Parks Victoria Release: Millennium Cave restored : Monday 20 November, 2023
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“Today was five years in the making as we begin healing Rock Art places in Gariwerd after inappropriate and no consent access by climbers over a period of decades. With the help of climbers, today we took that step together toward looking after Country. The proper way,” John Clarke, General Manager of Bio-cultural Landscapes, Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation.
The work represents a turning point in efforts to protect the nationally heritage listed bio-cultural landscape led by the Barengi Gadjin Land Council Aboriginal Corporation (BGLC), Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation (EMAC) and Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (GMTOAC) in partnership with Parks Victoria (PV). Traditional Owners, Cultural Heritage Advisors, and Rock Art Protection Specialists worked on the removal of chalk and graffiti. Bolt removal, chalk removal and patching work was done by specialist Industrial Rope Access Trade Association (IRATA) certified rope technicians from the climbing community and included detailed daily safety briefings for all workers on site. Aaron Lowndes, whose company secured the Parks Victoria tender to remove bolts in the Rock Art shelter Cultivation Creek 19 (Millennium Cave), says the rehabilitation work is a chance to improve relationships between climbers and Traditional Owners.
“I think a very important message to send out publicly is that members of the climbing community are the ones that will remove these bolts, and that we do so enthusiastically because we recognise and support the right of Traditional Owners to determine for themselves what areas they deem important enough to protect,” Aaron says.
Between 2018-2020 Parks Victoria completed a condition assessment of all Rock Art places in Gariwerd. Detailed information about each place was recorded including updating location accuracy, identifying any human or natural impacts at each place, how extensive these are and if they impact the art. Of the 103 Rock Art places in Gariwerd (Grampians National Park) listed on the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Register, all had some form of impact. https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/news/2023/11/15/23/42/healing-country-together-rock-art-protection-in-the-gariwerd-cultural-landscape
HEALING COUNTRY TOGETHER: ROCK ART PROTECTION IN THE GARIWERD CULTURAL LANDSCAPE
