Forests NSW conducts cultural heritage review

Identifying and protecting Aboriginal cultural heritage values are important aspects of forest management in NSW.

During the next 20 years, Forests NSW is proposing to conduct selective tree harvesting and associated road maintenance within State forests and some Crown timbered lands in south west NSW.

A cultural heritage review is being conducted to assess the potential impact of the activities proposed for these lands on Aboriginal cultural heritage values.

Forests NSW Western Region manager, Paul Wells, said Forests NSW was committed to protecting and managing Aboriginal cultural heritage in cooperation with Aboriginal communities and in accordance with regulatory obligations.

Aboriginal cultural heritage includes physical and spiritual sites, places, objects, stories, oral histories, flora, fauna and documents relating to Aboriginal occupation before and after European contact.

"The identification and management of these items within forests is important to the protection of Aboriginal cultural heritage in NSW," Mr Wells said.

"Forests NSW acknowledges that Aboriginal people should determine the significance of their heritage.

"The involvement of Aboriginal people is integral to understanding Aboriginal heritage and formulating management responses to culturally important objects and places."

A Forests NSW consultation team is currently working in the Riverina, meeting with local Aboriginal communities who have expressed an interest in management of Aboriginal cultural heritage on State forests.

The closing date for registration from interested Aboriginal groups and individuals in relation to this review is 3 November 2008.

Mr Wells said further to these consultation meetings, Forests NSW was looking to build on existing and new contacts to further ongoing relationships with the Aboriginal communities in the region.

Written expressions of interest to:

The Secretary,
Navin Officer Heritage Consultants Pty Ltd,
4/71 Leichhardt Street,
KINGSTON ACT 2604