One of Australia's most significant inland wetlands will remain in Indigenous hands and undergo major restoration works following a $15 million investment to support the Nari Nari Tribal Council's stewardship of the Great Cumbung in south-west New South Wales.
Spanning around 34,000 hectares at the junction of the Murrumbidgee and Lachlan rivers, the Great Cumbung is one of the largest remaining reed and river red gum wetlands in the Murray-Darling Basin.
The area holds deep cultural significance for First Nations people and provides habitat for more than 130 bird species, including the endangered Australasian bittern and Australian painted snipe.
On Friday, the federal government announced the funding, to be delivered through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) and Bank Australia, will support the Nari Nari Tribal Council (NNTC) following its acquisition earlier this year of Juanbung and Boyong Stations from The Nature Conservancy.
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, said the project represented a significant example of Indigenous-led environmental management.
"The Great Cumbung is one of Australia's most significant freshwater wetlands and a place of great significance to First Nations people," she said.
"The Great Cumbung neighbours the Gayini Conservation Area, which is already owned and cared for by the Nari Nari Tribal Council and the Gayini River Rangers — funded through the Commonwealth Indigenous Rangers Program — so collectively this is a significant example of Indigenous-led stewardship of Country."
The government says the investment will support Indigenous-led restoration efforts aimed at improving ecological health, protecting biodiversity and enhancing the wetland's capacity to store carbon and regulate greenhouse gases.
Environment Minister Murray Watt said the government was committed to a strong future for the Murray-Darling Basin.
"Wetlands are the quiet heroes of the Murray-Darling Basin, reducing the impacts of floods, absorbing pollutants and improving water quality," Senator Watt said.
"They provide habitat for animals and plants and many contain a wide diversity of life, supporting plants and animals that are found nowhere else."
Planned works include removing floodplain barriers, regenerating native wetland and woodland ecosystems, and protecting extensive native forests, including river red gum, black box and mallee communities.
The project will also incorporate carefully managed grazing practices to support biodiversity outcomes.
The acquisition expands the Nari Nari Tribal Council's growing footprint across culturally significant landscapes in the region, linking the Great Cumbung with the nearby Gayini Conservation Area, which is already under Indigenous ownership and management.
Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Josh Wilson, said the project demonstrated how climate action and First Nations land management could work together.
"Protecting wetlands is a high-value nature-based carbon storage method, and it's vital because wetlands are especially vulnerable to the impact of climate change, while being especially critical to Australia's distinctive biodiversity," he said.
