The Country Lena Long speaks of is Birriliburu, in central Western Australia. The Traditional Owners hold exclusive possession native title of nearly the entire Birriliburu determination area, which is held in trust by Mungarlu Ngurrarankatja Rirraunkaja (MNR) PBC.

In 2013 the native title holders chose to dedicate more than 6.6 million hectares, almost the size of Tasmania, as a designated an Indigenous Protected Area (IPA), managed by a Martu committee. The IPA ranger and land management programs are providing a focus and pathway for community and economic development, for today and the future.

The 2019 AIATSIS PBC Survey identified that PBCs require options for economic development in addition to mining agreements and other Indigenous Land Use Agreements (ILUAs) that have been key sources of external revenue for some groups. Of the PBCs surveyed, land and water management entities, such as ranger programs, were the most reported entity owned or controlled by a PBC.

Birriliburu’s PBC IPA committee have collaborated for more than a decade with Desert Support Services (DSS) on managing their own Country, which holds great environmental and cultural significance.The IPA is special for its three distinct bioregions - the Little Sandy Desert, Gibson Desert and the Gascoyne, and is home to ancient rock art and threatened species. Significant locations include the spectacular sandstone Carnarvon Ranges - Katjarra - with another site Mungarlu (Constance Headland) being notable as the largest and most dependable water source in the area. 

In 2019, Central Desert assisted MNR to set up a wholly owned subsidiary company Birriliburu Pty Ltd (BPL) to take on running their ranger and land management programs, which include important trips to Country that is remote or difficult to access.

One such trip in June 2024 took Birriliburu Rangers to the Yarrparn tjurnu (soak) in the west of the IPA. Ms Long’s grandmother told her about this soak when she was a child. After two days driving across sand dune country, the team arrived at the soak adjacent to a lovely claypan, where there were food plants and grinding stones surrounding it. The men dug the soak out and they watched as freshwater flood in, just as their ancestors have done for tens of thousands of years.

Rangers do a variety of work, and their trips out on country involve doing multiple jobs along the way to and from Wiluna. These include right way fire burning, monitoring feral animals and threatened species, controlling weeds, looking after water resources, managing tourists, and sharing knowledge from Elders to younger generations meaning the land management program is a vital part of ensuring cultural continuity.  

Since 2013 DSS has helped Birriliburu acquire funding from several sources including:

• Birriliburu Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) - funded by the Australian Government
• Aboriginal Ranger Program (ARP) - funded by the WA Government
• Rangelands NRM (RNRM)
• Bush Heritage Australia (BHA), and,
• NIAA Capacity Building funding to employ staff including 3 part time Martu people.

These contracts were originally acquired and managed by DSS on MNR’s behalf and have now transitioned to be held and managed by BPL.

Working to progress his PBC’s aspirations for Country has meant that Stewy Long (known as Longy) now feels he is where he is meant to be. Longy has worked with DSS for ten years, progressing from casual to part time and lead ranger positions to now being full time Martu Ranger Coordinator, and BPL Director.

“The challenge to step up and take it on made me feel nervous: could I do it? Because it’s so important, it’s my Country, my culture, my family,” Longy said.

“I’ve worked on the mines before which have given me a lot of skills I could put to use, and that gave me some confidence to start. Being out on Country, on the ranger patrols, is the best feeling. You are responsible for a lot of people but learn more skills.”

“Trip planning and work programming happens with guidance from our elders and committee, and DSS coordinating it to happen. There’s more we can develop to run our land management business and get the young people out to take on roles,” he said.

The ideas for what could be next have already been brewing in Lena Long’s mind for some time. BPL aim to secure funding to build a remote ranger base and tourist hub at the beautiful, historic Well 6.

“Well 6 is where I started walking, it’s got a lot of interesting things for younger people to learn and plenty of bush tucker. It’d be good to show people how we used to live, educate tourists and teach two-way science. Bring greater awareness about Country and how special it is,” Lena said.

 Thank you to Birriliburu Pty Ltd (BPL) for collaborating on this story.