Following the burning of significant areas of the Leeuwin-Naturaliste National Park, a plan to rebuild and restore the iconic Boranup forest was quickly developed by a number of stakeholders and organisations working together to create a future-proof management plan for the forest.
Pibulmun Wadandi Yungunjarli elder and traditional custodian Dr Wayne 'Wonitji' Webb is one of the signatories, and this week wrote the following in support of the plan.
The burning of Boranup Forest was sad.
I hope we can learn its lessons.
The Forest was very tired before it was burned.
The plants and the creatures were under pressure.
There were weeds.
Arum lily was creeping everywhere.
4WD vehicles were crashing about.
Visitors were digging stuff up, messing the fragile karst system.
Lake Cave was losing its water.
The Stygofauna were dying.
The burning had been neglected.
DBCA rangers were doing their best to manage the situation but there were never enough to help.
Our Wadandi people have lived with Boranup Forest for thousands of generations.
Its caves are some of our most sacred and precious sites.
Devils Lair, which is now surrounded by ash, is one of the most important archaeological sites in the world.
It is a treasure of people's association with country for at least 47,000 years.
The plan for Boranup's future which is being proposed by Augusta Margaret River Shire and the Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association and many others in the community is the best hope we have.
Wadandi people should help manage the Forest as we used to.
The Spirits of our ancestors are there.
Now they are anxious and angry.
The country needs its people.
We must protect and safeguard it, manage it and love it.
Boranup will grow back.
But we need to make sure it never gets tired again.
Wayne Webb
Margaret River
Six Point Recovery Plan
1. Joint Aboriginal management of the National Park in perpetuity- to ensure the Park benefits from ongoing full involvement of traditional Wadandi skills and knowledge, and builds employment.
2. Resources to restore and sustain the Park- to ensure that the entire Park has sufficient resources to be fully restored to good health and then maintained in that condition, free of weeds and feral animals.
3. Reinstatement of the Nindup Plain, including privately held Blue Gum plantations- to recognise the pivotal ecological role of the Nindup Plain, the need to sustain subterranean water flows, the fact that the part of the Nindup Plain within the Park boundary has been destroyed- to protect flora and fauna (including Stygofauna, Western Swamp Tortoise and Geocrinia), and- to embrace the imperative for an east-west corridor now that native logging is to cease.
4. Visitor facilities, education & management- to re-imagine tourism and visitation in the Park, and- to provide for curated, informed, primarily non-motorised future enjoyment and appreciation of the Park, its significant natural values and beauty as well as its significant Aboriginal and European heritage values, and to adequately manage the significant pressures of being the State's most-visited Park.
5. Future fire management- to augment where appropriate regional fire-fighting equipment, protection and support, and- to introduce and trial traditional Wadandi burning to the Forest now that the fuel load has been eliminated.
6. Financial sustenance for businesses whose income will be significantly affected by the fire, including MRBTA- to provide support to tourism-related businesses/individuals who are reliant on the Forest for income, together with any wine producers who may have been affected by smoke damage.
Signatories of the plan include:
- Paula Cristoffanini, Shire President, Shire of Augusta Margaret River.
- Stuart Hicks, Chair, Margaret River Busselton Tourism Association.
- Dr Wayne Webb, Wadandi Elder, Undalup Aboriginal Association.
- Dr Ann Ward, Chair, Nature Conservation Margaret River Region.
- Greg Wall, Chair, Margaret River Wine Association.
Have your say
Do you agree with the proposed plan for the Boranup forest area? Let us know your thoughts on this or any other matters affecting the region via email to journalist@margaretrivermail.com.au
