Getting back to Country

Back to Country crew – L to R – Richard, Greg, Tyson, Jack, Byron, Nathan, Sky and Joel.

Thanks to the generosity of the Capricorn Foundation, the Mulloon Institute (TMI) is planning a co-educational workshop for staff with local Indigenous organisation Back to Country (BTC).

A primary focus of this project is to facilitate a co-educational environment whereby TMI staff can share their knowledge of designing and construction of environmental protection works, while the Gurundgi can share their understanding of connection to Country. This will allow both groups to produce better environmental outcomes in landscape rehydration and restoration into the future. Works undertaken during the workshop will be made up of native vegetation planting and small-scale erosion control measures that can be easily replicated across all Australian landscapes. 

The workshop will be held on Tom and Martina’s property ‘Birkenburn’ which currently hosts Cultural Burning Workshops in partnership with the Koori Country Cultural Fire Aboriginal Corporation. The property is along Sandhills Creek, a tributary of Mulloon Creek. The environmental benefits of the works carried out during the workshop will contribute to the ongoing success of the Mulloon Rehydration Initiative.

TMI staff have expressed desire for a deeper understanding of connection to Country. It is hoped that TMI will be able to use these new perspectives of the landscape in the design and implementation of future work. Additionally, TMI has identified a need for a network of skilled practitioners in Landscape Rehydration to call upon when undertaking work around the country. Given the far reach of BTC, TMI is eager to establish a network of informed and enthusiastic practitioners made up of the Gurundgi.

TMI has worked with BTC in the past on a gully restoration working bee at Numeralla that aimed to restore habitat and bring an eroded, fire ravaged landscape back to life. It was a great community event where everyone learnt a lot from one another and the environmental yields are also already evident. Following high rainfall events, it now takes three days for the water to reach to bottom of the repaired system, a far cry from the three minutes it used to take! 

While our planning is restricted by current COVID restrictions, TMI staff are glad to have such an exciting event on the horizon to look forward to.