A visit to The Willows and the spectacular Severn River Gorge was the absolute highlight of a recent trip to the New England area for M&G NSW CEO Michael Rolfe and myself.
The Willows and the adjoining Boorabee property form a 2900 hectare Indigenous Protected Area (IPA) gazetted in March 2010 and one of only five in NSW.
It has an abundance of rare native wildflower and bird species and, if you are lucky, you might spot a Koala or three. The Koala is a totem of the local Ngoorabul people and they have ambitions to slowly develop the area as a koala sanctuary.
There is a cluster of huts offering basic accommodation that some fortunate school groups and others have used occasionally. Glen Innes Local Aboriginal Land Council plans to makes some improvements to these and the caretaker’s house. Three local Aboriginal Rangers are employed part time on the property under the Caring for Country program, there’s certainly plenty to do!
The Cooramah Aboriginal Cultural centre in town, also run by the LALC, is closed to the public at the moment, thought the café space is leased and the separate youth centre building is popular and busy.
The links to land and culture through the IPA is a priority and hopefully at some stage Cooramah can reopen to showcase this through artworks, photos and displays for those who can’t access this beautiful part of the world.
Steve Miller
