Awards for Birriban

Birriban Katoomba High School Landcare groups won both the Indigenous Land Management and also the junior Landcare category.

Captivating a whole new generation of young people with enthusiasm for caring for Country. BMCC Bushcare is supporting Katoomba High School Science staff to run Landcare as a Sport option. We provide a Bushcare Officer to guide students and teachers in bush regeneration methods to care for the Bushland on the school property.

Birriban is connecting people with country, learning about the Aboriginal pathways from the Gully to the Kedumba River, engaging young people through on-ground conservation work, horticulture and creative arts at the school and working with neighbours to undertake more sustainable property management.

Young people are  learning about the Indigenous history and culture associated with their local environment, and the connections between people and country. Students are being introduced to the natural environment, enjoying the outdoors environment in a non-competitive place, building teamwork skills and learning bush regeneration, horticulture and agriculture as well as Indigenous knowledge.

We now have volunteers undertaking Bushcare on all of the remnant bushland in the Banksia Streamlet sub-catchment and on all tenures. This has supported NPWS applications for ongoing funding for contracted bush regeneration on NPWS estate adjacent to several BMCC managed reserves and complimenting the BMCC Leura Falls Creek project. We are connecting people with country, learning about the Aboriginal pathways from the Gully to the Kedumba River, engaging young people through both on-ground conservation work, horticulture and creative arts at the school and educating neighbours about more sustainable property management.

A number of staff from several agencies BMCC (Bushcare and Environment), NPWS, Local Land Services and Katoomba High are involved as well as the local community and Wildplant Rescue, so it’s also a great example of interagency co-operation.