Reconnecting to Country
4-5 March Final Celebrations
We would like to invite you to our final Reconnecting to Country celebrations! The funding from the NSW Environment Trust has now been largely spent by local groups of people in on-the-ground projects across our Wilsons River catchment.
Come along with other members of your community on the Reconnecting to Country 'Grand Tour'. Events are occurring at all five Reconnecting to Country sites across these two days. Why not visit all the Reconnecting to Country sites in our catchment? Or alternatively just visit the sites that are close to where you live or work.....
A map of all our project sites can be viewed here.
Reconnecting to Country - 'GRAND TOUR' PROGRAM
You are invited.......
UPPER CATCHMENT TOUR - Friday 4th March
10.30am
Riparian Rainforest Regeneration Site Visit in Wilsons Creek
Visit Wilsons Creek with Landcare and Madhima Gulgan to have a look at their rainforest regeneration project, right in the heart of Wilsons Creek. Relax, have a chat & enjoy a cup of tea at the hall.
12.30pm
Lunch & Wetland Site Walk & Talk in Bangalow
Relax and enjoy lunch on the verandah of the Bangalow Historical Tearooms with members of the Bangalow working group and special guests. Listen to a brief talk on the history of the Bangalow pool. Have a look inside the Historical Society. Come on a short walk and talk around the proposed wetland site with working group members and Aboriginal people.
6pm
Slaters Creek Site Visit and Campfire with 'Pot Luck' Dinner (Invitation only - Banyam/Baigham Landcare and Reconnecting to Country working group members welcome)
Sit and have a yarn around the campfire or enjoy a short walk around the Slaters Creek project site as members of the Banyam/Baigham Landcare group show the on-the-ground work that has begun and talk about plans for the future. Bring a plate to share and a chair.
LOWER CATCHMENT TOUR - Saturday 5th March
9am
'Riding Round the Ridges' 20km and 10km Bike Tour or Bus Tour
Meeting in Dunnon at 9am the 20km bike tour will depart at 9.30am and go through shady forest to Rosebank for morning tea at the reserve. Less experienced cyclists and children will meet at 10.30am in Rosebank and continue on riding down the ridge to Corndale. For those not able to cycle, why don't you join us on the free 'bus tour' beginning in Dunoon and returning you later in the day to pick up vehicles. Registrations: emstone74@yahoo.com.au
11am
Riparian Regeneration Site Visit in Corndale
Visit ‘Havillah Place’ to see the riparian regeneration project and meet the long time local Havillah family.
12.30pm
Lunch & the formal 'whole-of-project Final Celebrations' at Corndale Hall
Welcome the cyclists as they complete the bike tour, enjoy lunch, have a chat with working group members, displays and talks about each local project, publication launch, children's activities, presentations and relax and celebrate the achievements of the project.
Please RSVP to shannonbg@sustainablefutures.com.au by the 1st March for the events you will join. Places are limited.
Photos at recent Reconnecting to Country open days: (Captions Below)
Photo 1: Coopers Creek Landcare Inc members and friends planting trees at an open day at Havillah Place.
Photo 2: Members of the Deadly Dancers perform at the Banyam/Baigham Family Day in North Lismore.
Photo 3: The Banyam/Baigham Landcare Group and the local community planting the first trees as part of the regeneration of Slaters Creek.
Photo 4: Widjabul artist Sheldon Harrington with Aunties Irene Harrington & June Gordon present Sheldon's wetland painting to David Pont of the Bangalow Reconnecting to Country working group.
Photo 5: The composting toilet at the Rosebank Recreation Reserve was officially opened for business at the recent open day.
Photo 6: Aunty June Gordon ( a Widjabul elder of the Bundjalung Nation) and Dennis Mattews (Dorrobbee Grass Reserve Trust) open one of the beautiful interpretative signs at Dorrobbee Grass.
Photo 7: Widjabul artist Sheldon Harrington painting with younger kids at Wilsons Creek Public School.
Photo 8: Students at Wilsons Creek Public School planting a bush tucker garden with Gaven from Madhima Gulgan Aboriginal Bush Regeneration Team.
Community Projects
Working groups of community volunteers from four areas in the Wilsons River catchment area have been working together since November 2008 on their local Reconnecting to Country projects. These projects are now in the final ’on the ground’ phase which includes the community events and open days listed above. If you would like to get even more involved in the project, here’s what you can do: get together with your local community and plant trees, help organise and publicise an open day, document the history of your local area, share your story and hear others’ stories, join one of the newly formed Landcare groups, help to develop cultural and educational interpretive material, get involved in a workshop, and meet the people who have been involved with the project from the start, including local Aboriginal custodians. If you would like to join your local working group, please email Emily on emilyc@sustainablefutures.com.au and she will put you in contact with them.
Bangalow Wetland
The aim of the project is to turn the dry riverbed adjacent to Bangalow Pool into a constructed wetland with natural values. Stormwater entering the wetland will be naturally filtered of nutrients, as will water overflowing from the weir, resulting in improved biodiversity and downstream water quality. Walking tracks through the wetland with interpretative signage will encourage passive recreational use of the wetland and provide opportunities for relaxation, education and bird watching.
Slaters Creek Revegetation (North Lismore)
The aim of the project is to revegetate a section of Slaters Creek, a small urban tributary of the Wilsons River in North Lismore. The project will see the creation of a wetland and a bush-tucker garden; provide passive recreation opportunities for the public through a walking/cycle track and interpretative signage; create employment for Aboriginal contractors; share the cultural history of the area and involve the community in events at the site.
Coopers Creek Sub-Catchment
This project aims to inform the public about the cultural and ecological significance of the area. This will be facilitated by encouraging access and recreational use of sites within the sub-catchment including Dorrobee Grass and Rosebank Recreation Reserve and through the production and distribution of a publication created by the community.
Wilsons Creek Project
This project aims to provide a focal point in the centre of Wilsons Creek where the local community, including kids, parents and teachers from the primary school can connect to country through being involved in bush regeneration activities and cross–cultural relationship building along the creek bank. Bush-tucker plantings and interpretive signage at the primary school are also part of the project and an Aboriginal bush regeneration team will be employed.
If would like to find out more about the Reconnecting to Country project as a whole, just read on or use any of the following links to skip to the relevant information:
Introduction
Vision and Objectives
Community Involvement
Would you like to get involved?
Upcoming Events
Introduction
Reconnecting to Country is a cutting-edge catchment management project, for which Rous Water has received funding from The NSW Environmental Trust. The project will take place over three years and will focus on working with local communities in the Wilsons River catchment area to develop environmental improvement projects in association with Widjabul traditional custodians.
Land and water restoration projects will be focused in several geographical locations throughout the Wilsons River catchment so that local communities can focus on places that are significant to them.
Reconnecting to Country is a 'partnership project' with local partners being Rous Water, the Widjabul traditional custodians and Sustainable Futures Australia. A 'sister' project at The Gully in Katoomba brings project partners Blue Mountains City Council and The Gully Traditional Owners to share skills and experience in a similar project which is running in parallel.
Vision and Objectives
Our vision for Reconnecting to Country is:
- To cultivate a new culture of sustainable catchment management through community engagement in on-the-ground action and cultural exchange with Aboriginal custodians.
Our objectives are to:
- Improve catchment health
- Build a culture of sustainability
- Develop creative partnerships
- Build capacity to employ Aboriginal people in sustainability education and action
- Cultivate 'sense of place' and reconciliation through action and culture.
Community Involvement
The success of this project depends upon the extent that our local community gets involved. This Reconnecting to Country project provides an exciting opportunity for many different people and organisations in the Wilsons River to collaborate on practical projects which restore the catchment and promote reconciliation.
So far, different groups who have been involved in the project include:
- Local community members and riparian landholders
- Local Landcare groups
- Wilsons River Catchment Working Group
- Environmental and interpretive/educational professionals
- Rous Water staff, executives and Councillors
- Widjabul and other Aboriginal people in the Wilsons River catchment
Read on to find out how people have been involved over the history of the project.
Detailed Design Process
Between April and June 2009, the four Reconnecting to Country local working groups hosted a series of community workshops. The local working groups were formed following a series of community workshops in November 2008, where participants identified the natural and cultural values of areas in the Wilsons River catchment. The local working groups met regularly to develop their project plans. At these workshops, these local community projects sought support from other community members and the Reconnecting to Country Steering Committee (made up of project partners Rous Water, Sustainable Futures Australia and Widjabul custodians) for their project proposals. Specifically, the groups presented their plans for the project, invited community feedback on the plans and invited people to form a project team of local residents who are interested in getting involved in the project on the ground. Each group potentially had access to $45,000 funding from the NSW Environmental Trust.
Following feedback from the local community and the Reconnecting to Country Steering Committee between June and September 2009, the local working groups then worked on the Detailed Design phase where detailed site–specific plans for the environmental and cultural regeneration projects in the Wilsons River catchment were developed. These detailed designs were then presented to the Steering Committee in early December 2009, and are available for viewing upon request. All detailed designs have been successful and can begin on-the-ground implementation early in 2010.
Issues considered during the detailed design phase involved a wide range of tasks and included:
- Assisting with administration of the project including management of financial and insurance issues and coordination of contractors and volunteers.
- Liaison with local government and other organisations to obtain the necessary approvals.
- Connecting with other community groups about increasing public access to natural places for local people.
- Private landholder & neighbour liaison (enthusing, involving, addressing concerns, writing letter of agreement).
- Drawing up detailed plans and writing up associated descriptions for the project.
- Organising materials (determining quantities of materials required, researching costs, etc).
- Initial design of educational/interpretive materials (eg., signage, booklets, fliers)
- Participating in the cross–cultural experience and liaison process.
Many members of the local community were involved in this phase of the project and should be congratulated on their work!
“Congratulations on your project's approval! Thankyou for the work you have done over the past months to prepare for the 'on-the-ground' phase of the project in 2010. Your plans, designs, negotiations, applications and intentions have cleared the way for effective and innovative projects that will care for the catchment, our community and culture. Thankyou for 'holding the vision' of your local project and the larger vision of Reconnecting to Country.” (E Bragg, RtC Steering Committee, 17 Dec 2009)
Would you like to get involved?
If you would like to participate in Reconnecting to Country, please download this sign-up sheet (.PDF 1.1Mb), fill out the details and fax or mail it to Sustainable Futures Australia.
Project History and Upcoming Events
The timeline for Reconnecting to Country is:
- November 2008 - Series of Community Workshops in different Wilsons River sub-catchments. These workshops introduced the project, the Widjabul custodians and ways of working together; workshopped the natural and cultural values held by the local community in the area; identified sustainability issues important to that community; brainstormed ideas for local projects (including projects already underway); and formed local 'working groups' of local residents to further develop project ideas.
- December 2008 to April 2009 - Local Working Group Meetings in each sub-catchment developed project ideas, and got creative and practical together.
- April to June 2009 - Second series of Community Workshops for the Working Group which announced and presented ideas for local projects; presented other sub-catchment project ideas; and formed a 'detailed design teams' of local residents interested in implementing the project 'on-the ground'.
- June to December 2009 - Detailed design teams completed concept designs and project plans for on-the-ground projects; sought approvals from necessary authorities; engaged specialist environmental consultants to assist with projects; participated in cross-cultural training.
- December 2009 to January 2011 - On-the-ground environmental restoration and cultural education by local community project teams, environmental consultants and Widjabul custodians.
- March 2011 - Final celebrations of projects and open day events.
For more Information
If you live in the Wilsons River catchment, look out for posters at your local shop, library, church or hall which will advertise upcoming local Reconnecting to Country events. Your local newspapers, newsletters and journals will also be covering the project, so stay tuned.
This website will also be updated on a regular basis.
For further information, please call Shannon Baunach–Greenfields or Emily Coleing at Sustainable Futures Australia on 02 6685 7198.