Rebirth of cultural burning in the Bega Valley | 2020 Black summer bushfires | ABC Australia

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The Bega Valley shire was one of the hardest-hit regions in last season's bushfires, with 365,000 hectares of land burned and close to 500 homes destroyed. But over recent years, the region has also been home to a resurgence of the traditional practice of cultural burning, to heal the land and promote biodiversity.

The Bega Local Aboriginal Land Council is one of the biggest private landholders in the Bega Valley, with title to 1,800 hectares of former Crown land claimed through the NSW Aboriginal Land Rights Act. Much of their land is adjacent to coastal townships, with residents increasingly nervous about the fire risk at their doorstep.

The Bega Local Aboriginal Land Council cultural burning crew's traditional burns have been proven to protect the land from bushfires. But without secure, long-term funding, the capacity to maintain and scale-up their traditional fire regime is limited.

Produced by: Vanessa Milton (ABC)

Aerial Photography by: Greg Nelson (ABC)

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