Jawajawa Rangers restore ‘the Drum’ bora ground site
Aims and activities
The Drum is a bora ground on Dulabed and Malanbarra Yidinji country, south of Cairns. Surrounded by rainforest, the site is well known for the 'drum-like’ sound made when stomping on patches of flat rock. Recently the area has become infested by lantana and herbaceous weeds that are smothering native flora.
Jawajawa Rangers undertook a project to restore the cultural site to its original condition. Rangers cut, sprayed and burnt the weeds, using all three techniques to prevent regrowth. They set up photo monitoring plots and used camera traps to monitor fauna in the area.
The rangers identified and researched the weeds present, tailored their control methods according to the weed lifecycles (aiming to exhaust seed banks), trialled different techniques and monitored the results.
This project will require many years of work, but restoration of the bora ground will be a great achievement for the rangers and will instil pride within the community for returning Country to way the Old People managed it. The project provides opportunities for casual employment and knowledge-sharing with young people.
Outcomes
A key outcome of the project to date has been skills development within the ranger team. Jawajawa Rangers managed the project, and gained valuable practical experience in weed management techniques (cutting, spraying and control). With up to seven casual rangers in the team, the Jawajawa Rangers also developed their leadership skills, training the casual rangers in basic field skills (GPS, radio and machete use).
Another outcome of this project was the development of the Bora Ground Weed document. After the wet season, the intense growth and diversity of herbaceous weeds in place of lantana made the previous year’s efforts to suppress herbaceous weeds seem futile. The rangers realised a strategic approach was required, so one of the rangers undertook the job of researching and identifying the many plant species present, which included some natives (one relatively rare, the other used for Cultural fishing practices) to create the useful Weed document.
An unexpected outcome was the popularity of social media posts about the project at The Drum. Camera traps placed on the edge of the cultural site captured a family of dingoes, and the resulting social post reached over 14,000 people and was shared by international wildlife groups.
Learnings and next steps
Rangers learnt that strategy is key to successful weed control programs. They learnt about the resources available to determine the strengths and weaknesses of weeds and how to use this information in a weed control strategy. Jawajawa Rangers also learnt what the team can achieve, and the pride that comes with the chance to own and manage a project from start to end.