When the Wallaga Lake Koori Village was covered in smoke on New Year's Eve as a fire drew near, Djiringanj elder Gary Campbell knew it would not reach them because he could still hear birds singing.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"A good sign fire isn't coming is if the birds stay," he said.
"The birds are the first thing that's going to take off, that's how we got taught.
"It didn't scare us, but the police and firies wanted us out of here."
While most residents evacuated he and his brother Paul remained and in the end the village did not suffer any damage, which Mr Campbell attributed to their history of traditional, or cultural, burns they conducted around its landscape.
He said through Merrimans Local Aboriginal Land Council (LALC) traditional owners had conducted cultural burns at the village for the last 30 years, most recently in 2013.
"It was natural, the kids would go down and light a fire," the Merrimans LALC board member said.
"[The last fire] didn't burn trees. It wasn't a fierce fire, it was burning slowly.
"We had a lot of embers here on New Year's Eve. But nothing burnt at the village."
When asked what was needed to bring in more cultural burning programs, he said "you gotta get it through to this government".
Last week, at a meeting discussing illegal clearing around a Bermagui lagoon Bega Valley Shire councillor Cathy Griff said council should seek resources for cultural burning programs.
Also at the meeting was Cr Jo Dodds, who was also enthusiastic about instigating cultural burning programs such as the one at Tathra that helped prevent further destruction by 2018's March bushfire in the district.
She said she had asked Bega Valley Shire Mayor Kristy McBain and general manager Leanne Barnes to seek funding from the state and federal governments for such programs "as an urgent measure", as council was unable to provide the funds itself.
"We're so under the hammer after the fires and with the coronaviurs coming, the hits on our resources are immense," Cr Dodds said.
"It needs not just local government approval, it needs a state/federal approval as has been recommended by the prime minister.
"The real shame is knowledge is lost and continues to be lost while we wait to get those successful projects back on track."
Write a letter to the editor
Albert McKnight
Journalist at Bega District News.
Journalist at Bega District News.
