DSWAA today expressed strong support for the Gundjitmara’s application to the Federal Government for it to nominate Budj Bim as a World Heritage site. DSWAA President, Jim Holdsworth said:
The prospect of international recognition of the heritage represented by the indigenous people’s fish traps in the volcanic country of western Victoria is a major milestone in celebrating an ancient and unique aquaculture that is of world significance.
Budj Bim is the Indigenous name for Mt Eccles; the area settled by the Gunditjmara thousands of years ago and includes Lake Condah and the Tyrendarra wetlands. . The area and the Indigenous culture are unique in that people lived in large villages in permanent stone huts and developed an elaborate network of dry stone wall weirs and fish and eel traps. Dating back 6,800 years, it is one of the world’s oldest aquaculture systems and older than Stonehenge. The stones used date back 30,000 years when the volcanic eruptions from Budj Bim flowed across the area, forming stony rises and Lake Condah, flowing a further 15km down to Portland Bay.
Budj Bim is listed here on the Australian National Heritage List and could be Australia’s 20th World Heritage site
