On a clear day on Cape Barren Island, Truwana Rangers check the moisture levels in the ground and wind speeds before carefully lighting sections of a scrubby patch of land beside a hill overlooking the coast of their island home.

The rangers and TFS members traded knowledge on fire behaviour and 'cool burn' techniques. ( ABC News: Natalie Whiting )

"We've gone up to the Top End and learnt from the traditional burners up there how to 'cool burn' properly so we can regenerate our land," said Truwana (the Aboriginal name for Cape Barren Island) ranger Terry Maynard.

A series of small flames in the undergrowth mark the return of practice used tens of thousands of years ago.

Alongside the Truwana Rangers are two members of the Tasmania Fire Service (TFS) who have flown to the island to take part in the burn.

In the past 10 years bushfires have burnt huge sections of the island which sits just south of Flinders Island off Tasmania's north-eastern tip.

"The fires that we've had here in the past have been quite destructive because the vegetation has been able to build up over a period of time," Paul Catrell from the TFS said.

Truwana Ranger Terry Maynard says helping the land to heal made him feel 'ten-foot tall'. ( ABC News: Natalie Whiting )

'Cool burn' helps land regenerate

The mosaic patchwork-style cultural burning will help protect the island as summer approaches by acting as a fire break.

The TFS has been teaching the rangers about fire behaviour and the rangers have in turn been teaching the TFS the "cool burn" technique.

"You can go back in history and you can see that by doing this sort of practice that it stops those intensely devastating fires from occurring," Mr Catrell said.

"They know the weather patterns, they know the country, they know the fuel types, they know what they want to protect."

A "cool burn" fire is designed to move quickly through the undergrowth without damaging plant roots or the earth, so it also helps native plants regenerate.

"Instead of letting the hot fires go through, we've got to try to heal our land with cool burns so we can get our land back to how it was," Mr Maynard explained.

The 'cool burn' fires are not destructive to the vegetation like regular bushfires on the island. ( ABC News: Natalie Whiting )

Rangers to be first responders to island fires

Recent scientific testing on the neighbouring Clarke Island suggested Aboriginal fire management had been used 40,000 years ago.

Similar testing will also be conducted on Cape Barren later this year.

The cultural burning is part of a broader project between the TFS and the Cape Barren community combining traditional knowledge and modern firefighting.

The rangers recently travelled to Launceston to take part in remote-area firefighting training with the TFS.

The course covered skills from alighting from a hovering helicopter to first aid.

The Truwana Rangers are being trained up to be the first responders to island fires. ( ABC News: Natalie Whiting )

The TFS hopes the rangers can become first responders to fires not only on Cape Barren but also on surrounding islands in the region.

Clynt Allen from the TFS was impressed with how the rangers performed.

"They did an awesome job," he said.

"So we know they've upskilled and they're quite capable and we can utilise them as a valuable resource."

Fighting fires on the remote islands is incredibly expensive, so having the rangers on site could be a big cost-saver for the TFS.

And the Truwana Rangers are excited by the idea.

"Yeah it's good, especially here for the islands," ranger Bill Maher said.

"If there's a little fire somewhere we can just help out and hopefully manage it before it gets bigger."

Cape Barren Island was handed back to the Indigenous community in 2005. ( ABC News: Natalie Whiting )

'Empowering' feeling to restore the land

It has been 12 years since the State Government handed back Cape Barren Island to the Aboriginal community and now around 60 people live in the community.

Fiona Maher, co-ordinator of the Truwana Rangers, said it was an incredible feeling to be managing the island.

"It's very empowering," she said.

"To bring those knowledges back and with them also comes stories — it sort of opens it up to the other older people in our community."

Mr Maynard said caring for the land and bringing back the burning made him feel "10-foot tall".

"It's really important now that we've had the land handed back to show people off the island how we can look after our land and that we want to," he said.