Discover the mysterious “Stone Plateau” with the Aboriginal tradition of “using fire to fight fire”

The mysterious “retreat” of the “Stone Plateau” of Arnhem Land is even more attractive to tourists who love adventure tours. (Photo: David Hancock)

Arnhem Land – a mysterious and attractive remote land

Arnhem Land covers nearly 100,000 square kilometers, located east of Kakadu National Park, in the northeastern corner of Australia’s Northern Territory. The region encompasses a rugged, remote, and craggy mountain Arnhem plateau, home to one of the most undisturbed natural environments in the world.

The typical wild beauty of Havelock waterfall on the “aggressive” Liverpool river in the mysterious land – “Stone Plateau” Arnhem Land. (David Hancock)

It is also home to the Bininj Aboriginal settlements, whose ancestral generations inhabited the area between 60,000 and 70,000 years ago. Until now, most of them still continue to live a traditional way of life associated with hunting and gathering.

Due to the rugged terrain, the Arnhem Land “Stone Plateau” has limited access to both cars and planes, leaving it almost isolated from major cities, including Darwin (Capital and main port of the Northern Territory. Northern Australia) is 350km away. (Photo: getyourguide)

The Bininj Aboriginal people call the Arnhem plateau Kuwarddewardde (meaning like Stone Plateau) – where there are still 30,000-year-old rock paintings that mark the longest and longest continuous record of human culture found, compared to anywhere else on Earth.

Tourists enjoy admiring the 30,000-year-old rock paintings at the “Stone Plateau” of Arnhem Land. (Photo: australia.com)

Although in a remote place, “Stone Plateau” Arnhem Land is still attractive with “aggressive” rivers, pristine forests full of rare and precious wildlife, more than 260 species of birds flying in the sky, This is a wild wetland with crocodiles and exotic animals… All of this makes the mysterious “retreat” of the “Stone Plateau” of Arnhem Land even more attractive to tourists who love adventure tours. risky.

Bininj Aboriginal people with a unique tradition of “using fire to fight fire”

Tourists take a tour of Kakadu National Park, in the northeastern corner of Australia’s Northern Territory, by helicopter. (Photo: Tourism NT)

For that reason, the Bininj Aboriginal people are one of the few Australian Aboriginal tribes that are less affected by external factors. The Bininj Aboriginal cultural heritage and most of the pristine environment of the “Stone Plateau” of Arnhem Land still have many mysteries, almost unknown to the outside.

Tourists experience culture with the Bininj Aboriginal people at “Stone Plateau” Arnhem Land. (Photo: australia.com)

Among the traditional owners of the “Stone Plateau” of Arnhem Land – the Bininj Aboriginal tribe, there is the Bininj Kunwok clan, an aboriginal group living in the western part of Arnhem Land. In 2007 the Bininj Kunwok clans, including the Mirrar clan renowned for their ability to oversee traditional lands, came together to form Warddeken Land Management Ltd. (Warddeken land management company).

The Bininj Aboriginal rangers use the traditional “fire against fire” practice – burning weeds and clearing bushes early in the dry season, to prevent forest fires from arising later when the weather gets hotter and drier. (Photo: indigenous.gov.au)

Warddeken Company is currently bringing Aboriginal people back to the “Stone Plateau” of Arnhem Land to manage what is considered one of the most unique environments in Australia. They manage by combining traditional Aboriginal ecological knowledge with modern science. At the same time, they also contribute to preserving and restoring the traditional culture of Bininj.

The Bininj Aboriginal rangers prepare to use a helicopter to drop fire on the ground, in the traditional “fire against fire” method. (Photo: marketplace.carbonmarketinstitute.org)

For millennia, fire has been the primary tool of the Bininj Aboriginal people to manage the land. It’s the same way today – at the start of the dry season the Bininj Aboriginal rangers use helicopters to drop multiple sparks onto the ground. Or they walk, using torches to create patches of burned areas first in places where forest fires caused by lightning may arise later. They do it according to modern satellite technology and scientific data…