Cultural burning is a deeply sophisticated Cultural practice that is performed by Traditional Owners for a whole series of reasons:

• One of the net impacts of Cultural burning is to reduce landscape fuel loads and to promote native bush foods and grasses.
• Australian ecosystems rely on Cultural burning and Traditional knowledge.
• Our fear of fire has come from detaching ourselves from the landscape. We need to reconnect to Country.
• Aboriginal/First Nations people have a Cultural obligation to care for Country.
• Coming to know and understand Cultural fire requires guidance by Elders and Indigenous fire knowledge holders through various stages of Cultural learning on Country.
• Traditional Ecological Knowledge helps to ensure fire management is applied in the right place, at the right time and for the right reasons to support resilient functioning ecosystems and maintain biodiversity.

The devastation caused by the 2019-2020 bushfires is a reminder of the importance of Cultural burning as part of looking after the Australian landscape.

Local Land Services Cultural burning program is important for local communities and the natural environment for the following reasons:

• Reviving ancient practices and knowledge systems.
• Connecting communities back to Country and restoring their Cultural identity.
• Providing critical training and capacity building opportunities for Aboriginal communities in the Hunter region.
• Fire practitioners are now involved in high level conversations and planning around various threatened species and Threatened Ecological Communities.
• Cultural burning will be implemented in threatened species habitat throughout the Hunter region in partnership with Local Land Services, Firesticks, National Parks and Wildlife Services, Council, DPE Water, Local Aboriginal Land Councils/Traditional Owner organisations and community.

Local Land Services has demonstrated how government agencies can support Aboriginal communities and invest in Indigenous-led programs and projects.