Pictured during the photo point monitoring training are, from left, MinggaMingga Ranger Alan Palm Island Jr, Troy Mallie (Environmental Systems Solutions); and MinggaMingga Ranger Reggie Palm Island.
Indigenous Rangers’ Fighting Invasive Species Together
Building the skills of Indigenous Rangers to protect Country from invasive species was the focus of a three-day training event delivered through the Queensland Government-funded Fighting Invasive Species Together (FIST) Project.
This is one of many opportunities the project is enabling to bring together Indigenous Rangers, Traditional Owners and NQ Dry Tropics staff to strengthen skills in mapping, monitoring and data capture, while creating valuable connections to share knowledge and experiences that better enable us to fight invasive species.
Invasive species pose an increasing threat to native vegetation across the region which is why NQ Dry Tropics is helping build the capacity of Indigenous Ranger groups to deliver and monitor effective on-ground threat mitigation activities.
Participants included four North Queensland Indigenous Ranger groups working on-ground to heal Country and combat invasive species: MinggaMingga Rangers (Palm Island), Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation (Lower Burdekin), Yunbenun Land and Sea Rangers (Magnetic Island), and Gurambilbarra Rangers (Townsville).
Pictured on Yunbenun (Magnetic Island) are:
front row, from left: MinggaMingga Ranger Reggie Palm Island; Yunbenun Ranger Troy Johnson; Gurambilbarra Ranger Heath Fraser; Partnerships Coordinator Karen Vidler; Gudjuda Ranger Holly Zaro;
Back row, from left: MinggaMingga Ranger Richard Cassidy; Gudjuda CEO Eddie Smallwood; Mingga Mingga Ranger Alan Palm Island Jr; Partnerships Facilitator Rosie Kidman; Cultural Fire Project Officer Trinity Georgetown; Gudjuda Ranger Rullington Zaro; Troy Mallie (Environmental Systems Solutions); Gudjuda Ranger Jemima Sutherland; Wulgurukaba representative on the Burdekin Dry Tropics Traditional Owner Management Group, Virginia Wyles.
Eddie Smallwood (left) leads a plant ID session with fellow Gudjuda Rangers Holly Zaro, Jemima Sutherland and Rullington Zaro. Also pictured is Cultural Fire Project Officer Trinity Georgetown.
Knowledge sharing across generations.
Pictured from left: MinggaMingga Rangers Alam Palm Island Jr; and Reggie Palm Island; with Wulgurukaba Elder Virginia Wyles.
Learning on Country
The Rangers put their new knowledge into practice during field trips to Bindal Country (Alligator Creek) and Yunbenun (Magnetic Island). They developed practical skills in invasive species management, including plant identification, reading Country, fixed photo point monitoring, mapping and field data collection.
Training was complemented by walking Country yarns, where younger Rangers learnt valuable Traditional Ecological Knowledge from Elders and Knowledge Holders, including Eddie Smallwood (Bindal), Russell Butler (Banjin and Warragamay), Virginia Wyles (Wulgurukaba), and Richard Cassaidy (Manbarra).
Yunbenun Land and Sea Coordinator, Troy Johnson, hosted the group at a proposed FIST project site on the Island at West Point, where invasive species like lantana and siam weed are a major cause for concern. He highlighted the value of opportunities to bring together different Ranger groups and Traditional Owner Elders.
“Allowing time for conversations with Elders on Country is a healing process in itself,” Troy said.
“It gives younger Rangers a chance to learn about key value species, connect with Country and pick up traditional knowledge to help them assess whether an area of Country has the right ecological balance.
“We need more young Rangers coming through for social and economic growth, and when you are connected with Country, it doesn’t feel like work.”
Yunbenun Land and Sea Rangers Coordinator Troy Johnson.
Sharing Knowledge and Strengthening Capacity
According to NQ Dry Tropics Partnerships Manager Karen Vidler, bringing Rangers together to share knowledge and build practical skills creates lasting benefits for both individual programs and regional invasive species management.
“Providing relevant outcomes-focused opportunities for Rangers to learn together strengthens the region’s capacity while adding value to the individual ranger programs’ capacity to deliver invasive species management on the ground,” Karen said.
“Each group is at a different stage of development, so bringing them together for workshops like this is invaluable in terms of knowledge sharing and strengthens the collective.
“The training was jointly funded by two different Queensland Government projects, demonstrating the role that NRM regional organisations like NQ Dry Tropics can deliver in maximising Government investment towards collective on-ground outcomes,” Karen said.
Gurambilbarra Ranger Heath Fraser said the workshop highlighted the importance of learning from Elders and connecting with fellow Rangers to share knowledge and strengthen cultural and environmental outcomes.
“Mixing with other Rangers and Elders across multiple days was highly beneficial. Spending time with Elders and hearing their perspectives is so important,” Heath said.
“They pass the knowledge to us so we can pass it to future generations and keep it going, keep it strong.
“It’s also great to get together with other Rangers to share ideas and contribute to improving the health of Country,” he said.
Gudjuda Ranger Holly Zaro with NQ Dry Tropics NRM Partnerships Facilitator Rosie Kidman.
Delivering On-Ground Outcomes
Through targeted weed and feral animal control, including the use of cultural burning, the Fighting Invasive Species Together project will improve the condition of 26 hectares of native vegetation in the Lower Burdekin and Townsville Offshore sub-catchments and improve the wildfire resilience of 2000 hectares of land in the Lower Burdekin through a collaborative approach.
By integrating the science, Traditional knowledge, and local land management experience, the project will demonstrate how coordinated action across multiple land tenures can reduce invasive species impacts, improve wildfire resilience, and strengthen long-term capacity for collaborative land management across the region.
The Fighting Invasive Species Together project is funded through the Queensland Government’s Natural Resource Management Expansion Program and supported by the Regional Coordination and Evaluation project which is funded by the Queensland Government’s Natural Resources Recovery Program.
