Ngarrindjeri guide freshwater research

A collaborative team of modern scientists and Ngarrindjeripeople with traditional knowledge have been working together on the Younghusband Peninsula soaks, which have sustained human and animal life for generations.Some of those soaks still remain today, although many have disappeared, prompting the research project to better understand what has changed across the landscape.Led by the Coorong Lower Lakes Murray Mouth Research (CLLMM) Centre, the project has focused on identifying freshwater soaks across Australia’s longest coastal dune system, while also working closely with Ngarrindjeri Elders and Indigenous rangers, whose understanding of the Countrystretches back long before modern mapping and satellite technology.For Ngarrindjeri Elder Uncle Derek Gollan, the work isdeeply connected to his own life and history in the region. Born at Raukkan, and raised around the Coorong, Uncle Derek spent decades working as a national parks ranger, travelling up and down the peninsula and learning the waterways, dunes and ecosystems through lived experience.AW spoke with Uncle Derek on Country about his life and experience looking after the Younghusband Peninsula.