Pirra Jungku and Jila report

Date: 08, Sep, 2021
Author(s):   Karajarri rangers, Ngurrara rangers, Bijlani H, Lindsay M, Legge S

The Pirra Jungku and Jila project aims to improve Jungku (fire management), cultural knowledge and biodiversity over the pirra (deserts) of Karajarri Indigenous Protected Area and the Jilji of the Warlu Jilajaa Jumu IPA. We are especially interested in managing Jungku around jilas (desert waterholes). Karajarri and Ngurrara have been working together on this project, sharing skills and knowledge. We wanted to understand how fire affects different animal species, so we could decide how to manage fire, especially around jilas. We set up 24 permanent biodiversity monitoring sites across the Edgar Ranges, Kulgara on the Karajarri IPA, and at Kuduarra on the Warlu Jilajaa Jumu IPA. We surveyed each site 2–3 times for reptiles, mammals, birds, frogs and bats. By July 2021, we had done 63 site surveys, and over 5,600 trap nights. We used satellite imagery to say what the fire patterns around each site were. In this report, we talk about what we have learned about reptiles and mammals and fire. We have also trialled using eDNA techniques to monitor what animals use jilas. We did this work in collaboration with the Nyangumarta rangers.