The Challenge

The Noongar peoples had been custodians of Country in south-west Western Australia for tens of thousands of years prior to the arrival of European settlers. Their ancient sovereignty and ancestral ties to the land were subsequently not acknowledged, understood or respected.

Past policies, including land management practices of widespread land clearing, have radically altered the environmental and cultural landscape over generations and impacted on Noongar communities’ ability to live and work on Country. This dispossession and disconnection from Country directly impacted and continues to impact the health, wellbeing and culture of Noongar peoples.

The health and wellbeing of the remaining habitat in South-west Western Australia is also under threat, particularly in our changing climate. Greening Australia aims to tackle these challenges by restoring hundreds of thousands of hectares of habitat and sequestering tonnes of carbon. One major challenge we face in restoring landscapes at such a scale is having enough quality, biodiverse seed.

The Solution

By partnering with Noongar communities on seed collection, we can learn from each other to combine age-old cultural knowledge and expertise with our own landscape restoration methods. Together we can take practical steps to heal and manage the land, help it adapt to the changing climate, and create employment and economic opportunities from working on Country.

Becoming a competent seed collector can take many years. This project transfers best-practice, sustainable seed collection skills and knowledge to Noongar Ranger teams through an intensive training program and paid employment under the tutelage of highly experienced Greening Australia mentors.

Five Noongar Ranger groups are engaged in seed collection capacity building and are set to complete training by the end of 2020:

• Ngoolark Rangers, supported by Badgebup Aboriginal Corporation (read The seeds of growth blog)
• Tjaltjraak Rangers, supported by Esperance Native Title Aboriginal Corporation
• Tambellup Aboriginal Corporation Rangers, supported by Impact Services
• Noongar Boodja Rangers (Northam), supported by Wheatbelt NRM
• Nowanup Rangers, supported by Gondwana Link PTY Ltd

The training program provides competencies relevant to AQF Certificate II in Conservation and Land Management and identifies botanical and Noongar names of plants and the collecting of rare seeds for restoration projects.