
Brophy Family and Youth Services
Education
A collaborative response to youth disengagement in regional Victoria
ProjectFire in the Belly: grassy ecosystem restoration through the cultivation of Aboriginal food and fibre plants
Amount$197,668 over three years
Date2020
ProgramPast Programs | Environment
TRUST OBJECTIVES | PROJECT OBJECTIVES |
---|---|
Rural and regional Victoria | Strengthening the capacity of Victorian land managers and Traditional Owners to restore threatened grassy ecosystems by cultivating culturally-significant Aboriginal food and fibre plants. |
Reducing inequality | Extending opportunities for Aboriginal people to return to country, promote traditional knowledge and build capacity for their future economic opportunities |
Enabling financial sustainability | Building capacity in Aboriginal food and fibre plant cultivation and grassy ecosystem restoration, and providing new economic opportunities. |
Building organisational capacity | Strengthening relationships between community groups and Traditional Owners and creating a knowledge bank to inform future restoration and conservation activities. |
Collaboration and partnership | Centre for the Study of the Inland and Centre for Future Landscapes, both at La Trobe University; Biolinks Alliance; Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation (DDWCAC); Black Duck Foods (Bruce Pascoe). |
Bringing together Aboriginal, historical and ecological knowledge
Drawing on La Trobe’s extensive experience in fire research for ecological outcomes, and expertise in Victorian grassy ecosystems, this project aims to generate knowledge and solutions that address the global challenge of sustaining and restoring natural ecosystems in modified landscapes, and will empower people and communities to create more sustainable landscapes.
Image Yam Daisy. Photo: Aunty Marilyne Nicholls
Fire in the Belly is furthering the work of Bruce Pascoe (author of Dark Emu) with a multi-disciplinary approach that brings together existing anthropological, historical, ecological, horticultural and Aboriginal knowledge about Aboriginal plant foods used in South Eastern Australia. By examining the influence of traditional Aboriginal land management, including fire, on the production of culturally-significant food and fibre plants, a bank of information on local food crops and traditional farming techniques will be developed.
Snapshot:
“It’s time to have women back on Country, caring for traditional food plants and sharing their knowledge.” Aunty Marilyne Nicholls, Dja Dja Wurrung Elder
Education
A collaborative response to youth disengagement in regional Victoria
Community
Supporting the long term recovery of bushfire affected communities in Rural and Regional Victoria
Past Programs | Arts and Culture
Enabling artists to rebuild after natural disaster
Past Programs | Environment
Protecting endangered species and habitats across South Gippsland
Past Programs | Health
Building organisational capacity to enable sustainable growth
Our grants matrix is a graphical representation of our matched objectives. Each column of circles represents one of the funding criteria, and the colour coded central row represents the program that funding was received in.
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