Clint Morton

When there is a threat of bushfires it is important that we take steps to preserve protected Aboriginal cultural places. Clint Morton, Heritage Project Officer in Gippsland's Forest and Fire Operations Division, shares his story of how he worked to protect Aboriginal scarred trees from the bushfires.

“Aboriginal Scarred trees are found throughout Australia and are usually more than 200 years old.

For various reasons, Aboriginal people caused scars on trees by removing bark that exposed the sapwood on the trunk or branch of a tree. Scarred trees provide Aboriginal people today with an important link to their culture and their past.

It’s very important to get support for any action that involves Aboriginal cultural heritage.

After consulting with the Traditional Owners and gaining their support, we worked under the direction of the Regional Cultural Heritage Values Team in the Bairnsdale ICC to locate registered scarred trees.

We cleared an area of approximately three to five metres around each tree and wrapped them in sisalation to prevent them from burning.

Sisalation is used for roof insulation and is like a protective second skin. It’s an excellent material to protect against ember attack and radiant heat.

The method we’re using is in the infancy stage. It was trialled about seven to eight years ago in the same area but then the scarred trees weren’t impacted by the fire itself. This method has also been successfully used to protect Heritage huts from fire.

We haven’t done any evaluation yet due to the area being within the active fire ground and we need time to evaluate so that results can be refined."

Clint Morton protecting Aboriginal Scarred tree

Page last updated: 07/02/20