General News
13 June, 2022
Gulngay people bringing back Gabun BARRETT’S LAGOON
GULNGAY traditional owners are leading a new project to improve a Tully wetland system that flows to the ocean and Great Barrier Reef lagoon.
Water-testing and fish surveys are underway at Gabun, or Barrett’s Lagoon, as part of a bigger initiative to train up the younger generation and bring them onto Country.
Elder Doris Kinjun said Gulngay people were “river people” who remembered large numbers of Gabun - the Gulngay name for a small migratory gudgeon - in the lagoon system south-east of Tully.
“Now, we hardly see them there. This project is ‘Bringing back Gabun’,” Ms Kinjun said.
“Everything is important here – the fish, the plants, the birds.
“We used to take grasses for weaving.
“The plants filter runoff from the land. Everything is connected. We want to bring life back to the lagoon.
“It’s a spiritual connection to us, to see the life return.”
Gabun, or Barrett’s Lagoon, is a deep freshwater wetland on the Tully-Murray coastal floodplain that borders cane farming land and is close to the national park.
At about six hectares, it is one of the district’s largest wetlands, and it links with other waterways and wetlands in wet season flood events.
The Gulngay people’s new project follows collaborative work over the last six years from cane farmers, traditional owners, Cassowary Coast Regional Council, Terrain NRM and the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service to remove hymenachne from the once weed-choked lagoon.
Gulngay people and Terrain NRM worked together to secure a Great Barrier Reef Foundation Healthy Water Grant for the new project.
This project is funded by the partnership between the Australian Government’s Reef Trust and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation.
Gulngay is working with Terrain NRM to select sites for water quality monitoring - in inlet creeks beside cane paddocks and national park, at an outlet and in the lagoon itself – to better understand lagoon health.
Terrain is also helping with water quality monitoring training and data management, while TropWATER is working on fish surveys.
The ‘Bringing back Gabun’ project includes training for Gulngay’s young people in waterway weed management and using fire for weed control, as well as fish surveys, fish barrier assessments and project management.
Results will be added to the region’s water quality and coastal wetland data and used for the annual Wet Tropics Waterway Health Report Card.
Gulngay history and cultural knowledge will also be recorded.
Clarence Kinjun is one of the traditional owners who is water sampling at the lagoon. He sees skilling up Gulngay’s younger generations as a priority - to manage, restore and care for Country well into the future.
“The rivers, creeks, waterways and lagoons are important to Gulngay traditional owners,” Mr Kinjun said.
“Healthy waters equal healthy reefs.
“We’ve seen a lot of improvement at this lagoon over the years, and our hope is for our younger generations to carry on this work in the future.”
