WWF and Nyirripi people, protecting NT's threatened species
WWF has been working with local Aboriginal people from the Tanami Desert to protect threatened desert animals through burning practices and hunting.
Greater bilby
© WWF-Canon/Martin HARVEY
A recently completed Threatened Species Network (TSN) Grant project involving Aboriginal people from Nyirripi community in the Tanami Desert has provided evidence of the benefit of patch burning practices for a range of threatened desert animals.
Collaborative survey work between Tangentyere Council and Nyirripi residents have shown a prevalence of walpijiri (bilbies), warrarna (great desert skink) and jajina (mulgara) closer to community living areas than in more remote areas, suggesting the importance of traditional hunting practices in maintaining healthy populations of these species.
Nyirripi residents still actively hunt cats and goannas and harvest other bush foods on their country, and fire is regularly used during these hunting trips. The majority of fires are lit in cool weather and burning is done leaving patchy pockets of unburnt spinifex amongst the burnt vegetation.
In the course of the project, fire history mapping (analysing 30 years of satellite imagery) revealed fine-scale patchiness in the fire scars in the area, with most burns less than one kilometre in width. Bilbies, although still present around Nyirripi, now no longer occur further south or east of the community, and mulgara populations were shown to be more abundant within a 20 km radius of the community than further west.
"The regular burning ensures there is always plenty of food available for bilbies" says Colleen O'Malley, TSN Coordinator for the Northern Territory, Arid Rangelands.
"Beyond the hunting zone around Nyirripi, vast areas of spinifex remain unburnt for long periods until ignited by a lightning strike. This is more likely to occur in the summer months and results in large hot fires, leaving animals very vulnerable to predation".
"Results from tracking surveys suggest that cat populations are more than 20 per cent lower inside the hunting zone than beyond the 20-kilometer radius around the community through cat hunting by Nyirripi residents. This would also contribute to the survival of threatened species in the area" she said.
WWF has supported more than 270 community projects across Australia helping to protect threatened species through the TSN. The 2005 TSN Community Grants were announced on the 7th September, National Threatened Species Day.
