A Divestment Ceremony earlier this month celebrated the handover of 252-hectare Beech Forest property from the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation (ILSC) to Eastern Maar Traditional Owners, who will restore it for cultural, environmental and carbon enterprise outcomes.

Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation (EMAC) and the ILSC came together on Gadubanud Country for the formal celebration of the divestment of Falbala, the property.

The ceremony, held at the site, brought together Eastern Maar Traditional Owners, ILSC representatives and project partners to mark the culmination of more than four and a half years of planning and preparation; a process that, Eastern Maar said, "once underway, moved with real momentum".

ILSC said the divestment of Falbala reflects the organisation's "deepest motivation of seeing land returned to the hands of Traditional Owners, to be cared for and managed on their own terms". Ownership of the property was formally transferred from the ILSC to EMAC in June 2025.

Falbala was purchased by the ILSC in 2002 and they commissioned an independent "Highest and Best Use" study, which found that the property's steep slopes, high rainfall and soft soils made it difficult to sustain traditional farming, and identified restoration and carbon farming as a more viable, sustainable long-term use for the land.

EMAC subsequently developed a detailed business case for a Traditional Owner-led carbon enterprise model; a proposal that gave the process a clear path forward and helped things progress efficiently from there.

Falbala will now become a base for cultural and environmental restoration, carbon enterprise and threatened species sanctuary work, guided by EMAC's Country Plan.

Restoration work will begin with a baseline study of the property's soils, water and biodiversity, led by EMAC's On Country Guardians and ecology experts. In 2026, this will be followed by the planting of 20,000 local native plants — all carefully selected local species — with a further 100,000 plants to be established across remaining priority areas in 2027.

Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation CEO Marcus Clarke said the project "delivers on one of the biggest goals in our Country Plan, which is to hold and manage land as a foundation for cultural, environmental and economic independence".

"Falbala gives our community something rare: open access to Country we can call our own. Whether it's Elders passing down knowledge or young people just spending time on the land, that access changes everything," he said.

"Falbala shows what can be achieved when long-term vision and passionate people from many different fields bring their knowledge together for a shared purpose."

The project brings together a wide range of passionate specialists to guide the restoration of Falbala.

The work is supported by Carbon Neutral, who are working with EMAC to design and manage the carbon farming project. The Odonata Foundation is also onboard to share their wealth of knowledge and skill in supporting threatened species recovery, with the potential for Falbala to grow into a native wildlife sanctuary in the future.

Funding and equipment support through the Victorian Government BushBank Program has been crucial in enabling EMAC's On Country Guardians to scale up their capacity for restoration work.

The ILSC will remain a supporting force for Falbala as restoration unfolds in the years ahead.

EMAC and ILSC said that this "coming together of different skills and ways of knowing Country" will "create a solid foundation for creating something truly special on the property".

Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation board chair, Ian Hamm, said the project represents "years of hard work by people who have never given up, who have never walked away, who continually argued that we exist and we matter, that this is our Country and we will care for".

"This divestment is going to be much more than nature restoration. It's restoration of us as a people," he said.

"If the ILSC can play a meaningful part in the work at Falbala, then it's a privilege for us to do that. It gives us meaning and purpose."

"It's a privilege to see our young people being on Country, doing work in this field, as these are opportunities that generations before us were denied."

The project also creates job and training opportunities for young Eastern Maar people, who will learn revegetation and ecology skills on Country alongside established Cultural knowledge holders, passing down generations of knowledge about caring for Country.

EMAC and ILSC noted that the work at Falbala is being undertaken "with an eye to future generations; restoring and protecting Country not just for today, but for those who come after, as First Nations people have always done".