Two South Coast sites are among four across the state to trial a cultural burning initiative.
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The $4.5 million Transport for NSW Aboriginal Cultural Landscapes Project is a land management pilot created in response to recommendations from the NSW Bushfire Inquiry, following the Black Summer disaster.
It supports local Aboriginal communities to use traditional land management methods, including cultural burning, to reduce the risk of bushfires impacting key NSW roads.
Pilot sites are located beside the Princes Highway at Batemans Bay and Bega, in Yuin Country, along with near the Bruxner Highway northwest of Grafton on Bundjalung Country, and near the Oxley and Newell Highways at Coonabarabran on Gomeroi Country.
A joint TfNSW and La Trobe University research project will accompany the pilots and explore how traditional and cultural land and water management can be used to build resilience to natural disasters into the transport network.
The Department of Regional NSW Regional Aboriginal Partnerships Program will support Aboriginal groups within a culturally safe environment to ensure their business models can deliver landscape management services to landowners and government once the pilots conclude in mid-2025.
Regional Transport and Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison said she travelled through the South Coast following the Black Summer fires, and saw the trauma and devastation they caused.
But the new approach was "a win-win situation that could pave the way for this important work to expand after the pilot", she said.
"It will contribute to a model of closer working with Aboriginal people to build the framework for future land management partnerships with Transport for NSW, other Government agencies, and private landholders.
"This won't just help reduce the risk of catastrophic fires impacting our transport links, it will also help the Aboriginal communities strengthen their cultural connection with country," Ms Aitchison said.
Emergency Services Minister Jihad Dib said hazard reduction and mitigation played a key role in managing fire risk.
"We know from the bushfire inquiry that there are many different approaches we can take to this to prepare as much as possible for bushfires.
"This project will support Aboriginal communities to carry out and expand cultural landscape management, making our road network more resilient and promoting the use of local traditional knowledge to better prepare our landscape for natural disasters," Mr Dib said.
"Aboriginal people have been caring for country as custodians and knowledge holders for tens of thousands of years," said Aboriginal Affairs Minister David Harris.
"It makes sense for Aboriginal people to manage the landscape at these sites now and into the future.
"Through this initiative, we are closing the gap by creating jobs and empowering Aboriginal people and communities to be decision-makers," he said.
The pilot is part of the State Government's $28 million Network Resilience Program, with more details of the program available here.
