was looked after."

Currently many groups play various roles in looking after land across NSW, including Forestry, National Parks and the Rural Fire Service (RFS).

"It takes a disaster like this for them to see the benefits of us working together," Mr White said.

He appreciates the newfound support for Indigenous knowledge, and said it was more important than ever to start caring for country properly.

If we do not, the stakes are high: Mr White believes we could be facing terrifyingly severe bushfires like Black Summer again in 30 years.

For Mr White, effectively caring for country is about "listening to the right people".

"What Western society has brought hasn't done the job," he said.

"Indigenous people have been doing it for more than 60,000 years, so there's got to be something worth looking at."

He would like to see a holistic system where RFS, Forestry, National Parks and Aboriginal Land Councils work together, sharing knowledge and learning from one another.

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Currently there is conflict between RFS and Aboriginal Land Councils over organising and carrying out backburning or cultural burning programs.

Mr White wants to develop "a system where it's not all western knowledge coming in and taking away the input of Indigenous knowledge holders".

The flourishing of endangered species in their natural habitat brings Mr White great joy, and is a deeply spiritual moment.

So too is the entire process of burning; fire is deeply connected with Indigenous culture.

"Fire and caring for country is in our genes," he said.

"It is a big part of Indigenous culture, so for us to not be able to practice that suppresses our culture."

His greatest joy at work is seeing younger rangers learning, and ancient knowledge passed down to new custodians. The process teachers junior rangers about their culture, their land and themselves.

"Our knowledge and methods aren't written down on paper, they are passed down through generations," he said.

"We need to keep burning."