03/03/2008

The Spectacles Yargan Tours Celebrate Fire

Season 2 recommences April/May 2008 with the Kaala Boodja Tours

The Spectacles Yargan Tours will now start in April/May, two months later than originally planned, due to fires burning out some of the area last month. The Sunset Tours have been postponed until 2009. When the tours resume our guides will share their wealth of knowledge about the use of fire in aboriginal culture and the way fire has impacted on the land. Trevor Walley, local Elder and tour guide said that the Spectacles fire offers the opportunity to show the positive effects of fire.

“The Spectacles Wetlands is a special place for Aboriginal people and like all of Australia, is an Aboriginal artefact. For thousands of years the land has been shaped by controlled burning that provides regeneration of plants and fresh food for animals. Visitors to the tours will be given a unique view of land recovering from fire and will learn about the Nyoongar season - Birak – the December January period, which is the traditional time for burning.
When we were changing from birds to humans the world was getting colder we needed fire for warmth and to cook our food. The gods would not give us fire so we stole it from the moon. Fire became our soul mate and a tool for the changing environment.”
Over the next 2 months Alcoa and the Department of Environment and Conservation (DEC), co-managers of the Spectacles area, will work to repair the boardwalk and secure pathways for the tours. Although much of the surrounding area was burnt, miraculously the amphitheatre, paperbark mia mia and surrounding lake area were untouched by the fire.
The Spectacle Yargan Tours are a collaboration between the Town of Kwinana, Alcoa
Foundation, DEC, Medina Aboriginal Cultural Community, Challenger Tafe and and WAITOC and aim to promote the natural heritage and beauty of this unique paperbark wetland.