Post Bushfire Recovery Survey

Why care?

Hardenbergia comptoniana ‘Native Wisteria’

We are a community of city folk who love the bush. It’s an almost sacred attraction. We are in partnership with the land for which we are the contemporary custodians.

For tens of thousands of years, the Darkinjung people managed the land that is now Upper Yango and beyond. As the traditional custodians of the rich and fertile region, they acquired a vast knowledge of the temperate ecology, its trees, grasses, plants and animals. From observation over thousands of generations, they knew every hill and valley from ridgetop to shaded gully. They had their ceremonial sites and their favourite places to build shelters, eat, talk and sleep. The men knew where the best hunting was and the women where to harvest the forest fruits. They knew every detail and every asset in their rich forest garden. Sadly, through the impacts of white settlement, the traditional Darkinjung people and their way of life is nolonger and their  knowledge and wisdom, in our valley at least, has been lost.

Today we have a different kind of knowledge, gained through modern science. And we have remarkable technology and machinery with which to probe deep into the landscape and build a new understanding of our world. If we are to maintain the precedent set by the Darkinjung, understanding the botany in our valley is critical.

You can’t fix what you don’t know is broken

To acquire a better understanding of the botanical makeup of our valley, we were privileged to work with some highly qualified and passionate ecologists. Their contributions have helped with the process of rebuilding the knowledge for us. The surveys and experienced advice has added enormously to our understanding of the ecology of Upper Yango and will continue to guide us as we endeavour to  manage the land sustainably, for the generations to come.

Botanical Survey

To gain a better understanding of the botanical makeup of the Upper Yango Valley, the UYLA engaged Macquarie University, School of Natural Sciences to undertake an extensive survey of the plant communities in the valley. Botanist, Elisha Duxford undertook the project in 2023. Her Post Bushfire Floral Survey here.

Elisha Duxbury, School of Natural Sciences, Macquarie University

Clematis vitalba “Old Man’s Beard”

Reduce the fire risk
Understanding the fire risks in the forest and knowing what to burn and what not to for a healthy ecology.

Leptospermum polygalifolium “Common tea tree”