Dja Dja Wurrung and Parks Victoria working together

Visitors to Greater Bendigo National Park and Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park will benefit from a four-year project to improve the visitor experience and environmental protection in these areas. 

The Walking Together Project involves the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation working in partnership with Parks Victoria to focus on two key areas of local parks – Kalimna Park within Castlemaine Diggings National Heritage Park and the Wildflower Drive area of Greater Bendigo National Park.

The aims of the project are to offer greater opportunities for people to connect appropriately with nature and to protect and improve biodiversity in these areas. 

As part of the Walking Together Project during 2019/20, monitoring will gather information about both park areas. This includes flora and fauna assessments, cultural assessments, visitor satisfaction surveys and monitoring traffic movements. 

Results of these assessments will be used to develop a site-specific plan for each location in 2020/21. The plans will guide site enhancement actions such as revegetation, weed control, improved signage and walking tracks for visitors, cultural burning, ecological thinning and rehabilitating illegal tracks.

There will be opportunities, through a consultation process, for the community to have input into developing these plans.

The Walking Together Project is a four-year project funded by the Victorian Government with a budget of $2.05 million.

Quotes, attributed to Rodney Carter, Chief Executive, Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation:

“This project is an opportunity to support Traditional Owners managing Country as agreed through the Dja Dja Wurrung Recognition and Settlement Agreement and other related plans and frameworks.

Djandak - the business enterprise of Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation – will carry out the work in consultation with Parks Victoria.”

Quotes, attributed to Karen Doyle, Area Chief Ranger, Parks Victoria:

“These two areas were selected as they are adjacent to growing urban areas of Bendigo and Castlemaine and are environmentally significant.

By enabling people to better connect with nature in urban fringe areas more people can gain the physical and mental health benefits that come from spending time in nature.

Parks Victoria acknowledges the connection that Traditional Owners have with their Country and their rights and interests in planning and delivering natural resource management outcomes on that Country.”