Cultural burns are making a comeback in the Hunter, amid growing interest in Indigenous land management practices.
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Laurie Perry, chief executive of the Singleton-based Wonnarua Nation Aboriginal Corporation, calls them "cool burns".
"The practice of burning country has been happening for thousands of years," Mr Perry said.
"It happens in the cooler months, that's why it's called a cool burn."
Mr Perry has also been working with the NSW government on draft legislation, titled the Cool Burning Bill.
After the 2019-20 bush fires, there were calls for the government to support Aboriginal-led cultural fire management in NSW.
This led the government to establish the Cultural Fire Management Unit.
"Everyone knows about hazard reduction burns, but not many people know about cultural cool burns. The two can co-exist," Mr Perry said.
Hunter Local Land Services, a state agency, is working with Tocal College and the Firesticks Alliance on the first accredited course that incorporates cool burning into land management and conservation.
As part of this, 30 students were enrolled in a one-year pilot project.
Thirteen cultural burns were planned for the Hunter this year, but COVID has put the project on hold until lockdown lifts.
Along with traditional burning, the Firesticks Alliance teaches participants about their identity and culture.
Hunter Local Land Services Aboriginal community officer Toby Whaleboat said cultural burning involved "passing on knowledge from elders, so we don't lose it".
"It's important for future generations to manage landscapes and vegetation types effectively," Mr Whaleboat said.
"When Aboriginal people were burning, the land was well managed."
The aim was for the pilot course to become "the model for teaching cultural burning knowledge in a formal land management capacity across Australia".
"The students will get access to some of the best teachers in the country, including Victor Steffensen from Firesticks Alliance, combined with local knowledge passed on through elders in our region."
The cultural burning program would offer opportunities for Aboriginal students and communities to "share cultural knowledge on caring for country."
The course teaches students in Aboriginal and modern scientific fire knowledge. Students learn about the positive ecological effects of cultural burning techniques.
The training will be done in various vegetation and ecosystems, such as box-gum grassy woodlands and open grassy woodlands in the Upper Hunter. It will also occur in elevated areas such as Mount Sugarloaf and coastal heath near the beaches.
Cultural burns have been done recently in Denman and North Rothbury, before lockdown.
Mr Perry said cultural burning was about "fire management and managing the land".
"It's not going to stop a catastrophic fire," he said.
"But if you manage your land properly and get rid of the fuel on the ground and start getting the native grasses back, you start managing the land properly."
Mr Perry said Aboriginal people managed the land with fire for thousands of years.
"We have eight seasons, not four. We manage the land with fire in the colder periods over six months," he said.
"So there's six months of planning and six months of burning.
"You've got to burn in the cooler period of the year to manage the fire."
Before burning occurs, "you've got to walk the land and look at the landscape and see what's there".
"The fire only goes up a metre, but then it drops. That gives animals time to move. It doesn't harm the birds," he said.
"Actually the birds are probably crying out for it because you bring back a new environment of different birdlife as well, which probably hasn't been seen for ages."
Mr Perry said billionaire Andrew Forrest's Minderoo Foundation has supported the cultural cool burns in the Upper Hunter, which includes mining, biodiversity and conservation areas.
Mr Perry said there were plans to burn conservation areas that mining companies manage.
"I've put the legislative bill into NSW Parliament through the Aboriginal Affairs Minister Don Harwin.
"I've made sure in the legislation that cultural cool burning is part of managing biodiversity and conservation areas across the Hunter that are part of mining development consent.
"I put the mining industry on notice that instead of using Roundup and all the pesticides they use, they should start burning country and look after it as part of mine rehabilitation.
"Fire can replace pesticides. Get rid of the chemicals. They're destroying the Earth. All the natives are still underneath the ground waiting to come up.
"The good thing about that is you can start production of native grass seeds to make flour, which is the best flour in the world."
Mr Perry said Sydney University and CSIRO were "working on a couple of projects in Moree and Narrabri on native seed production to make flour".
Aboriginal people produced sustainable food from native ecosystems for thousands of years
Knowledge of native-grain food is now expanding.
"It has higher protein than natural flour. It's a lot healthier than wheat. But it's a painstaking task to collect it.
"There is a market for johnny cakes and damper, making bread that is produced with native grass."
Some native-grass seeds are on the surface of the land, but weeds often take over.
"Once you burn the first and second time, you'll start to see the native grasses come up. That's when you start collecting the seed," Mr Perry said.
