Cultural Burning and Knowledge Sharing at Yambulla Grain Fields

CoDesign + Sheldon is proud to support the work of land regeneration project Yambulla and their development of a program that pairs Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to walk together, and share old and new ideas. Their ambition is to collaboratively find pathways to make this Country the best it can be.

In 2023, we sponsored Yuin man Nathan Lygon to walk with Yambulla’s ranger Louis Convery, burning the Yambulla grain fields in a collaborative effort to care for the land. The weather was perfect and Louis and Nathan worked at it for six days, starting in the afternoon and continuing into the night. They burnt five hectares of land, sharing knowledge and skills in the process.

Cultural burning is an ancient tradition of land management that is used to manage bushfires, encourage new growth and native species. The burning at Yambulla aimed to replicate the conditions of the 2020 Black Summer bushfires - a terrifying event for many, which led to the rejuvenation of Yambulla’s native grasslands, and the harvesting of native grains.

This type of burning hadn’t been undertaken here for over 100 years. A lot was learnt in the process, enabling the team at Yambulla and Nathan to develop new techniques and principles that will be beneficial for many years to come. By the end of the six days Louis and Nathan had developed confidence and learnt to understand the nuances of burning at Yambulla.

Currently, Yambulla are working to combine Indigenous and non-Indigenous perspectives to build land regeneration skills such as invasive species control and landscape rehydration.

We’re honoured to be participating in Yambulla’s journey, and look forward to continue to support and follow their journey.

Cultural burning at Yambulla grain fields