Winda-Mara's Land Management Unit manages over 3000 hectares of Aboriginal-owned land spanning over 10 properties, all which are considered culturally significant to the local people and now all under the Budj Bim National Heritage Landscape.
The Unit's team of Budj Bim Rangers are responsible for all on-ground activities on all the properties, including cultural site protection, weed and pest control, facilities and asset maintenance and development, environmental works, revegetation, maintenance and construction of fences and livestock operations.
The Budj Bim Rangers are a mixture of experienced hands and young people starting to learn about Land Management through our Caring for Country and Working on Country programs.
BUDJ BIM TOURS
Budj Bim Tours has been offering authentic, guided tours through areas of the UNESCO World Heritage listed Budj Bim Cultural Landscape since 1999, the only site in Australia on this list for purely Cultural Heritage values.
Our Budj Bim Rangers operate out of our Portland depot and conduct tours at the Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Area, home to the Gilgar Gunditj.
Walk as a guest on Gunditjmara and you will experience a culture that is over 60,000 years old. You will see remnants of a settled lifestyle including circular stone dwellings and the remains of Australia's first and largest freshwater stone aquaculture system.
Experience the important history of the Gunditjmara through the eyes of one of our expert Indigenous guides.
TOUR THE TYRENDARRA INDIGENOUS PROTECTED AREA
Budj Bim Tours offer a 2 hour tour of the Tyrendarra Indigenous Protected Area on Wednesdays and Thursdays.
Note: Excludes public holidays and over the Christmas / New Year period. Tours will be cancelled on "total fire ban" days and floodings. Tickets purchased on these days will be refunded.
Visit budjbimtours.net to book or email budjbim@windamara.com
To tour other areas of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape, visit budjbim.com.au
JUNIOR RANGER PROGRAM
Our Junior Ranger Program is a successful event we run with our Community Services team during every school holiday program. Through this program we partner with our Rangers, Gunditj Mirring and Glenelg Hopkins Catchment Management Authority (GHCMA) as the children get to experience our deadly country and learn about our waterways, vegetation, and land with the help of these professional partners.
KOOREELAH REVEGETATION
In 2023 we obtained support from Greening Australia as part of the Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo Recovery Program to undertake stringybark seedling planting and direct seeding in a gully on the northern end of the property.
Our Rangers with the help of community members and Heywood Consolidated students undertook the planting of 6000 seedlings and the direct seeding of 5 hectares of steep hillsides.
It was great to see excellent survival rates of the trees planted. In the future these trees will provide a food source for these endangered birds.
The plantings were also fenced off from livestock grazing by Rangers as part of the project.
Rangers continue to improve the Kooreelah property with improved fencing and habitat protection. It was great to involve children from community in one of our planting days on the property.
BIRD SURVEYS
In partnership with Rob Farnes from the Portland Field Naturalists, the Budj Bim Rangers have assisted in undertaking bird observations over the 2023/2024 Summer, Autumn, Winter and Spring seasons at Lake Condah.
The highest count of waterbird species were recorded in November with a total of 9223, the most recorded in the thirteen years of recording and observations. Waterbirds have had a few good seasons breeding inland and have now returned to the lake in numbers. The Australian Crake has been a new species of bird recorded, and the Great Cormorants have been observed in a record number of 171.
Lake Condah again shows how important it is for waterbirds with the broken muddy shorelines and vast ribbon weed beds which produce an abundance of food.
VISIT OUR DEPOT
Budj Bim Ranger Depot
598 Henty Hwy
Portland VIC 3305
P 03 5527 0030