caring for Country
When you are anywhere in Lutruwita you are on Palawa Country, and most of you are visitors to these significant and sacred cultural lands and places. Our community has a profound and enduring connection to the sea, skies, lands and waterways of Lutruwita. They are a living, breathing part of our story, our Law and our identity. Country is us and we are Country.
Palawa people, like all other Aboriginal and First Nations peoples globally, are the creators and holders of genius sustainability knowledge systems. For us, terms like sustainability, eco-friendly and positive impact mean something different. Our cultural knowledge, values and management of Country have sustained All-life here since the first sunrise. Capitalism brought extraction, extinction and greenwashing.
As mob we don’t really need to say something is wild caught, seasonally harvested, ethically sourced, organically grown, handmade or sustainably produced as treating our Country and kin with care and respect is the default for us, not the exception.
We keep our unique coastal landscape healthy by incorporating Palawa land management values into reading Country, walking designated tracks, maintaining tracks/weeding near camp, harvesting bushfoods, collecting rubbish/waste disposal and mitigating spread of Phytophthora (introduced pathogen attacking roots of susceptible plants, causing dieback. Before leaving Launceston, everyone’s footwear is cleaned with methylated spirits solution).
Due to the impacts of colonisation on our Old People, caring for all of our Land and Sea Country is the responsibility of today’s Tasmanian Aboriginal community. Here are some more of the many ways everyone can care for Palawa Country while on the Walk and integrate these habits into everyday life:
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Stay on the track at all times to prevent damaging small plants and habitat. Even if the trail is wet or muddy, please stay on the track rather than contributing to further erosion of trails by walking around wet spots.
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When walking on the beach please be conscious of the fragility of the natural environment. Particular bird species nest in soft sand on the beach and your guides will indicate where to walk so you don’t destroy eggs and nests.
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Sand dunes are particularly vulnerable to erosion so be careful not to contribute to this when sampling bush foods or taking photographs. There will be times you’ll be asked to remove your shoes to walk within certain parts of the cultural landscape. Follow in the footsteps of your guides.
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As most of you already know, it’s not alright for anyone who isn’t Palawa to remove physical objects of any kind from their natural environment without permission. Every rock and shell and seed and seaweed plant is there for a reason, as are part of our Country. Palawa read Country and only take the amount of natural resources we need for food, medicine and cultural practices.
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We do not bring reusable plastics or harmful chemicals on wukalina Walk and ask you do the same. We provide you with biodegradable body and hair washing products designed for use in fragile natural environments.
We operate wukalina Walk in alignment with our cultural values. Of course we’re forced to compromise, and we’re always trying to find ways to improve, but the community originally designed the experience from scratch based on these life-sustaining values: self-determination, people focus, cultural authenticity, respect, knowledge-sharing and sustainability.
These values reflect our cultural values and they are all connected: we can’t have healthy Country without healthy people, we can’t have healthy people without cultural authenticity, we can’t have cultural authenticity without respect - you get the idea.
Krakani Lumi, our standing camp where we spend most of wukalina Walk, has always operated with minimal environmental impact by using:
solar power
tank water
open-fire cooking
no on-site harmful chemicals or reusable plastics
beeswax food wraps
biodegradable cleaning products
everything brought in/taken out
waste baseline
compost donated to a friend of staff who has chickens
Launceston recycling/rubbish disposal.
Our team car-pool as much as possible when commuting to and from work, we rent an 8-seater vehicle instead of using our minibus if our guest numbers are lower for a departure, we clean accommodation as soon as guests leave rather than doing an extra trip back to camp and much of the food we eat on wukalina Walk is harvested, produced, prepared and cooked by community. Instead of food miles we have food metres.
“…thoughtfully designed and constructed standing camp with protection of the environment being of the utmost importance… ”
