Forestry Corporation of NSW, Media Release, 22 October 2025
Aboriginal communities across NSW are working with Forestry Corporation to integrate cultural burning into government bushfire management frameworks.
These local partnerships, under the Federal Government-funded program Fire, Country and People, aim to strengthen community resilience to major bushfire events and improve land management practices across traditional Aboriginal lands.
As part of this initiative, members of the Western Bundjalung, Yaegl, Gumbaynggirr, Bunyah and Birpai communities have attended fire training sessions at Jubullum, Grafton and Port Macquarie over the past year.
This has occurred under partnerships with the Western Bundjalung community’s Ngullingah Jugun Aboriginal Corporation, the Yaegl Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, Coffs Harbour Aboriginal Land Council, the Birpai Local Aboriginal Land Council and the Bunyah Local Aboriginal Land Council.
The Fire, Country and People project is a three-year $3-million program funded by the Australian Government and jointly supported by Forestry Corporation.
Delivered by fire training specialists Fireground, the training has provided accredited firefighting qualifications to members of the Northern Rivers, Clarence Valley, Coffs Harbour and Port Macquarie/Hastings Aboriginal communities.
The program equips participants with essential firefighting skills and fosters collaboration between Aboriginal communities and government agencies, combining traditional cultural burning methods with modern firefighting techniques.
The Fire, Country and People project will include a research component to build a scientific evidence base around cultural burning, investigating its impact on bushfire intensity and spread. This approach supports the integration of Indigenous knowledge into broader fire management frameworks, contributing to sustainable and culturally informed land stewardship.
Forestry Corporation’s Aboriginal Heritage and Partnerships Manager John Shipp.
“This program creates an opportunity for the Yaegl and Gumbaynggirr communities to work with government agencies to develop a path forward for effective and sustainable bushfire management, combining traditional cultural burning with modern firefighting techniques,” Mr Shipp said.
“This will improve the resilience of the community to major bushfires. The use of fire in the environment is only one aspect of the community’s land management experience, which has existed for more than sixty thousand years and importantly this program equips participants with essential firefighting skills and qualifications for future careers in firefighting,” he said.
Yaegl Wadyarr Gargle Land & Sea Contractors Business Manager Grant Brown.
“Having 20 members of our community trained as accredited firefighters on Forestry Corporation appliances and equipment also provides an extra level of bushfire protection,” Mr Brown said.
“We have 82 threatened floral and fauna species on Yaegl land and fire management is key to their protection by preventing wildfires, regenerating our native species, and ensuring the forests germinate to their full potential by reducing weed growth,” he said.
Fire, Country and People will also help to build the scientific evidence base behind cultural burning with a research program to investigate the effects of traditional Aboriginal fire practices on the intensity and extent of bushfires.
The $3-million Fire, Country and People: Aboriginal Community Disaster Ready Project has received funding from the Australian Government and is jointly funded by Forestry Corporation.
