Tribal elder and Yugul Mangi Ranger Winston Thompson knows that when the dragonflies come, so too will the cold.

He knows that when the grass turns brown, the dikdik — Leichardt's grasshoppers — are on their way.

And in April, after the rains have stopped, burning can begin again.

"Indigenous people around the world use the phrase: 'You look after Mother Nature, and Mother Nature will look after you'," Mr Thompson said.

"It means to look after the country, and the country will provide you with bushfood, air that we breathe, water that we drink, and using traditional way of not over-collecting the plants and animals that we use as food source."

Mr Thomson and the Yugul Mangi Rangers of southeast Arnhem Land carry an ancient oral tradition of looking after country, but now they're joining forces with non-Indigenous scientists to put their knowledge down in ink.

They've recently produced a calendar detailing their profound knowledge of the seasons, and when and how to burn to best manage the land and avoid wildfires.

Burning the right way

Knowledge of the seasons helps rangers decide when it's time to burn. ( Supplied: Michelle McKemey/Yugul Mangi Rangers )

Every year, the rangers use traditional burning in the South-East Arnhem Land Indigenous Protected Area (SEAL IPA) to prevent huge wildfires from ravaging the landscape, and to open up habitat for easier hunting.

It starts off with patch burning, which involves finding small areas of savannah grass to burn.

"The traditional way of using burning is with wind, mainly. Lots of wind," Mr Thompson said.

"It only goes up until the afternoon when the wind drops, and then the fog comes overnight and puts it out."

The right conditions for this are from April through to July. Burning outside of that window runs the risk of starting a wildfire.

Soon after a traditional burn, new shoots will spring up from the ground attracting wallabies and kangaroos, which are an easier target for hunters after the understorey is cleared.

There are seven tribes in the Yugul Mangi Ranger group, and who lights which fire is an important part of traditional burning.

"Among us we will choose the right people to light the fire for that area, and that's to prevent disputes from other groups," Mr Thompson said.

"That shows the right way of culturally connected burning on country, which means we're not breaking our cultural practices."

'A fire calendar like this has never been done'

The calendar details the animals and foods that can be found during the changing seasons. ( Supplied: Michelle McKemey/Yugual Mangi Rangers )

Now the Yugul Mangi Rangers' knowledge of the land and how it changes has been put into a seasonal calendar with the help of Michelle McKemey, a PhD student at the University of New England.

Shortly after the SEAL IPA was declared in 2016, Mrs McKemey visited the rangers and interviewed them and the traditional owners about how they use traditional burning, and what seasonal changes they look for.

"We talked about bio-cultural indicators — so when the seasons are changing, what things they notice in the environment that are important," Mrs McKemey said.

"All these little things that they notice in the environment that might not be directly related to fire management, but indicate that it's either a good time or bad time to start lighting fires."

Travelling on country to take photos of the important animals and plants for the calendar, Mrs McKemey collated all the stories and information shared with her by the Yugul Mangi Rangers and the traditional owners.

"We can bring in some of the Western science when we talk about all the different plants and animals that are there and provide that scientific knowledge for fire management as well," she said.

The calendar "Yugul Mangi Faiya En Sisen Kelenda" contains seven Indigenous languages from the different tribes in the SEAL IPA, as well as Kriol and English.

A fire calendar like this has never been done before, according to Mr Thompson.

"It tells us what sort of animals are available in that season," he said.

"It tells us this is the time for fruits and berries, and then this is the time for waterlilies to come back after the rain."

The Yugul Mangi Rangers are just some of the traditional owners combining their knowledge with Western science to get the best outcome for country, as presented at the Ecological Society of Australia conference in Launceston this week.

The Banbai Rangers of the New England have also worked with Mrs McKemey to revive their understanding of cultural burning.

And Mrs McKemey believes there should be more alliances between modern fire management and traditional burning practices.

Passing on knowledge to the next generation

The waterlilies come into bloom after the rain. ( Supplied: Shaina Russell )

As well as environmental benefits, traditional burning that the Yugul Mangi Rangers do in the SEAL IPA helps to pass on culture, Mr Thompson said.

"Our younger ones are starting to realise it's going to be their turn when they gonna become caretakers for their country," he said.

"We're passing that knowledge to them as well."

Yugul Mangi Ranger Jana Daniels is one of several younger women in the group.

"I love being a ranger, caring for our country," she said.

Traditional burning in the IPA is also done to protect rock art, Ms Daniels said.

"We do early burning around the rock art areas, so the wildfire doesn't come through and destroy the paintings on the rock."

Loading...